Intimate Lifestyle Portraiture

There is something to be said for the unstaged moments, the moments where most people are typically not watching.

This is the goal of our Intimate Lifestyle Portraiture sessions that we offer to our return clients.

Now of course I will still pose and shoot like a normal session, but the difference is that we are creating a different set and a story now…a story about you and who you are. Be it in your home among your things, in your barn along with your animals, or in the favorite hotel room you stay in every time you go to NYC between photoshoots while you scarf down a pizza and some swigs of champs before running out the door to to get to your spa appointment.

These sessions are about YOUR reality. The quiet moments, the loud moments, the intimate moments usually saved for behind closed doors.

When you come for your first session we create glamour and unleash your inner sexual being, but when you return we create the story that captures this intimacy in a way that is unique to only you.

Erin and I had a blast in NYC last time we were there, despite me coming down with the plague, we still managed to get in, what might be, my favorite photoshoot of Erin to date.

Makeup leftover from that mornings makeup client and a 3 hour drive later we were ravenous and ready to finally relax before running out the door to our spa appointment. Having originally planned to photograph Erin the next morning, we saw the light coming in the room from the early setting sun and decided to say “fuck it” and do the shoot then and there….to capture the reality of the moment and of this extraordinary life that we are lucky enough to be able to live.

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Hair and Makeup by Erin Marie Artistry

Return Client: Rustic Fine Art On-Location Boudoir

There are few things that make me happier that when we have clients return for us for a 2nd or 3rd photoshoot!

Did you know that we offer 3 different types of shoots, with 2 of only being available to our returning clients?

We offer the Self Love Experience which are our studio sessions available to all clients and a requirement before you are eligible for one of the other types of sessions we offer. Our return clients however get some of the really, really good stuff!

Available to return clients ONLY are the following two types of sessions!

Fine Art On-Location Boudoir: This is your opportunity to go to a new location or out in nature, chase the sunsets, get into the water, you name it!

Intimate Lifestyle Portrait Sessions: where we go to our clients homes and photograph them in their natural space. These shoots are always some of my favorite and usually the 3rd time clients come to us. There is something about keeping it completely natural…almost always nude and comfortable, and capturing you in the reality of your life. Where you see piles of dirty dishes, We see incredible opportunity to create intimate and real art.

Soooo…Had your first session and already itching for another – let’s do something new! Let’s chase the sunset, lets go to your house and make folding laundry look like the sexiest thing you have ever done!

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This #LRPBoudiebeauty came back to us as a return client for her second session not long after her first. We had discovered the incredible M&D Farms and were dying to go explore the space and put a call out in our VIP Group for the opportunity to shoot in this space. This babe answered the call!

There is something magical about M&D Farms….I know what it is and why it is…it is the owners. It is Mario and Daniel. Their passion for creating ambiance that incorporates a multi-cultural vibe with good at home appeal is not lost on the many brides that book their weddings there and films that are filmed there…but more than that they have an energy that is so warm it can be felt from the second you pull up to the driveway.

You walk into the Farmhouse and you can smell the amazing food Daniel is cooking and hear the laugh of Mario and are instantaneously embraced by a true and genuine welcome and gratitude for coming to their space to create. This space is not just made for weddings and events…this space is made for artists…it is a hub for creation.

….and create we did…

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Oh…I forgot to add that since it was shot on Halloween we changed this babe into a 2nd look so she could go back to NYC for the parade…we drove around until we found what we thought was the perfect side of the road location…which it was not…we were stopped by security, grilled, threatened to be put on the Homeland Security watch list, and pretty scared shitless. A few raises of the vocal octave and eye bats later they let us leave…apparently we decided to stop in front of a nuclear plant. Uh oh!

At least it made for some epic futuristic shots and check out that epic makeup by our Glam Goddess Erin Marie Artistry

Chasing the Light Boudoir

You know that old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”? well, that saying is especially true for this session. Beth had pre-scouted some locations near her house “creepy places” as her and her (super talented) bestie and makeup artist, Erin Muller, call them. One of the locations was an old abandoned farmhouse and the other was literally a broken down building and broken down car lot. The thing is, location matters, a little, but what really matters is being able to chase the light, to find it and to harness it to bring out that sort of magical feel to the session.

