We had a few planning consultations before the shoot and came up with a handful of hot, fun, daring and creative scenarios. Alison was super nervous before her shoot, but knew she wanted to go outside her comfort zone, so she committed fully. I was blown away by how much beauty and strength she brought in front of my camera.

I think this one is my fav. Sublime.

More pics from Alison’s session will be posted in a series over the next several days – they are all so unique and some of my favs to date!

lots of love and inspiration,

Christa

ps. I’m off to host my Fine Art Boudoir Retreat in Paris in a couple days, so stay tuned for all that beautifulness coming soon!

]]> http://christameola.com/blog/boudoir/alison-no-1/feed 21 http://christameola.com/blog/boudoir/monica http://christameola.com/blog/boudoir/monica#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:48:14 +0000 Christa Meola http://christameola.com/?p=7397 One of the coolest things I love about being a photographer is that I get to know people intimately. I’m the type of shooter who wants to know what makes you tick, what you love about yourself, your life, your marriage, your body, or whatever the reason that has you and I come together on both sides of the camera.

No matter how well I know my closest friends, I get such a deeper appreciation for and understanding of who they are when I take their pictures.

One of my favorite people in the world is the lovely Monica. She is such a brilliant person – smart, beautiful, gutsy and a truly fascinating woman. We met last year in Italy and immediately became fast friends. We lived on the same hillside in Florence a short walk from each other, and we’d often get together for apertivo hour in town, a long hike around the Tuscan hills, train rides to nearby cities together and always long chats about life, love and art.

At the end of my stay in Italy, we did a shoot for Monica. No particular occasion, except to celebrate her life at that moment in time.

A mosquito net and tanned skin signify summertime in Italy…

 Originally from Egypt, raised in the states, a year or two in Venice & Paris and now currently residing in a small Tuscan villa with a vineyard as her front yard….

Monica loves family heirlooms… I covet this bracelet – a gift from her mom and the purse was her grandmother’s…

Practically inseparable from her bike, Monica rides daily about an hour to and from work. She’s a fine art tour guide for the museums in Florence.

She FLIES down the hill, without a helmet. Our mutual friend, Federica, calls her “pazza!” (crazy!)

…just a little celebration of the simple daily rituals of a beautiful life in Italy – a walk in the fresh air around the landscape, a thrilling bike ride to work, lounging around in lingerie, a cup of tea in pretty cups with a friend…

…it’s the simple things!

Have a beautiful day,

xo Christa

We had such a phenomenal time – four girls (the cL girls, my make-up artist Rachel, and me) and one awesome guy – my assistant Mr. John Cornicello (love him!). Champagne was poured, heels were kicked up and gorgeous pics were captured!

Celeste is a powerhouse Producer with a super fun spirit. Her shoot was all about her spunky personality, those gorgeous curves, and her love of dancing, vintage clothes and shoes!

Here’s what Celeste wrote to me after seeing her pics…

I LOVE the pics! I wish I would have recorded Jason when he flipped through them with me. I don’t know how to describe how I felt watching him pause and gasp at all the different pictures! I can’t thank you enough! Jason says “Thank you VERY much” too.

Next up: Kenna…

You may recognize Kenna as the on-air host of creativeLIVE. She’s one of the most beautiful individuals on the inside and out that I’ve ever met. We focused on capturing her joyful spirit, elegant beauty, love of accessories from far away places, and those gorgeous golden eyes!

Here’s what Kenna had to say about the experience:

Christa not only gave me THE most amazing gift in portraits that I will treasure for the rest of my life, but she also gave me the gift of pushing myself well beyond my comfort zone. The shoot itself was a magical experience. I was giddy but also unsure of myself. By the end of the shoot I felt amazing inside and out because I had soaked up Christa’s smile, laughter, energy, creativity, beauty and confidence. I was blown away when I saw the resulting photos. My heart leaped. I couldn’t stop grinning and saying out loud “is that really me?” YES. That is me – those are my eyes, that is my smile and that is my spirit. Thank you Christa. When can we do it again?

So I’m afraid we’re going to have to stop there and not show the rest of the shoot because of privacy :)

That’s part of the job as Boudoir Photographer – most of my favorite images are only seen by one woman and her man. And I kinda like that. It’s what makes my work so sacred and fulfilling.

A huge THANK YOU to Celeste and Kenna for your trust during the shoot, for your generosity in letting me share these images and for being so much fun! I had such a blast and you’re both amazing women.

And an enormous THANK YOU to all of you who tuned in to watch me shoot and teach on creativeLIVE and for the ongoing outpouring of love. I’m truly grateful.

