Life Archives - Christina Gressianu Photographer

Beyond Boudoir

January 3, 2017

When I talk to you ladies about what I do, frequently boudoir comes up. And when it does, there’s an interesting push-pull you feel. As though it’s mysterious and beautiful (pull) and daring and dangerous (push).

Let’s see if I can feed the pull and starve the push a bit…

First, let me be honest. A couple years ago I had my own boudoir portraits made for the simple reason that I felt like a hypocrite telling you about how it’ll be wonderful when I’d never done it. And yes, I felt the same push-pull you’re feeling. And it was wonderful.

Now, let me tell you something else. You are so much more than a butt and boobs. You’re more than legs in stilettos hooked into a thong. (what a freaking weirdo photo idea… that was clearly a man’s idea. You don’t know what I’m talking about? Google it…) You’re more than a flat or not-flat or stretch-marked belly. You are more than all of those put together… AND, here’s the clincher… while you are more than your body… it’s still your body!

What makes you beautiful and sexy isn’t JUST your body, and your body is part of it. What makes you beautiful and sexy is your confidence, your sparkling eyes, your playfulness, your willingness to be daring. And that’s both the push and the pull of boudoir, isn’t it? Don’t we all want to be daring in our lives!? Bold! And the whole daring part of being daring is that it’s scary! (Otherwise everyone would do it and there wouldn’t be anything daring about it)

If you’re tinkering with the idea of boudoir for yourself, then you can consider yourself done with this article…

If you’re considering it as a gift for someone, then keep reading. This boudoir portrait with the guitar is absolutely the one I’ve gotten the most comments from men on. Men love this one. Men rave about how sexy it is. Great, so what exactly is showing? Not boobs, not butt. A little hip, shoulders, back, legs and arms. The great thing about sexiness is that it’s not necessarily about how much skin you show. It’s about exciting the imagination, and that doesn’t require a whole lot of skin.

Think about what might be sexy that’s totally comfortable… being wrapped in white sheets? A giant mens’ dress shirt? That cocktail dress that hugs in all the right places?

Even if you want to do a boudoir session as a gift for someone, it’s still your session. It’s still about you. You call the shots. You wear as much or as little as you like. I’ve been there. You’re safe with me. And nothing ends up on my website without your ok. And when we’re done, you’ll feel like the smoking hot woman-on-fire that you are. You might be hungry too.

Thank you so much for such a fun and self-esteem boosting session. I had a great time and I love the photos! ~ Starla

Book your session now while you’re feeling bold! If you wait, you’ll talk yourself out of it. Fill out the form and you’ll get some info, and then we can get on the phone!

Happy Father’s Day to the Superhero at Home

June 19, 2016

We forget. We forget a lot of times that we have a real-life superhero in our midst, every day. Our dads. Like the superheros we watched growing up- you still watch them too, don’t lie- our dad fights like hell, alongside with the rest of the family, to keep us afloat.

He protects, even if it’s just from a scary monster in the closet. Or the mean girl at school.

He provides, even if it’s just the miracle that dinner got on the table by 6:00PM.

He serves, because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his kid.

However, dad is not like the Marvel superheros in a lot of ways. There is no costume involved (let’s hope not, but more power to ya if there is…), there’s usually not a burning building with people stuck inside (although that’s what a household feels like sometimes), and dad doesn’t just fight crime at night- he fights it at all hours of the day.

I think a dad’s job is harder than that of a superheros. He works hard, day in and day out, just to get through the day without falling apart. Dad has to, somehow remember if the house has jelly or not when his 4 year old is crying and screaming about the fact that Dad won’t buy him ice cream. Dad learns how to braid hair and paint nails as his beautiful girl turns into a woman. And dad has to let his son- his sport-watching and car-fixing buddy- go when he says he wants to go away for college.

Moments like these take superhero strength- strength to achieve the impossible.

This Father’s Day, take a moment to appreciate your father, uncle, brother, grandfather, etc. and all of the impossible, superhero-like tasks they have done for your family. Their strength, guidance, and knowledge about life was the glue keeping your family together in the past, and is also what helped you get to where you and your family are today.

Senior Pictures – Fort Collins – Class of 2016

July 14, 2015

Seems to me that high school is a time of figuring out who you want to be in life. So from day to day you try on different costumes, different ideas, different ways to be. One day you go bright blue eye shadow and the next day you try thick black eyeliner. Some things you love stay consistent, you love to read, or play soccer or dance… all the way through high school. Other things come and go… and you relate to lots of them all at once… even if they don’t seem to go together.

Allie is a break-dancer and a pin-up… a natural and glam… all in one day, all in one Senior Photo Session.

Who do you want to be today? Your Senior Picture session is a chance to create all the ideas you have of who you are and who you want to be. Athlete, scholar, book worm, social butterfly… smiley happy, thoughtful, moody, theatrical, grungy, flowery… who are you and who do you want to be? Try them all out during your senior photo session with Christina Gressianu Photographer!

More details here. Or call now! 970-459-0000

How to Take Photos by the Christmas Tree with your iPhone

December 4, 2014

I just came across a blog post about taking photos by the Christmas tree, but the author was using a pro DSLR and recommended using a prime lens. Useless. If someone knows what a prime lens is, they probably don’t need your tutorial. Furthermore, even though I have a big pro DSLR and even a prime lens, I am not bringing it with me to family gatherings that involve people wandering around with beverages and children running around. That big camera is heavy and expensive, not to mention, the cornerstone of my business… so unless I’m working I leave the big camera home and rely on my trusty iPhone camera.

