Queer Poly Bridgerton-Themed Session at Pope Farm Conservancy

When your friends are weird like you…

They agree to awesome and fun photo ideas like a queer, poly, Bridgerton-themed shoot filled with Regency-approved delicate & demure longing (and some not so Regency-approved and quite indelicate lusting). A HUGE thanks to Dana, Emily, Mariah, and Sami for agreeing to model for these shenanigans and for giggling with me in between shots, and also many, many thanks to Constanza from Velvet Rentals for schlepping the gorgeous picnic set all the way to the photo location I picked out at Pope Farm Conservancy. It was a lot of hauling, but the spot was perfect! Enjoy this glorious tribute to the art of adult dress-up and imagination, Queer joy, and of course, our own wink & a nod to Bridgerton and the Regency-era itself!

—Sam

Here are the vendors that helped make this session amazing!

Location: Pope Farm Conservancy

Picnic Set & Decor Rental: Velvet Rentals (the Fairy Witch picnic set we used is here)

Cake + Cupcakes: Little White Bakehouse (these cupcakes were as delicious as they were beautiful!)

Flowers: Klein’s Greenhouse (thanks to Renee at Klein’s for making up the beautiful bouquets you see here)

Hair for Sami Schalk: Harper’s Hair Culture (Amazing, right?!)

Masc Old-Timey Clothing: Historical Emporium

Femme Dresses: Selkie & Ava Gowns

 
 

Rene's golden goddess boudoir + empowerment session

Rene’s session was part throwback to the Janet Jackson era and part golden goddess vibes

And I love both of them! The first part of the session was really giving me all the feels of a Janet Jackson music video from when I was younger, and then we got to bust out the gold foil and kick things up a notch! This was so fun!

—Sam

 
 

Mari's edgy and bold boudoir + empowerment session

Mari wanted a bold mixed with retro vibe for her boudoir + empowerment session

And we had so much fun bringing this vision to life! She even brought old playboy magazines for a fun prop and absolutely killed her neon look!

From Mari: “I was impressed by the turnaround time on getting my photos back, and — due to my own self-consciousness — was floored by the sheer volume of photos I loved from the shoot. I definitely plan to do another shoot in the future!”

Ready to rock your own session your own way? Hit me up!

—Sam

 
 

Mara's saucy meets nerdy boudoir + empowerment session

Mara’s multi-faceted boudoir session was a dream!

Mara had a vision for her session that I absolutely loved, which was three different looks, all facets of her personality, that went from high glam (complete with dark eye makeup and deep red lipstick) to cozy nerdy book-lover with a lighter lip color and cute meets sexy bra & panty set with books on them, to her final look, sans makeup, that was a raw, vulnerable celebration of her body! I loved this concept of moving through multiple ways of being during the session, and ending with this naturally beautiful state. These photos are some of my favorites!

—Sam

 
 

Maureen's fun and playful boudoir + empowerment session

Photographers are awesome to photograph

Sure, we photographers all forget how to pose at first when we’re on the other side of the camera (since it’s so rare), but once we get going, we’re great! And one of my very dear friends Maureen Cassidy of Maureen Cassidy Photography / Foxy Studios had one of the most fun and playful sessions with me! She wanted to have a “one woman dance party” and that’s exactly what we did! Enjoy these super fun photos of Maureen!

—Sam

 
 

Emily's Tom of Finland inspired boudoir + empowerment session

Emily told me that they’d been wanting to do a session for a long time that captured their more masc of center side

And I was so thrilled to be able to work with them! They are an amazing human that I’ve known for years, and I credit them with connecting me with Our Lives magazine, who I’ve now been shooting images for for quite a number of years. I love Emily’s look, and am in love with the photos we were able to capture!

—Sam

 
 

Whryne's fabulous dress-up themed boudoir + empowerment session

Whryne brought all the good vibes with their clothing choices!

Their style, flare, and absolutely brilliant smile are all unparalleled. They were such a gem about rescheduling following a surprise gallbladder removal surgery, but the wait was worth it! I’m so glad I got to photograph them finally! Enjoy these fun photos from their session. Whryne’s outfits are a great example of things you can wear to a boudoir + empowerment session that aren’t lingerie or that don’t involve being nude, if that’s not your thing!

—Sam

 
 

Sara's golden hour governor's island boudoir + empowerment session

Golden hour outdoor boudoir session? Yes please!

Sara really wanted to do an outdoor shoot, and I was thrilled when we decided on Governor’s Island on Madison’s Northeast side! Governor’s Island is freaking beautiful (all year round, but in the fall particularly) and we had a blast walking around getting photos and laughing out butts off. It was chilly, but worth it!

—Sam

 
 

Sarah's romantic boudoir + empowerment session

Sarah wanted to do something a little special for her birthday boudoir session

She wanted a mix of flirty and romantic, so we played around and had fun in the studio for the occasion! I love how these turned out, and am so glad we got to do a belated birthday session for her!

—Sam

 
 

Sebastian's leather-themed boudoir + empowerment session

I got a puppy play crash course from the amazing Sebastian during his session

When Sebastian and I talked about what a gender affirming session would look like for him as a trans man, he said that one of the things that helps him feel most centered in his gender is leather, and puppy play. I had heard of puppy play, but didn’t know much about it, so Sebastian was kind enough to explain it to me, and even gave me a little crash course on the overlap between the leather community and pup community. He also wanted to work some fun top energy into his session, which we absolutely did!

Sebastian’s session was a blast and I am so honored to have been able to photograph him!

—Sam