I talk about light alot…both on a physical plane of thinking but also on a more spiritual and existential level. There is so much darkness in this world, that I am often left wondering how we can bring just a little more light in. For me I have found that through empowering women to love themselves.

There is so much darkness in this world, that I am often left wondering how we can bring just a little more light in.

Beth is one of those people that radiate light, that walk around with such a bounce in their step that you would almost assume they were floating. It is people like her that remind me that it is ok to be a little lighter on my feet, lighter on myself really….with all of the terror and darkness and jealousy in the world, to be around a group of women who’s sole mission was to show that it is ok to feel beautiful was….well…it was enlightening. Uplifiting really.

There are women out there who want you to succeed, who want you to feel beautiful, who want you to soak up the light in life…don’t let the things of the past dictate how you feel about yourself today. I think we can all take a little lesson from my experience shooting with Beth…just be a little bit lighter…on your feet, in life…on yourself.

A special thank you to Cassondra of Changes Salon for the beautiful hippie hair and to Erin Muller Makeup for the gorgeous boho babe look!

Outdoor, On-Location Boudoir

You may have already seen the behind the scenes video for this shoot, if not, now is your chance. I think instead of typing all about our on-location shoots we will let Carolyn, share, right from the mouth of babes, what the experience was like for her.

Watch and then check out the final images from her session below!

A special thank you to Cassandra McKenna for the beautiful, retro hair and makeup at to Maisie Snyder for the beautiful cinematography on our behind the scenes video. I am a believer in empowering women and I am lucky enough to have an amazing group of women who support and empower me too <3

Fall Outdoor Boudoir

Carolyn and I were introduced about a year ago through our mutual friend Sarah. Sarah must have known from the start that connecting the two of us would result in nothing but pure magic. Carolyn is one of those down to earth girls that exists in the moment, she doesn’t care about the latest trends or what the Kardashians are wearing (yes I am a admitted Kardashian addict, judge me, its fine, I judge myself for it.) Because of this, her style absolutely and positively rocks! It is who she is, what she is feeling in the moment, and it is bad-ass! She legit has a pintrest lookbook of her wardrobe and when it came time to style her session, she gave me free reign to put together whatever outfits I wanted from her collection. I was literally drooling at some of her awesome pieces…um kitty panties and pegasus heels?! yes please!

Despite the insane rush of the fall / holiday busy season, I was so obsessed with this session that I forwent sleep in exchange for editing to make sure that I got it out just in time for my favorite holiday of the year! An entire holiday where everyone is almost as weird as I am, it is much easier to find awesome skull-y things, and where Nina Simone plays on repeat (see above, you are welcome 😉 <3)

So Ghouls and Gals, Happy Fall – Happy Halloween – Happy best time of the damn year!

A special thank you to Cassandra McKenna for her beautiful makeup artistry!

Curated Print Products

“You never know the value of a picture until it is all you have left.”

I’m sure you’ve heard that statement before. I know I have, but had never given it much thought until photos were all I had left. Before going into photography, I always used to take pictures with my phone and post them on Facebook. It wasn’t until October 16, 2013, when I lost one of my dearest and oldest friends in a tragic accident, that I really learned the value of self-preservation through pictures. When photos are all you have left to remember someone by, their value increases astronomically! I think back and remember when my grandmother passed away, going through her old pictures and stumbling upon a box of old prints from when she was younger. It was incredible to see time preserved in these photos, holding them in my hands transported me to a time before I even existed. That is the power of pictures, to transport us, to freeze time. All that is left behind when we are gone are our pictures and memories. Seeing her so young, with her hair perfectly coiffed and posed, I am reminded of old black and white modeling photos of Judy Garland. Luckily, I have an old vintage nighty of hers that my mother kept for me. I shot my dear friend Kristen in it. (Check it out in a previous blog post!)

I love social media and the age of the internet, but with technology ever evolving I sometimes fear for the future of our digital memories. We went from huge disks, to floppy disks, to cd’s to usbs…as each of these mediums become outdated, we loose more and more of our pictures and memories. Thankfully, the one thing that can’t be outdated or replaced by the newest technology is prints.

After months and months of sourcing every professional print lab in the United States, England, Australia, etc. I finally ended up with a Canadian, professionals only, print lab. The albums are handcrafted in the finest Italian tradition. These prints are heirloom quality, and truly designed to last forever. My new website, with a brand new products page is launching later this year. In the meantime, here is a sneak peak of our newest collections:

Just a few of the many swatches from our options for your album cover!