And so, for those of us with a fabulous little camera in our pockets, here’s how you use it to take great photos with Christmas tree.

1 – At all costs, avoid using the flash… unless you like that possessed by demons look. Turn off that flash!

Now, if your tree is in front of a big window, we call it “back lit.” When you’re taking a backlit photo, you have to trick the iPhone into over-exposing the photo for you…

If your tree is backlit, your iPhone wants to take this photo.

But, when you have your camera up, you can tap to tell it where to focus and base the exposure. So, after I took this photo, I tapped on a dark part of the tree. And boom! Properly exposed tree and subject, overexposed background. Makes a nice glowy photo.

backlit christmas tree iphone photo — Abby the dog doesn’t look too happy about having to stay put. Especially since there’s a treat to my right that she’s waiting to get when we’re done.

Another thing you can do with a big window, is have it to the side of the tree and subject. Sidelighting is generally very pretty and again, you can tap in the camera app on different areas until you get a good exposure.

Now, if it’s nighttime and you put someone near the tree, you’re going to get this photo. The tree looks good, but Allie is a bit in the dark. (Abby was done being my model. I roped the teenager in.)

We’re going to get a little fancier to get this working right… When you tap in the camera app, notice that it makes a box around your tapped area with a little sun to the right.

Sorry for the blurry photo. It was a challenge to get the screen shot in the moment that graphic was up.

Now you can slide that little sun up and down to brighten or darken your exposure. To get the photo below, I asked Allie to find her favorite ornament. (This works with toddlers too.) While she was doing that, I tapped on a dark spot to get the square and the sun, and then I slid that sun all the way up. Pretty magical, right?

If you want to photograph someone straight on with the tree though, you’re going to need some ambient light. For this photo, I just couldn’t get the iPhone to take a decent shot without turning on another light. I just turned on a lamp with a warm-white CFL in it. It doesn’t have to be that exact bulb, but light has color to it. Which is why some strings of LED lights look blue, and then they started making warm white LED lights. So you just want to turn on a light that is similar in color to your tree lights. Otherwise something’s going to look bluer or more orangy than the rest of the photo.

I’ll admit that my photos maybe have some grain and/or lack some sharpness. That’s because I’m pushing the boundaries of the camera. I’d rather have that though than possessed demon eyes and that hard bright light any day. Also, to help with the blur, when you’re taking low-light photos tuck your elbows in against your body. If you can, lean your back against a wall. And hold your breath for the moment you take the photo. All these things help stabilize your photo.

Lastly, it will take some practice to coordinate the tapping with the sun-sliding and the click to shoot. Find a willing subject and try it out before you go to that family gathering. And even though you’ll be the best photographer there, make sure you get in some photos too!

If you have any questions, ask in the comments. Happy holidays!

Why Your Husband Really Stares at those Victoria Secret models – It’s not why you think!

December 4, 2014

Has this ever happened to you? Your on the couch snuggled up with the Love of Your Life, watching that sitcom you both love (it was Chuck for us) when Leggy Blonde in Her Underwear shows up on screen, and your otherwise sweet and wonderful life partner forgets himself and wolf whistles. Wolf Whistles!! At Leggy Blonde who looks NOTHING like me! Hello?? I’m right here… you know, the woman holding your hand…

He didn’t understand why I was so offended. It was just a reaction. Which obviously just made me more upset. But fortunately, we are both graduates of the Landmark Forum so we were then able to have a conversation of what I was making his whistle mean and such. So that happened.

We’ve also been watching the BBC show Coupling recently, which is hilarious. Between my man’s wolf-whistle, all the boudoir shoots I’ve done, the incessant FB sharing of articles complaining that the Disney Princesses need to eat more and such, and the brilliance that is Coupling, something crystalized in my brain. I think this epiphany will help any woman whose husband forgets to finish his sentence when a scantily clad supermodel appears.

Here is it… the really reason why he can’t help himself when he sees a Victoria’s Secret Model (or similar)… are you ready?

Because…

She is Confidently Walking around in her underwear… and happy to be looked at. That’s it, ladies. Your husband has little to no concern for the measurements of any particular feature. He doesn’t care what color her hair is, or that her hair is even combed. He doesn’t care how tall/ thin / busty / tan / pale / etc she is. It’s a woman, confidently strutting around in her underwear, loving to be looked at.

And what do we do? We get out of the shower, wrap a towel around us as fast as we can, and say “What are you looking at?” That’s what I used to do.

Try it out… see if I’m right. Strut around the house in your undies. They don’t even have to match. But you do have to strut. And you can’t wilt when his gaze hits you. The confidence part is key. It will feel ridiculous. And that’s why we don’t do it, and then get upset when he looks at models in their underwear.

If the confidence part is the hardest, here’s what I have to offer:

1 – Remind yourself that this spouse of yours chose you. He didn’t settle for you. There are many fish in the sea, of all shapes, sizes and IQs. He actively chose you.

2 – No one cares about the measurements of any of your particular features nearly as much as you do. Everyone else looks at you as one whole person… not a set of boobs that are too ____, not a butt that is too _____.

3 – Book yourself a boudoir session. If you can’t strut around the house in your underwear yet, start with a photo session to as practice. You’ll be nervous until about 5 minutes after we start. I promise. Then you’ll have photos to see how awesome you look strutting around in your underwear. And then you can show him those photos and see how much he loves it. (He might even wolf-whistle) And then you’ll be strutting around the house like a model.