about mark

mark laurie

Mark offered the first nude & boudoir photography studio in Calgary and remains the best. His imaginative portraits expand beyond the typical “lingerie and satin sheets” boudoir. Mark’s creatively passionate presentation of women has earned him the honour of being the most awarded photographer in his niche in Canada. Possibly North America.

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Her Nude Photo Shoot Was Her Adventure

Her Nude Photo Shoot Was Her Adventure

Her Nude Photo Shoot Just before her Southeast Asian Tour

Not everyone comes in for empowerment or confidence. This client loves adventures. Clare’s session happened just before she left on a 6-month trip through Vietnam and South East Asia by herself. She has gone on alone trips like this before.

She is so vibrant, eager to experience everything, clever and a lot of fun. Her session was a bold creative delight for me. Her book became the perfect travelling companion.

She had free-spirit parents, a curious mind, and a fearless approach to life. Interestingly the degrees she was chasing were in accounting. Her wonderful mix of left and right brain approaches gave her the desire for a bold, creative photography session.

Clare had kept her figure trim, so little clothing was used in her session. She ranged from demure to artistic body sculpting to sensual poses. Her personality, with all its quirks, was thoroughly explored. Guiding her experience was to have fun, to fully express herself.

Her Book Was Her Traveling Companion

She created a book that we got back just before her tour. It was to be her sole travelling companion.

While Clare was not coming from a low confidence state, she felt her session, and the images drove her up a few notches. One of the book’s purposes was to be her reminder, her nudge to stay bold and exciting.

topless nude of woman bW Inner Spirit Photo
BW art of woman

So many of our clients arrive with a need to find what Clare already had. They are turning to Inner Spirit Photography to discover their boldest confidence.

Susan shared, “Being bold, being true to yourself, that I can accomplish something. I can be who I wanted to be, without hesitation, without being . . . If somebody says, “Oh no, you can’t do that.” And I would say, ‘Yeah, I can.”

Susan’s nude session became her anchor, her high-water mark to her “I can do anything!” stance. When she experiences moments of doubt, she pulls out her book; remembers her day; her emotions.

She started out unsure if she could do this nude / boudoir photo session. Concerns on her body, her ability to pose, to give or even have different expressions.

Lots of Doubt Overcome

There was, she pinioned in her planning session, lots of doubt she could do this. That even if she could, would any of her images turn out? Which she was pretty sure would be devastating to her self-image.

These are typical concerns, especially for my older clients.

One client explained her apprehensions with her body “that showed more road wear” than when she was younger.

A big part of this is the transitions of life. Lifestyles, having had kids, various illnesses, sporting injuries; all start to show up when you get older. Often magnifying the confidence issues.

A regret I hear most often is women wishing they had done this when they had “Ferrari” bodies. As a few clients have expressed, they did not appreciate the “chassis” of their youthful bodies.

Moody BW nude woman
Sculpted BW nude

Being sexy, embracing your body, being confident about your body has little to do with the shape of a women’s body. It’s more a perspective about you, the person inside.

This is where a nude or boudoir photography session is so empowering. Your mind knows you are going out on a limb. It becomes very uncomfortable; all the insecurities show up as reasons not to do it.

Your mind loves the status quo; it will enlarge fear to stay there.

This little voice of doubt creeps in.

My Observation

My observation is the level of this varies from woman to woman. Their backgrounds, what they have experienced, how long they have been apprehensive about their bodies. How often their personal barriers are broken.

Many of our clients do their nude or boudoir session in Calgary, our home base. Others take us to international locations. Either can be the start of the habit of breaking boundaries.

Once it starts and works, the mind begins to crave more until it becomes a habit.

There is a rush when a scary experience turns positive, a chemical release that your body and thus your mind loves. It is a fantastic feeling.

Nude Silhouette with second bw image watching - Nude woman by Inner Spirit Photo
Contrasting BW of nude study.

Women who do this a lot, have the habit, have become fearless; they pause to drink the emotion in. It reinforces the positive side of breaking through a scary barrier. Setting up the search for a new personal barrier to breakthrough.

These don’t have to be big things; noticing them, acknowledging them, sharing that you did this, it all builds your personal confidence.

A cool thing is that you never snap back to the original state once you stretch yourself.

Reinforcement of the experience is not all internal. When women share what they did, showing photos, reliving the experience over drinks with friends. The friends reinforce the leap that was made. Many will say how they could not do that, how impressed they are that their friend did.

With Clare, whose confidence was already pretty high, it is the celebration of her body at this moment in her life. All those things swirling around her become infused in the images. Touchstones to this time in her life.

Enjoying Nude Photos Years From Now

When she looks at her book, years from now, it will bring back not just the nude photography experience with Mark Laurie. It will rush back her memories of getting ready for her trip. All the good wishes, registering for the degree stage of her education that will start when she returns. Friendships.

The books become anchors, doorways to something very precious.

Though not as noticeable, there is an uptick in confidence, reinforcing one more layer. A reminder that she is a bold and fearless woman. Doing these types of things is now in her DNA; it’s a habit, a lifestyle.

It will become a treasure in the future.

We have been photographing women for over 4 decades. Some of our early clients now leave their nude images out on the coffee tables so visitors will ask about it. They are curious about who she was back in her youth that she would pose nude or scantily clad.

The outrageous became their norm. People close to them want to know more. One elderly client giggled; she felt so scandalous talking about her session from decades ago. She loved the incredulous looks as her story progressed, shifting from the staid granny into a free spirit role model.

Will you listen to your inner voice trying to keep you with the status quo, or are you ready for a bold move? To try something that will become a treasure?

What has been your boldest move?

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