Tag Archive: Boudoir & Fashion

Secret Rendezvous

I had a very secret rendezvous recently… Mrs. C and I planned this surprise shoot as a Christmas gift for her husband, and I just heard from her today letting me know that he was beyond thrilled!  And even better, Mrs. C mentioned how good she felt during the shoot and how she loves the pictures and feels amazing! Now that is what’s deeply fulfilling to me… giving women the gift of feeling good about themselves.

It all started in The Biltmore Hotel lobby with la belle femme…

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Did someone ring for Maid Service?

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My #1 absolute favorite photo set-up: a hotel bed, white sheets, big window, and nothing but nakedness…

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I love this shot… it reminds me of being a girl, being in love, and being in Paris.  Mrs. C is wearing the La Perla lingerie that her husband gave her on their honeymoon about 8 years earlier, and I asked her to think back to the first time she had it on…

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With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ll be shooting lots and lots of beautiful women coming up…

But you don’t need a holiday to give your man or yourself the amazing gift of feeling good and feeling sexy 🙂  It just takes a simple decision to be that way.

Wishing you lots of moments overflowing with feeling good!

xoxo,

Christa

ps. You can see more of Mrs. C in the post “Private Dancer.”

 

 

Private Dancer

Boudoir at the Biltmore!… One of my sentimental favorite places is #703 at The Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA.  I’ve been shooting there for a year now… You can take a peek at my first shoot at the Biltmore HERE… in that post, I also give girls

10 Tips on How to Feel Relaxed & Sexy when being Photographed…

Here’s a quick sneak peek from Friday’s shoot at the Biltmore with a girl who is gorgeous and glamorous and manages to pull off the hot sexy edgy thing too.  Let’s call her Mrs. X — I can’t show pics that reveal too much until after Christmas, since this is a surprise gift for her hubby 🙂

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I’m looking forward to sharing the rest of this shoot with you as well as a few more boudoir shoots I’ve got booked at the Biltmore through December… it’s been one hot sexy fun season!

xoxo,

Christa

Nadine, Naughty and Nice

It’s fun to rock the sweet and salty thing… and not many women can do nice and naughty like Nadine.  Here’s just a little peek into our Boudoir shoot at Casa del Mar.  Amazing hair and make-up by Monica De La Rosa.

CAUTION:  These images contain nudity.  Although, I chose not to post the pics we shot in the shower, since those are way too XXX for a family blog 🙂

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As I wind down my hectic family portrait season in the next two weeks, I look forward to continue shooting lots of boudoir for surprise Christmas gifts 😉  Although not all of those shoots will be posted, since you just might be one of the lucky recipients!

xoxo,

Christa

Ooh, la la!

A sneak peek into Mademoiselle Nadine’s boudoir… shot at Casa del Mar in Santa Monica on Tuesday.  Although Nadine may seem all sweet and serene lounging on this chaise… things heated up quickly and we finished the shoot in a glass shower!

I’ll post more soon…  Lots of boudoir sessions this week 🙂  and a big heartfelt thank you to Monica de la Rosa for an amazing job with hair and make-up.

We all have to go out to Bottega Louie again soon!

xoxo,

Christa

 

 

Room Service, Part 2

Hello boys! If you didn’t get enough of Madison’s hotel boudoir shoot yesterday – here is a peek inside Room #703.  Whew, M’s got one kickin’ silhoutte!

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Can’t you just feel this?!

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I don’t know why, but I love this one.  Maybe it’s the look in her eye and the messy imperfect hair…

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We just had to do this once we saw that sign in the room…

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Well we were all wiped out after that shoot, had a drink at the hotel bar, grabbed dinner at Bottega Louie downtown (my new favorite place), and went to bed early!  Coming up: Beach shoots, Boot Black No.2, albums, fine art, and more…

xoxo,

Christa

Room Service

I love hotels. I love luxury.  I love Room Service.  Breakfast in bed.  Big bathtubs.  Bathrobes.  City views.  Late night snacks.  At-your-service staff.  Oh, I can go on and on!!…  Here’s a recent boudoir shoot with Madison at the Biltmore in downtown LA.  It’s her birthday today (Happy Birthday Madison!!), and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate then a boudoir session at a great hotel with your best gal pals 🙂  More to come tomorrow….

“Love in an elevator!… Livin it up when I’m going dowwwwwn!”…. -Aerosmith

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I love this historic photo-mural on the wall at the Biltmore… when men were men 🙂

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More pics of Madison tomorrow… when we get inside the hotel room!!

xoxo,

Christa

Real Women

I love real women, and I enjoy helping them see how beautiful they are.  I’ve been so fortunate to work with some incredible girls and every boudoir shoot I’ve done has been fun and memorable.  However, there is something I need to address: I’ve received a ton of emails from girls all asking me the same question – here’s a recent example:

Hello Christa,

First let me say your work is amazing. It looks like you have had some gorgeous women to work with, so I’m sure that helps.

I wanted to know if you only work with professional models or are willing to shoot an average woman?? such as myself. I am looking for a wedding gift for my soon to be husband and this is something I’m sure he would like…

Thank you,

J.

So to answer all y’all’s question: Yes yes yes!!.. every single one of my boudoir shoots are regular girls, not professional models.  With the single exception of Shelby, who’d like to model some day professionally, all of my shoots are with the girl next door.  Regular girls.  Like me.  Like you.

