When you officially book a boudoir appointment, you expect certain things. Or maybe not. Maybe your expectations aren't that high. Maybe you cross your fingers, toes and elbows *hoping* that one or two images will be passable enough that you won't want to claw your eyes out when you view them. I get it. 100%. Your doubt, your fear, your hesitation. But here's the thing, a boudoir session has a few completely surprising benefits.

No one likes to be scared. That feeling of cold sweat on your palms, your heart doing that weird pitter-patter-stutter thing. I remember bungie jumping at an amusement park for the first time when I was in high school and, though I'm not terrified of heights, something about looking over a ledge and having to actually choose to make that jump was horrifying.

It is wedding season!!!! I LOVE weddings!!! (drinks all around *Jack Sparrow voice*!) My sister just got engaged so I've gotten to re-enter the wedding world in a more personal way lately. I also loooovvveeee shooting bridal boudoir. Bring me all the veils/garters/wedding shoes/etc!

Let’s talk about the concept of “Before/Afters”. I, personally, have never been a huge fan. I remember when I first opened my boudoir studio and I noticed some women who would comment/like my posts constantly, but never reached out for a session. I ran into one of them at church and asked what was keeping her from having her own session done and she responded, “Oh! I thought you only shoot models!”

Only shoot models?! What?!?!?

It's funny. Growing up, I never liked science or math all that much. I was ok enough at it, but I just didn't enjoy it the way I enjoyed history and literature. I loved words more than facts or numbers. But the older I get, the more I find myself enjoying a numerical view of the world. Breaking life down into formulas to reach my goals. It's no surprise that I do that with my business as well-I’ve always been a self-professed nerd after all!

It’s FINALLY HERE!!!I At long last, we have our options for the trip AdventureWomen and Meagan O Photography are planning together. I need you to VOTE! Now, if this totally isn't something you're interested in or would want to do, don't vote. I want to hear from those of you who both would want to see that location AND think you'd be able to swing the approximate price range, date range (all of which are sometime in 2020-so over a year away) and could physically participate in the activities listed.

Before our crew headed to Tokyo, we went to Nachi Falls to see the gorgeous waterfall. The only problem…it was like 1.239 gazillion stairs to get there! Ok…maybe not that many, Wikipedia says it was only 297, but I realllllyyyy think it was more than that. The view was definitely worth it though!

One of the coolest parts of a trip with AdventureWomen is that their itineraries include a portion of epic, heart-rate-inducing, get-into-nature adventuring. For Japan, that was our 4 day trek along the Kumano Kodo. The Kumano Kodo is a series of ancient pilgrimage routes on the Kii Peninsula.

Day 2 began with a trip to Nara Park. As I’ve said before, Japan is a straight-up magical place and our visit to Nara seemed like a page out of Snow White. Imagine you’re at a park and there are squirrels. Now double the amount of squirrels your’e imagining. Now pretend those squirrels are actually deer. That’s what Nara Park is like. The legend is that one of the four gods of the Kasuga Shrine appeared on Mount Mikasa riding a deer. After that, deer were seen as divine and sacred and up until 1637 killing one of these deer was punishable by death.

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve traveled quite a bit this year-the first place being Japan. Disclaimer: It will take four blogs to even *mildly* begin to flesh out the magic of this place (because there is SO much magic)...but we’ll eventually get through it. I’m mostly writing this because a lot of you have questions regarding the international photography opportunity I posted about here and I completely understand why.

I am a podcast devotee. I listen to podcasts more than I listen to anything else. Typically, due to my morbid fascination with true crime it's podcasts like My Favorite Murder, Up and Vanished, Serial, Dirty John, Southern Fried True Crime, Teacher's Pet, Without Warning...basically any podcast that simultaneously makes my husband think I'm plotting an alternative ending for him in case he ever seriously crosses me. But I'm also a big fan of This American Life, Women Who Travel, Renovare, The Heidi Rew Show...both lists are pretty extensive.

SO MUCH has happened this year and we're only halfway through May! We finally moved into our house in February (why yes, those are angels singing), I went to Japan for two weeks in April and just got back from being in Paris/Italy a few days ago. I know. This is literally the coolest my life has ever been or will ever be again, lol! Don't worry though. I'm still my geeky, silly self even when I'm halfway around the world.

SO MUCH has happened this year and we're only halfway through May! We finally moved into our house in February (why yes, those are angels singing), I went to Japan for two weeks in April and just got back from being in Paris/Italy a few days ago. I know. This is literally the coolest my life has ever been or will ever be again, lol! Don't worry though. I'm still my geeky, silly self even when I'm halfway around the world.

I love the contemplative reflection a new year brings. That feeling of turning a new page or starting a new chapter. For me this contemplation begins at the start of advent (the church season leading up to Christmas) and continues through the new year. Advent is about sitting in the darkness and creating space for God to move in you as you wait for the promised Light. I've never been one who enjoys New Year's Eve itself-it seems to be one of those holidays where my expectations always exceed my reality. I find myself wanting to experience something momentous and dramatic, as if it were possible to bottle six weeks of reflection and squeeze it into a 10 second countdown. Which is why this year I rang in the new year watching The Crown, drinking wine and eating a Papa John's cinnamon roll dessert.

This is a blog written by one of my GORGEOUS client's!!! It details her experience in the studio-it's long, but SO SO SO worth the read if you're considering a boudoir session!!!

Welcome to Chronic Apologizer's Anonymous.

Me: Hi, I'm Meagan and I'm an apologizing addict.

Everyone: Hellloooo, Meagan.

If you are visiting my page for the first time to peruse recent boudoir photos of my gorgeous clients-maybe skip this post. I promise to get back to your regularly scheduled boudoir programming next week! I clearly haven't written a blog in a long time because we've had a *bit* of personal stuff going on. If you're a recent client, you know we've been building a house for the past year. We were supposed to move in back in September, but 5 days before closing someone parked a car next to our house and set it on fire, burning our house down. As in a total loss. As in start allllll over.

If you know me at all, you know I'm a Christmasaholic. If this is your first time visiting the blog, realize that I am that annoying girl who gasps and jumps with excitement when I see the first Christmas display go up and whose body knows to release endorphins when I hear any song that begins with bells ringing. I wear my love of the fat man in the red suit with all the pride I can muster. My traditions list runs a mile long and this year I have an ACTUAL-REAL-LIVE-HOUSE I GET TO DECORATE!!!! Well, *technically* my husband Matt gets to decorate according to my exact specifications...(re: Griswold-worthy)

It sucks when you're in a situation where you have a ton of questions you feel like you can't ask because it will make you look stupid. I definitely felt that way preparing for my first brazilian wax. I had so many questions-lots of them embarrassing-what if I'm on my period? How long does the hair need to be? How long is too long? The LAST thing I wanted was to butterfly open for the technician only for her to arch an eyebrow disdainfully dismiss me. I mean can you imagine!?!? Luckily, I'm have a fairly high embarrassment threshold-so I always just risk it and ask anyway.