And of course our boutique packaging <3

Are you ready to preserve your legacy and take part in an empowering long term investment to capitalize on your individual beauty?

Lets chat!

Email me at Lindsay@photographybylindsayrae.com

Troy, NY Portraits

Miss Kitty P, also now known as the leading lady for the band Donner Social, (You have to hear the pipes on this girl – she can saaaannngggg!) has graced my camera again! Can you believe she actually let me color her hair? Yes, she bleached it out and then let me have my way with it doing a bold lavender to blue ombre…I am sort of obsessed, and not just because I did it myself! Once of my favorite things about Kitty is her ever evolving style, she doesn’t try to fit in, she just wears what she wants when she wants it and the same thing goes for her hair. That confidence in being 100% herself is something that totally inspires me, and that all of us women can take a tip from!

This time we set out to capture the last of the setting summer sun in Downtown Troy for our Ruby Rose inspired session.With Orange is The New Black being one of the hits of the summer, we were super inspired by Ruby Rose’s feminine yet still androgynous style, and more specifically, her super girl ability to rock a blazer with any outfit and make it sexy as hell!

For indoor boudoir sessions, try mixing a sexy blazer with high waisted bottoms (for my curvy ladies, like myself) or lacy bikini bottoms (for the slender or more athletic builds) with a lacy bra or even no bra for a super sophisticated and provocative look.

Self Portrait

There has been a challenge of sorts circulating around the Boudoir community to get in front of your own camera. I decided to take this challenge. You may have seen the amazing session that Cate Scaglione of Life As Fine Art captured for me, if not you definitely should check it out HERE, this session captured the me that I try to put out into the world. Sophisticated, elegant and a bit edgy…

However….the time has come to really just allow myself to be raw, to live in the emotions that I am feeling and to embrace the beauty of not only light, but darkness.

Let’s be honest here, as amazing as life is, we all go through trials and tribulations and things that make us sort of want to curl up into a ball. I went through one of these things recently when I faced a total violation and breach of trust. I will be honest, I really let this event in my life affect me, bring me to tears and make me question my love and trust in people in general. I gave myself about 5 days to “wallow” in my sorrow before my beautiful clients snapped me right out of it by embracing their own experience. I got a call at 930pm last night from one of my new clients from NYC, this client might have been my most nervous and vulnerable client to date, but she went through this amazing transformation in front of my camera. She has finally gotten a chance to view her gallery and called me to tell me how “hot” she looked. That moment, of hearing my client love herself, that is what snapped me out of it…now the residual feelings from what I went through are still there, but I decided to give myself the experience I give my clients in front of my own camera.

I embraced the moment I was in, no makeup, no clothes, not even a brush through the hair. Completely vulnerable and emotionally exposed, I just went for it. I have been photographed before…but I have never photographed myself with anything aside from my cell phone, so this was especially challenging for me. More challenging than getting the settings right for the dark, emotional vibe I wanted to capture was the self-talk. I had to talk myself into trusting myself, the same way I ease my clients into trusting me, and by the end of my session with myself, I felt free of all of the darkness that has been surrounding me lately…almost like the camera sucked it all up.

What you see may not be the best technical photography or best poses I have ever done, but they are raw, they are me, and they are my way of saying “I am in this with you girls”

In the words of my dear friend Rebecca Williams “I honor the skin I am in.”

Ms. Kate Outdoor Boudoir

I decided to do a little something different and create a video of Kate’s images along with sharing them here.

Kate’s session was pretty special to me, because she came in open hearted and accepting of whatever crazy things I threw her way, like putting butterflies into her hair and playing with a large crystal. One of the things I think we learned from this session is that sexy is all a frame of mind. Your session can be anything that you want from flirty and whimsical to dark and demure. We decided to take a little dive into the imagination with this one…there is an air of magic about the session. We caught about 1 hour of clear skies between awful storms on the day of Kate’s session…the light left behind by the storm really gave a sort of eerie and gorgeous glow to the environment, add some fog off of the lake and you have a picture perfect setting for this mystical shoot.

Hair and stunning makeup by Erin Marie Artistry