Tag Archive: woman

Spotlight on Liz Dialto & Wild Soul Movement

Meet Liz DiAlto, founder of Wild Soul Movement.

Liz is one of my favorite people on the planet and a dear friend. You’ve gotta know her if you don’t already. Her outrageous laugh, deliciously inappropriate statements, and heart-centered full-gusto approach to life make me want to put her in my pocket…

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The first time I met Liz was for a 22-woman photo shoot I did for Marie Forleo and her mastermind ladies. Liz went way outside her comfort zone and posed for a picture wearing nothing but her hands over her heart. Which is so her. (Liz wrote beautifully about the experience in a popular post on The Daily Love.)

Our second shoot was for her now-discontinued Tighter in Ten fitness program, which was about working out, building muscle and weight loss. She was a personal fitness trainer and wanted to look cut in that shoot. You can take a peek at that photo shoot in my archives.

And not too long after that photo shoot she began a dramatic transformation…

In the two years since then, she’s let go of wanting abs of steel and softened her body and embraced her natural curves. She also softened her heart and approached her body with acceptance, trust and love. She embraced her feminine energy and let go of the masculine “work out”…

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She began practicing sensual movement, inviting more pleasure into her life, doing what felt good, and meditating…

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She practiced accepting her body and lovin’ on it…

In fact, there is NO PHOTOSHOP on these photos. She and I were in full-hearted agreement on that…

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So when I met up with Liz recently in Los Angeles for our third photo shoot for her new Wild Soul Movement program – I had never seen her so vital, alive, and absolutely shining with positivity, love and joy. Not to mention the confidence and body love she had was totally alluring and positively magnetic!

I’ll have whatever she’s having please. Well lucky for us, we can…

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Liz didn’t diet. But rather, she spent the last couple of years going inward to find complete acceptance of herself as she is and pouring all she’s learned into developing this new program for women. Wild Soul Movement is a 12-week video-based practice that combines soul-soothing movement, mantra and meditation…

Liz created it for women who want to feel confident, turned on, magnetic, worthy, and free.

As photographers who specialize in portraits for women, we want the same for our clients.

As women, we want the same for ourselves.

Join me and our special guest, Liz DiAlto, for a no-holds barred discussion…

“Body-Love and Self-Acceptance”
TOMORROW, Thursday June 5th at 1pm Eastern

Get the call-in details here.

She and I will discuss how we can help our clients and ourselves feel comfortable in our bodies and release what’s holding us back, and more…

See you on the call tomorrow!

With lots of body love,

Christa

ps. I’m also super excited to chat with Liz about the decision to go No Photoshop! with this shoot and the new policy my company has regarding retouching. So join us on the call tomorrow –  you don’t want to miss this!

Sienna

Running out the door to San Diego! to teach Boudoir & Lighting at PictageU over the next few days.  So here is part 2 of Sienna’s Wet shoot…  to tide you over.

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She’s just so cute!

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Ooooo, so Sophia Loren, right?

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Plenty more boudoir on the blog coming up… and one of these days I’ll post some of the lifestyle and travel portraiture I’ve been shooting as well 🙂

xo, Christa

 

Happy Anniversary! Plus, Top 10 Things to Do on a Boudoir Shoot

The Christa Meola Pictures Blog is 1 Year old!… yay! The first post I blogged last year was a Boudoir Shoot and focused on Top Tips on How to Feel Sexy while being Photographed.  It’s been such an amazing year of growth, and the blog has just exploded with visitors from all over.  Thank you for all of your comments, loyalty, support, and generosity.  I didn’t know how this blog would fly when I first started it, but I have to say, it’s been an amazing experience to share my work and life with all of you…   Many more exciting things to come this year, and I promise you: you will always be surprised at what’s blogged next!

Recently, I’ve been slammed shooting Boudoir for Valentine’s Day 🙂  and I’ve been swamped singing up photographers for my next Boudoir Workshop, “A Sexy Affair” on April 3rd and 4th! There are only a few spots left, so register soon!

In the meantime, here are my favorite Things to Do on a Boudoir Shoot – Enjoy!….

 

Top 10 Essential Things to Do on a Boudoir Shoot

1.     Have champagne and chocolate on hand
The champagne marks the shoot as a celebration and an Event.  It’s a toast to sexiness and relaxes everyone.  Chocolate is definitely a girl’s best friend and an excellent mood elevator, but more importantly, it’s the sugar rush needed after a few wardrobe changes and extreme posing… Hey, boudoir is hard work!

2.     Limit wardrobe changes
Outfits are fun, and variety is the name of the game!… However, wardrobe changes can quickly get out of hand.  Make sure your girl gets enough time to “vibe” in each one.  A nice selection of wardrobe changes can be simple:  just a thong and heels, a fantasy element, lingerie, or some dress up… Just remember: 5 different black bustiers is not variety.

3.     Chat like girlfriends – even if you’re a guy 🙂
While you’re both enjoying champagne and while she’s still in the hair & make-up chair… Yes, you want to tell her how much you love those shoes, chat about dating, last night’s escapade, tell her a self-deprecating story, etc.  and start playing with those outfits and getting really excited…

4.     Begin without fanfare
…Keep talking, drinking, and shooting while she’s still in the make-up chair and continue shooting before she even knows “the shoot” is starting.  I always say that I’m just doing lighting tests, or whatever.  Meanwhile, I’m really just giving her time to warm up and get used to a camera in the room while she’s half-naked 😉

5.     Demo the moves!
Show her the exact movement you want her to do.  This will take the performance pressure off of her.  Plus, she’ll see how ridiculous you look and won’t be shy about duplicating it 🙂

6.     Be high-energy!
Keep the energy high, and you’ll get fun, lively, sassy images!…   She will play off your energy, so bring it 🙂

7.     Be silly and playful
Keep the atmosphere silly and playful, so she will be bold and experiment with new and different things 🙂

8.     Talk talk talk!
Constantly reassure her… any moment of silence will cause her to doubt what she’s doing.  I provide a never-ending litany of “gorgeous, perfect, good – keep going… yes! that’s amazing… sooooo beautiful… ok, now flip your hair – perfect!  Yes, do it again… great!…

9.     Everything works “Great!”
— even if it doesn’t… You don’t want to kill the energy and make the poor girl embarrassed.  Most of what you guys do together may not work (that’s what’s awesome about editing!)  – but she doesn’t need to know that.  So say “GREAT!” but move on swiftly to something else when it’s not really working for ya.

10.     Call Her!
Give her a buzz later that evening to mention how much fun it was and how you took a sneak peek at the pics, which look amazing!!  Mention how bold and sexy she was… and how much fun you had.  Think about it: You saw her naked – she deserves a phone call afterwards 🙂

 

Happy shooting and Happy Vday!

xoxoxo!!

Christa