Christmas Boudoir session

I love being a girl. I love being soft and smelling pretty and wearing makeup and being able to change my clothes 5 times before I walk out the door. I love pink fuzzy slippers and lace undies and painting my nails. That is why I love photographing boudoir sessions, because it celebrates femininity, being girly and sexy and soft and curvy and a confident and being an individual. There is nothing sexier than a girl who is confident in her own body. and with the media telling girls they have to look a certain way to be beautiful I find it an absolute miracle that any of us like ourselves at all.
So it completely makes my day when girls book a session with us and walk away feeling sexy for exactly who they are in exactly their own skin.

These are some of the highlights from our Christmas boudoir session.

we hope you enjoy them! and we will be doing another session in January in time for Valentine's day.

send us a message at fstoppoetry@yahoo.com for a session.

that one time we almost killed Alana...

why Alana let us photograph her outside in freezing temperatures  let alone trust us with her life inside of my car is beyond me but she did and we love her for it.

Erin and I presented the idea of doing an outdoor winter photo shoot to Alana, and she didn't even hesitate to say yes. not for a second. this is the kind of crazy awesome girl Alana is.

we felt like winter gets a bad rep and we wanted to bring some beauty to the season. It may be cold and it may suck shoveling your car off or bundling up in a thousand layers, but if you are from the Midwest you know we all endure it, and we all stay because we love the changing of the seasons and when winter fades into spring.

not to mention winter is prime cuddle season. so for that reason alone we thought it would be fitting to do a trash the dress in the snow.

We started again at north ave beach since this is where we got the idea when we were shooting Jenny and Anthony's engagement session. The lake when frozen looks like another planet. Erin and I thought it had a quiet beauty and serenity that we wanted to capture. Erin and I both love to shoot people and don't often shoot landscapes. we talked on the ride up there about how we will see these beautiful landscapes and immediately  want to stick people in them. even if they are small in the frame.

Alana was such a trooper. She wore as many layers as she could underneath the dress and we would run to and from my car to warm up and then to start shooting again.

I swear to you she did not complain once. not even once did the words "its cold out here" leave her mouth. That woman is bad ass. I would have been complaining for anyone who was listening. Actually I was complaining and I was dressed like this... 

Erin on the other hand didn't have as much luck as Alana did this day.

she fell in the snow...

 twice.

 and hit herself in the face with her camera.

and at one point she stuck her foot up to her ankle in a massive, gross puddle, which we for the rest of the day referred to as "poo soup"  but she marched onward, camera in hand. This is the kind of dedication that I admire in her. even after falling in the snow she yelled "why are you not taking pictures of this!" when I tried to help her up. I love her. and I am fairly confident she would still be my friend had I really peed my pants laughing which was a legitimate concern at this point.

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We also made friends with a dog name honey. I was especially stoked about this because I love great Pyrenees and her owner chatted us up about Janis Joplin and numerous other topics and didn't seem to notice how Cold Alana must have been standing there waiting for us to finish. 

Alana also let us make a spectacle out of her even after I almost killed her driving the wrong way on a one way street to get there. I blame that mishap on the woman who erroneously told me to turn left on a street I could not turn left on, never mind that they have signs that say otherwise. This may or may not have been Karma getting me back for cheating the parking gods a second a time.

We went to the contemporary art museum to shoot in their incredible stairwell and Alana trekked around the whole museum in a wedding dress despite stares of bewilderment from the museums patrons. 

we are really happy Alana let us talk her into going on this crazy shenanigan of an adventure with us and that she remained beautiful and cooperative the whole time. and that she didn't hold it against us that we promised her hot chocolate and then didn't get her any.

and we hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed shooting them.  We hope that in the seasons of winter when you're forced inside because of the cold everyone will remember that "in the midst of all this ice and snow our hearts stay warm because they are filled with hope." 

that one time we were eskimos...

Erin and I went to Chicago to photograph the most adorable couple Friday and the whole time we gushed at how crazy it is we get to do these fun things for a living.

It was a normal cold winter day in Chicago so we hunkered down and braved the elements at the thought of great photos.  Erin said I looked like an Eskimo in my Russian hat, but she likes me enough to still be seen with me... sort of. 

The first place we went too was millennium park. Erin and I said how romantic it was to skate here with the greatest city in the world directly behind us. Erin said she wanted Mickey to take her there so she could hold  hands and skate eight grade dance style around the rink. the cheesy things are always the cutest.

Anthony and Jenny were especially cute. Anthony was a bit more confident on skates but Jenny held her own and I was convinced everyone kept looking at them not because they had a paparazzi entourage but because they were just so cute together and it was obvious. 

 

Erin said I looked like a midget bird. ha.

after that we headed to North Ave Beach. It is a strange experience to go to a beach in the middle of winter. Everything was frozen, peaceful and beautiful, where there is normally a crowd and the smell of hot dogs and tanning oil. It was a trip. 

 

 

However a diss for North Ave is their crappy pay system for their parking.

I was getting a little irate that their machine was not working, and being the self-proclaimed rebel that I am, I  just squeezed my tiny car around the arm and stuck it to the man.

Take that Parking Czars! 

Erin found this a lot more risky than I did and we had a good laugh. Jenny and Anthony did the same thing after us though, and I instantly liked them more.

We ended the shoot going to Wrigley field to shoot inside.  The cubs are a client of Jenny's and she wanted a few photos in the field and it was a crazy experience once again being at a place that holds so many people and so much life in the dead of winter with not a soul there. But Maybe that's what Love feels like.  like you are the only two people in the world anyway. 

that one time we got Business cards...

Erin and I are normally the type of people who don't like to make a scene. Not that we aren't fun, because let me tell you we are, but we are usually the girls making fun of the people who we deem awkward or inappropriate.  But not tonight. Tonight, we were those people.