Lots of love and inspiration,

xoxo Christa

Add to it the most gorgeous sunny weather in NYC lately, and I’ve been just skipping through the park. Literally.

Here are a few sunny nudes to match my mood today…

Have a gorgeous weekend!

(I know it’s only Thursday, but I’m getting started early :)

Lots of love,

Christa

Spring also brings change, and oh my we’ve got a lot of changes going on around here, so stay tuned. We also have a fun giveaway coming up this week so watch out for that :)

Lots of love & inspiration,

Christa

We spent the entire first day of the workshop discussing how to work with women, flatter every size and shape, relax nervous clients and bring out the best in every woman. We covered essential posing, shooting & lighting techniques that every photographer can rely on to capture gorgeous photographs…

During the creativeLIVE workshop, we covered posing and how slight adjustments in posture can really enhance curves. For example, dropping her left elbow behind her body, putting her hand at the height of her hip, dropping her knee and working that extreme posture all work together to enhance this gorgeous gal’s hour-glass figure… (and let’s be honest: wearing a corset helps too :)

We also discussed crossing your subject’s arms in her lap when shooting a close-up. Again, creating lines that curve when they hit the end of the frame…

I also demonstrated how coaching actions is a simple way to create natural movement (instead of stiff poses), eliminate your subject’s nerves, and create photographs with some emotion and life!

A woman enjoying herself and her body, getting undressed, smiling and flirting is just too cute and so damn sexy… These were just a few of the actions I coached while shooting. (ps. and as I said throughout the workshop – make sure to add the FAN!)

Lastly, good posture is divine: straight back, relaxed shoulders, elongated neck, chin/hips/chest out… easy peasy.

These were just a few of the tips covered in my 3-day creativeLIVE Boudoir Workshop (more photos & tips coming soon!).

But the real secret sauce to flatter any woman regardless of your subject’s size, shape or age: focus on her personality, confidence, her favorite features / body parts, and her enjoying herself!

That’s it baby.

Because the sexiest trait in a woman is happiness, and confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear.

xo Christa

ps. I’m coming to you from Vegas baby – here for WPPI. If you’re attending, stop by and say hello! I’ll be judging the print competition in the Portrait category on Sat and Sun. And I’ll be teaching a MasterClass in Boudoir on Wed at 2:30p – since it’s a MasterClass, the seating is limited, so snag one by registering online for my class when registering for WPPI. If you’re already registered for the conference, sign-up for my class by calling 1.877.779.3127. See you there!

(Both completely rock my world and give me passion for every day.)

 Lots of love, nudity and inspiration…

xoxo, Christa

Our in-studio participants said it was their favorite segment thus far as well, and saw a totally different part of me come alive. I am in the zone when shooting nudes. Many aspects are completely different from shooting boudoir with real women, and both are integral aspects of my brand and business, which was part of the discussion during this “After Dark” segment.

You can watch a sweet sneak peek trailer of the After Dark segment here.

I would love to share my passion for shooting Fine Art Nudes with you, and I hope that you get a chance to watch it via the download you can purchase.. You will see that my shooting style is different from the rest of the weekend’s shoots, in how I coach & pose my model, my rhythm of shooting, my energy and my focus. I think it’s a valuable and essential practice for the boudoir photographer, with skills you can bring into building a successful business.

Here’s a little sneak peek….

Nude model + sheer fabric + fan = one of my all-time favorite set-ups!…

Thanks so much for tuning in and sharing your love via comments, tweets and Facebook updates – I am so grateful for all the enthusiasm! It has been such a powerful and fun experience sharing my love for and experience in this industry with creativeLIVE’s worldwide audience.

Tune in to Day 3 today for one more surprise, a couple more shoots and discussion about building a successful business – sales, pricing and marketing.

Lots of love, nudity and inspiration!

xoxo Christa

ps. you are able to watch the “After Dark” shooting segment with purchase of the download  (which is a freaking steal at $99) when you buy it before end of day today!

If you’d like to watch me shoot and see behind the scenes of this shoot went down, get it in gear and get signed up for the FREE live event this weekend!

More soon :)

Christa

ps. Once you enroll now, you’ll receive timely reminders so you don’t miss a thing!

Less than a week til my creativeLIVE Boudoir Workshop and I’m getting EXCITED! We have lots of sexy surprises in store for you, so I thought I’d share a super quick run down of the hot & sassy weekend we have coming up real soon!

CLICK PLAY to get the juicy deets…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAZH8UjAC2k

ENROLL NOW

See ya online from Seattle!

xoxo Christa

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