A close friend caught me off guard the other day. She looked at me over her coffee and casually asked whether I use AI to edit my clients’ bodies.
It took me a while to answer not because I was unsure. I paused because I needed to remind myself why I started photography at all.
To answer her question, I don’t. For me, there is incredible value in remaining fully authentic to yourself and your body. In the world of boudoir photography in 2026, being completely true and authentic isn’t just unique, but it’s also incredibly empowering.
Today we are a world where we can create “perfect” faces and perfect skin with the use of Artificial Intelligence within seconds. We can use filters to reshape our jawlines when we’re brewing our morning commute. Everywhere we see images of people who have had their so-called “imperfections” smoothed out so much that you can hardly tell they are who they are. We have created an ideal beauty standard through technology that can never be achieved. And we constantly feel pressure to measure ourselves against something digitally created, not even real.
I will not be a part of this. When someone walks into my studio, that person is bringing his/her true and real self to that space. Their laugh lines, stretch marks, surgery scars that transformed their lives, their vulnerability, their courage. All of it.
In my experience of shooting authentic boudoir photography, I have learned that if I preserve the natural skin texture in the photo, the light reflects in a completely different way. Three-dimensional, lifelike, and, most importantly, it looks like an actual person, not some digital creation.
Once the texture disappears, you end up with a flat, plastic-looking hollow picture.
Unlike what we see on social media, pores are not flaws and freckles are not imperfections to be hidden. The tiny crease next to your eyes when you smile – that’s what I want to catch in the shot.
Your pictures are windows to your cherished memories caught in time that you can revisit anytime. Heavy retouching drains emotions out of the pictures.
When I edit too much, it strips everything away from the image. The feeling goes away, and feeling is what matters when it comes to authentic skin boudoir photography.
First, let me be very clear: My photos are edited. I am not just sending you an unedited photo after a shoot.
I do color correction to make sure that the colors show through properly. I erase anything that isn’t permanent: a spot from stress, a bruise, lint on the floor. I work with shadows and highlights to direct your eyes towards what you love most about yourself.
What I don’t edit is altering your figure or removing your skin or making you look like someone else. I can also do light skin retouching but you will always look like you!
Styles change in editing. Glamorous, blurred faces were cool at one point in time. Face-swap AI technology is all the rage right now. But just being yourself — that will never fade away.
And 10 years down the line, when you look back at these photographs, I want you to remember who you were at that exact second. Living, breathing, and real. Exquisitely gorgeous in your humanness.
Not some robotic creation. You.
That’s why you are sitting here with me.
Boudoir photography for real beauty and finesse in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Cañon City. No filters. No fakery. Just your most beautiful self.