Erin and I meet every week to do work. by "do work" I mean we eat food and talk about all the things we would do if we could tour with the Hanson Brothers and be their road photographers, but that's neither here nor there.

This week we went to the Department in Joliet to "do work" but this was no ordinary week. This week we had gotten our very first business cards.

and it showed. 

Like two 21 year olds on our birthday in the bar for the first time, we passed out our cards like they were hot cakes. (and When I say "we" I mean I did and Erin laughed at me. )

I gave our  cards to the waiter, to the two couples sitting next to us and to Adrianna who met us for drinks.  not to mention my mom who didn't even get all the way through the door before I handed her a stack.

and now I am blogging about it. Because this is how excited I am.

Be prepared world! We have business cards, which means we mean business!

Erin's thankful list.

Alicia inspired me to write about what I am thankful for.  Unfortunately, I am not as good with words as she is, but I’ll try.

I am thankful for so many things…

My husband, Micky.  I honestly love everything about this man.  He is selfless and loving.  I am thankful that he works so hard so that I can try and make my dreams come true.  He is so supportive and understanding and more than I could ever ask for.  I know that I don’t tell him enough how grateful I am to have in by my side, forever.  I don’t think I would have the self-confidence to do what I am doing without his love and support.  I don’t know how I got through life without you and I thank God everyday that you are in my life.

My mom, who is the strongest and most loving person I know.  She has the capability of finding the good in any situation and believes in me more than anyone.  I am hopeful that one day I will be just like her.

My dad.  He has worked so hard his whole life just to support our family.  I have never met a individual who works as hard as he does.  He doesn’t say much but I know how much he loves me and I am so thankful to have his obsession with making sure that everything is perfect.

My sisters and brother for being my lifeline.  For making me laugh and for being there, always.  For believing in me and for always having my back.  I love them more than words.  I wish I had Lindsay's strength, Kelly's heart, and Ryan's sense of humor. 

Tiffany, for being a constant person in my life.  I don’t know if Tiffany will ever understand how much she means to me but I really don’t know if I would be who I am without her.  She knows me better than I know myself and makes me laugh so hard every time we are together.

Tony and Michelle, for seeing something in me.  For believing that I could do what I do for a living and for having faith in me when I find that I don’t have faith in myself.  Every time I get down on myself, I think ‘if these 2 incredibly talented photographers see something in me, I must have faith in myself.'

Alicia, for reminding me that photography isn’t all about work.  For helping me get back to a place I was at in college where I was excited to photograph everything.  For being the only person I would want to start a company with.  And for her and her family because they make me want to be a better person.  I am also thankful that her dog no longer pees on me and that the professor has never ninja pissed me.

For all the brides and grooms that I have photographed this year and will photograph next year, for having faith in our little start up company and trusting us with the most important day of your lives.  I have been so honored to be a part of your lives.

For my Wrigley for loving me unconditionally!

Things I am thankful for.

I wanted to take a moment and write about things I am thankful for.

My dad. My dad said that he is thankful for me this week in an email sent out to our church, he said I was the smartest person he knew.  I could not love that man any more, and how fitting that he knew the nicest compliment he could give me was about my head which often times feels crazy but if that man has enough faith in my sanity and intelligence than who am I to doubt him.     I am really lucky to have him for so many reasons trying to narrow it down to just one on a list is exhausting. I couldn’t live with out him.

My Momma. the older I get the more thankful I am for her being exactly who she is. For most of my adult life our relationship didn’t come as easy as my fathers and mine. My dad would say this is because she and I are so much alike. But in the last few years I have learned the kind of strength and beauty my mom  posses and I have come to respect her silent way of working through things as completely opposite of the way that I am but I love her dignity and her determination and the example she has set for me to be the kind of woman I want to be even if its different from those around me.

My parents both have given me so much support weather it be calming me down when I have panic attacks over my finals, telling me that even if I am too poor to do anything I wont have to eat out of the trash because they will feed me, and trusting me enough to pay them back for a new camera that makes me giddy every time I use it. For not thinking I am crazy for going to school for art, for not thinking I am awful for making a photo piece entitled “blow job Barbie” for letting me be me and making me feel like despite all my flaws and oddities that I am loved with the furry of a hurricane.

I am so thankful for Heather. I don’t think I realized how much her friendship meant to me until I was faced with her absence. I hung up the phone the last time I talked to her and began to cry knowing that she wouldn’t be around for months. It dawned on me how much I relied on her and how constant a friend she was. A fear crept into me that something bad would happen while she was away and I would have no one to take late night drives with and go on random adventures to take my mind off of things. A woman like heather is rare and a friend like her is even more rare her loyalty and the fact that she would have my back at a moments notice is not common. and I don’t want to take that for granted for a second.

I am thankful for Every Bride and Groom I have photographed this year. Learning to make a business out of my photography has not been an easy feat. I dread having to charge people, but its because of their faith in my ability and their investment in my work that I was able to pay for school with out taking out loans this year, and I was able to buy a new camera to further my work. I am so incredibly humbled and in awe of this and I could not be more thankful.

I am thankful for Erin. I am thankful that she has faith in me even when I feel like I suck at life. I am thankful that she saw something of herself in me and hired me and then let me follow her when we both left. It has been nothing short of empowering to work along side a passionate and determined woman who makes me laugh and makes me believe in myself while getting to create the kind of work that we love. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about how incredibly lucky I am that we get to do this, and I wouldn’t want to start this adventure with anyone else but her.

I am thankful for the professor and his bunny face. His ability to make bad days melt, and to make me smile just with his little bunny ears. For all the tears he’s snuggled away and all the pants I have had to wash because he has ninja pissed me, with out him I may never understand unconditional love.
 <3 Alicia