Mellow Melancholy – Troy | Saratoga Springs | Albany | New York – Boudoir

I recently was invited to go to Canada to teach at a camp for boudoir photographers that was hosted by the Do More Photographers Community! I believe there was close to 200 Boudoir Photographers from around the world who gathered at this children’s sleepaway camp to learn, shoot and bond.

It was a crazy and out of the normal experience for me, because anyone who knows me knows that I do NOT nature very well…the closest thing to sleeping in nature that I participate in is a hotel room with trees outside its window…and even that is out of the norm for me because I find my comfort in the concrete jungles.

On top of being so out of my element physically, having the pressure of educating 3 different groups of photographers in my craft had me totally in my nerves.

I did end up leaving camp early, once all of my responsibilities were complete, to make the drive back to NY with 2 of my girlfriends…I needed to get to solitude, I needed my bed, I needed by baby and my husband and I needed my city…but before I left I had made a promise to my long time internet bestie to get her in front of my camera.

I will let her take it from here….

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“It’s funny, Lindsay and I live on opposite coasts, are different in so many ways (I prefer to dress in simple black, I think that sums it up–lol) but our souls align so closely; a friendship born literally of artistic similarity in our way of seeing things. In the days following camp, we reveled in our experiences, trying to make odds and ends of our experiences and time.

            This session was shot in the last 15 minutes or so, before Lindsay began her trek home. In a post to the attendees at camp, she mentioned the mellow feel of our session, after a week spent teaching, shooting and solidifying friendships (including our own, which is magical, guys—what a treasure you have in this woman) which had left her exhausted and completely bug bitten. The session was a testament to the soul invigorating, yet exhausting time we spent together.

            For me? It was also a testament; mellow, even melancholy. I had to make the heartbreaking decision to take a pause with my own photography business, and camp was my last hurrah, so to speak. When seeing these photos, I thought of the sadness I had been feeling in losing something so precious to me, even if temporary, and the fear of total loss that haunted my soul. And I took heavy consideration into the things we do as women, roles we play and sacrifices we make.

            “My heart goes out to the women who work as many hours as she needs to reach the goals she sets for herself. I see you, your ambition is beautiful. My heart goes out to the woman who doesn’t let the world crumble beneath her feet out of sheer willpower. I feel you, your strength is palpable. My heart goes out to the woman who cries because the needs of others have to outweigh her own. I hear you, your tenacity gives me hope. My heart goes out to the woman who is able to find the joy in her heartache. I am you, and I’ve set honorable intentions.

            We do hard shit, ladies. We do it when someone is depending on us to. We do it when honor tells us it’s the right thing to do. We do it when others won’t. And we do it when we don’t want to. I’m proud to be part of those ranks. With you.

            And then, I felt strength in the melancholy, the mellow of these photographs; because my heart, my emotions and my love is a storm. What kind of magical shit is Lindsay’s art to make me feel all those things? Consider what it might feel like to consider yourself art in that way, and that should nicely sum up my feelings of these glorious photographs.

Thank you, my darling. For everything that you are. Everything you represent. For you.” ~ Mrs. M

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Makeup by me <3