There was Karen, a writer. Lisa, a marketing professional.  Simone, a physical therapist.  And lots of regular girls in the coming weeks…

And most of the girls call me with the same concern… “um, I’m kinda shy – this isn’t really like me to do this – I don’t love my butt – I don’t know how to pose – I’m really nervous.” So, I thought it would be fun to give you a peek behind-the-scenes of a boudoir shoot with me.  So you can see just how silly and fun and REAL it is…

Here isJane, a schoolteacher, and me before her shoot.  I thought it would be hysterical to bring a wig for one or two shots, and I’m sporting it here.  My dorkiness is really shining through here in all it’s glory.  lol!  ps. to make it worse, my shirt is inside out.  Jeesh – can’t take me anywhere.

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Make-up for photo shoots is a bit different than everyday make-up, so I highly encourage a professional make-up artist, and Jeff is the best.

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Nadine, a stay at home mom, getting extensions…

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Here’s Simone and me… getting crazy with the Reddi Whip.  This pic cracks me up for obvious reasons, but here’s a few that aren’t apparent: 1. It’s actually shaving cream we used, 2. Minutes earlier, I had fallen off a stool I was standing on, 3. that fall broke Simone’s toe (she’s fine now, thankfully), but we were having so much fun that she didn’t realize it until later that night.  ps. again, what is up with my shirt?? this is why I say “no prints” on a photo shoot!

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Even my mom, a human resources professional, did a boudoir shoot with me.  For her birthday this year, we had a couple of her best girlfriends come after the shoot to celebrate (see pic at the beginning of this post).  By the way, I love when girls bring their best friend to the shoot – they are so supportive and helpful, will hold the fan, tell you that you look great, even lotion up your legs, make you laugh and we’ll have even more fun.  So please do bring your girlfriends, if you like!…  This is my mom’s raunchy friend Kim.

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Lastly, if you’ve looked at some of my boudoir shoots you’ll see the girls are all amazing and beautiful, and here’s a few reasons why:

  1. Everyone looks their best when they are genuinely having a good time and enjoying themselves.  That is my highest priority on every shoot.
  2. Every woman is beautiful in her own way, and it’s my job to find that, bring it out, and then capture it.  Let me say that again – it bears repeating: every woman is beautiful in some way, and it is so fulfilling to make each shoot very personal and customized to each girl.  Whether she’s got an incredible smile, a feisty spirit, curvy hips, a certain look in her eyes, etc…
  3. Plus, make-up artist extraordinaire, Jeff, will work his magic.
  4. And Vanessa will get your ‘do all did.
  5. Lastly, I will do a little photoshoppin’ and we’ll call it a day.

We’re all just regular gals… real women.  Having fun.  Celebrating life.  Being ourselves.  Being sexy.  Being silly.  Wearing our shirt inside out.

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See? – being in front of my camera isn’t intimidating right? :))

xoxo,

Christa

ps. for more tips on how to feel relaxed and sexy on a photo shoot,check out this post!

Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Pt 2

Prancing around naked in my studio is always a lot of fun. Most girls start out asking for a robe and within minutes they’re sporting nothing but a smile.  Before Simone and I got crazy with the whipped cream shooting our take on Herb Alpert’s album cover (see yesterday’s post), we tried to capture the more serious moments in between the silly… so here’s the beautiful dramatic side of Simone…

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Uh ohhhh, the silly popped out 🙂

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Whipped Cream & Other Delights

“Whipped Cream and Other Delights” by Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass… seems this album cover really affected a lot of young lads during the mid-60’s.  Including Simone’s husband Nick when he was a preteen.  Nick recently confessed to Simone that he felt stirrings for the first time in his young life when he saw this image. So when it came time to decide on a gift for her soon-to-be husband, Simone decided to recreate this iconic image with my help.

Ps. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Simone resembles the woman on the cover exactly.

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What really intrigued me about this shoot was the “Other Delights!!” – I wanted to really make sure that Nick was provided with some Other Delights and that title wasn’t just an empty promise, as before.  Well, we wound up with so many juicy sexy hot bonus de-lightful images that I need to post this shoot in two parts.  More to come tomorrow!…

Warning: my site honors the human form in all his and her glory aka: nudity!!  Hide the children.

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No Plain Jane

Jane is one helluva gal. I photographed her wedding three years ago, and now her whole extended family has become close friends of mine.  She and I cooked up this surprise boudoir shoot while her husband John, a film producer, was away at the Cannes Film Festival… and boy will he be welcomed home!

The shoot was inspired by three main elements: 1) John’s love of black and white film posters from the French New Wave or La Nouvelle Vague,  2) Jane’s gorgeous skin, which made me think of Bouguereau paintings like “Evening Mood” which I once posed for! (a story for another time), and 3) her upcoming transition to being a nonsmoker.

So we wanted to celebrate all of these influences, and the results make me so happy.

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I would love to share my favorite most beautiful pics from the shoot, but those entail a see-through scarf and nothing else but a smile!… Credit goes entirely to Jane, who never thought she could do “this type of thing” and wound up going all.the.way.  I love it when people push outside their comfort zones.  That kind of courage is really attractive.

Tomorrow, I’ll post pics from my wonderful boating outing this weekend!… and soon – the album design from this shoot, an engagement session, my favorite character, photo parties galore and plans for shooting in Italy!

xo,

Christa

 

Miss Nadine

Nothing sexier than a girl having a good time!… especially if she’s a brunette in jeans and a white tank top… or no jeans and no tank top…  or, well it does go on and on, doesn’t it?….  That’s if you’ve got the right girl!

It’s torture not to share my favorite images from Nadine’s shoot, but they are definitely Rated R, and this is a family show.

So here are a couple of G-Rated ones… sorry fella’s :))

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