House of the Book - Simi Valley Wedding Sneak Peek

 I can't say how blessed I was to be a part of this wedding. The Jewish traditions, the beauty of the bride, the excitement of the groom.  Everything fell into place that day in a beautiful, wonderful way.

I hope you enjoy this sneak-peek of the beautiful images to come!

This has been photoshopped...

Recently I got into trying to figure out just how much photos I see have been photoshopped. I was inspired by a UK newspaper article (don't think I'm actually in tune with world news, someone forwarded it to me here is the article). It talks about the United Kingdom's "Self Esteem Act" that makes advertisements label when they've photoshopped images.  I did this partly so I could learn about photoshopping and mainly because I wanted to know how much of what I see is real. In doing so I came across a few photos that genuinely shocked me. Here they are:

These images frustrate me because I feel like the first image isn't bad looking! Well, I don't really believe Madonna should be strutting around in lingerie that doesn't really flatter her but that's beside the point! The point is, why can't Jessica Alba have hips? And why can't Kim Kardashian have a real woman's skin tone on her thighs and normal sized thighs for that matter? She's a real person, no?

I'm showing you these images in the hopes that you and I will be better able to recognize what is real and what has been altered. When I get behind the wheel of photoshop I admit I use things like skin smoothing and brightening eyes and such. But what makes my approach different than these advertisements is the recipient. I know that these photos are going to a woman who wants to feel good in her own skin (and who is already gorgeous), so why would I alter it to make her see something different than she sees every day in her own mirror? What does that tell her? I use photoshop to make you look like you would on your best day so that when you look at them you'll feel good about yourself, not worse.

Anyway, I know this was a bit long but in writing this I'm reinforcing my own ideas in my own brain that what you see isn't always what you started with. It makes me a little less hard on myself.

Have you seen any photos online or in a magazine that you could swear have been photoshopped? Link them in the comments section, let's compare notes. :)

Live, love, and take pictures!

Kirsten

Three Women I don't look like and don't want to...

I wanted to write this big grand post about society and their view of what a woman should look like but after writing and deleting several drafts I'm just going to show you some pictures:

These are three beautiful images. I love the expression, the gentility, the strength and the sexiness. I keep these images on my pinterest board so that I can look for these qualities in my photographs as I'm shooting. Sometimes I'll take a break in between outfits so I can peruse this board to get inspiration so I've seen them quite a bit. In looking at these photos over and over and over again I realize as a photographer than not everyone is going to be able to pull these poses off. Beyond that as a woman I realize I will never be able to pull these poses off. I was not born with the DNA of a small woman, I can be fit, healthy and lean and I will never look like this. It's the plain truth.

So, if I can't change these images and I can't change my DNA what can I change?

My perspective.

I can change the way I perceive my own beauty by looking at images and women whom I can be like, who I find sexy who look like me. Who have the same body type as I do, who are freaking ROCKING their bodies and then I can aspire to be like them. So here are three photos of women I find sexy and beautiful, confident and strong:

Jayne Mansfield, hands-down one of my favorite women. In her day and age this girl was drop-dead gorgeous, and who could argue with that? I just wish a little meat on our bones still made us as "sexy" as it did back in the day, but who doesn't?

Of course Marilyn Monroe. In this photo she isn't putting on a face, she isn't playing it up for the camera. She looks very introspective (which after reading about her I found out that she was very introspective, smart, AND well-spoken) but she looks like she's got my hips and she's wearing a bathing suit without fear. Granted there's no one on the beach behind her buuuut I'm willing to let that slide ;)

And this lady. I don't know who she is (I could probably find out if I were to read the fine print but...) she is making women look good not in spite of her curves, not because she's got "curves", she's not "sexy for a plus size model" she's freaking gorgeous for a woman plain and simple.

So after my search to find beautiful women and some beautiful photography of women who look more like my size that still look gorgeous and sexy I've added a few more photos to my pinboard. So if you want some beautiful, real, photography check out this board.

Who do you look up to as your healthy role model?

Live, love, and take LOTS of pictures!


Kirsten

Family Photos Revisited

I love re-creating old family photos. This one turned out amazing!

I'm obviously a photographer and not a illustrator...

Yes, I drew this. You can see why I put my dreams of being a cartoonist away at an early age...

Why I do what I do...

I love boudoir photography. Why? A lot of people ask me this, they think I shoot porn. I don’t. Nor will I ever. (Although when someone tells me their significant other stacks their boudoir album with his naughty magazines I consider that a win.) Because all women want to feel like their significant other desires them.  The difference between what I do and what pornography is, you guessed it, that beautiful four letter word: l-o-v-e.

Some women do these shoots for themselves but a lot of the time they're doing it for someone they love.  The people I shoot love the person they're doing it for so I’m not just photographing body parts, or a sexy pose, I’m photographing their love for one another, her desire to please her husband/wife.  When she looks into my camera and connects--really connects--I know she’s not seeing a lens, she’s letting her guard down, she’s being the person he/she wakes up to, falls asleep to, the person they fell in love with.  That’s what I’m photographing. Yeah, she might be in lingerie which is obviously a turn-on but what does a photo have if it turns you on but doesn’t connect with you?  That’s what ART is about right? Evoking an emotion, not just lust. I’m not against Gay Marriage but for this instance I’m going to use a man and wife. My goal (whether it's right after a shoot or years later) I want that husband who as gotten so used to his wife that he can't see her any other way to crack the spine of that album see her as the beautiful, sexy, vulnerable, strong woman that he sees in those photos. I want him to want her outside of the album. And because this shoot has allowed her to show off these parts of her he can and he will.

In both cases I get to do a rare thing. I strive and push and pray to be a good mirror for other women.  We all have this view of ourselves that sometimes isn’t accurate and is sometimes downright unhealthy.  I try to reverse that thinking by handing them a photo of themselves that shows them, right there, in ink and paper, that they are beautiful and worthy.  Boudoir is one of those great mediums that allows you to see yourself in a totally different light.  I get to show women what I see in them, what other people see in them. Sometimes words aren’t enough to make someone believe they are beautiful, sometimes you need to show them. I am lucky enough to get to do that.  I have the opportunity (and now the responsibility) to increase your self-esteem and create a healthy body image THROUGH WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE! I'm not doing anything different to you, this is you, this is who you are, and you are a BEAUTIFUL and LOVELY woman.

 I wanted to be a therapist for a large part of my life (sounds strange, I know) but I think it’s because I want to give back to people. I feel fulfilled when I can make someone stop and think about something.  One of my favorite parts about my job (I know, I have a lot of favorites) is showing a woman her photos and she does this double-take thing where she’s looking at the photo and then back at me and then at the photo again with this wide-eyed suspicion and she looks up at me and says, “Is that really me?” and I love that feeling of being able to hand them to themselves and say, “Yes, and you really are that gorgeous.”

I hope they put their photos in a place where they see them every day and are reminded of how strong, courageous, and beautiful they are everysingle day. I hope I can give their beauty back to them.

-Kirsten Filonczuk

Creator/Photographer

Pink Dahlia Photography

Jump into bed and find out what we're all about

Since this will be my first blog post on my new website I thought I’d take a post to tell you a little bit about Pink Dahlia Photography and what it stands for.

PDP is about relationships.  How we relate to one another and how we relate to the world.  Photography is, to us, a way to showcase our relationships, whether it’s with a boudoir session between the happy couple or a family shoot with a small or larger family we want you to look at our photos and see your love for one another in the way you are looking at each other, looking at the camera or just the relaxed nature of your pose. 

We want to capture what you only see in rare photos in every shoot we do. 

Looking at it written out like that kind of scares me, scares me because it’s a tough goal to live up to every day, it’s a touchdown at every game, a half-court swish at the buzzer, a perfect over-easy flip at every breakfast (or brunch, or lunch, or dinner, who are we kidding?).  We know it’s a lot to live up to but the truth is we are pretty patient photographers.  As long as you have a moment when you let your guard down and feel comfortable (we’re good at helping with that too) we can capture that beautiful shot.

These are a few of my favorite shots because I had to be patient, I had to wait for a connection and it worked out.

Right before she said, "Yes."

Right before their daughter said, "I do."

This was just after a joke about being new parents.

Right before she stopped spontaneously spinning

     That’s what sets us apart from the rest, we will wait for that one special moment and SNAP! It doesn’t come around very often in a shoot but when it does it’s almost transcendent. When I see it later on a computer screen it almost makes me want to leap out of my chair (and sometimes I do).  It’s a great combination of feeling like you did a good job and the joy of being able to give that back to someone, proof that you saw what they see every day: love and adoration. 

That’s why I’m a photographer. That’s why I love what I do.

-Kirsten Filonczuk

Creator/Photographer

Pink Dahlia Photography