A Boudoir Photography Intern's Journey

I'm excited to share a special feature piece written by my intern, Kyra, about her journey to unleashing her inner creative! This past semester, she immersed herself in the world of fine-art photography with me. We put our creative minds together to create a collection of stunning experimental portraits that capture both her growth & beauty perfectly. Step behind the lens with Kyra to hear an inspiring story of the transformational power of photography. Heads up– this one brought me to tears.

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BEHIND THE LENS

‍with Kyra Ballard

When I first met Lana, it was last year at the end of my fall semester of senior year at the University of Tulsa. I just graduated as an Art major with an emphasis in photography, but I was in the midst of a creative funk before my internship at Voulez Vous started.

I had a desire to step out of my comfort zone and shoot creative portraits, but I just didn’t know where to even start. Shortly after interning with Lana, I became so much more inspired and could see how much better my own work was becoming.

Being at Voulez Vous allowed me to be authentic with myself and to start having fun with photoshoots. Not only did I learn a copious amount of technical skills when helping Lana and assisting her during shoots, but most importantly, I got to intern with someone who puts so much creativity into each and every one of her photographs.

I was able to see this whole process, starting on day one. I was a little scared at first when Lana asked to take my photograph while it was snowing on the first day of my internship, but that day was the beginning of me being able to just let go and feel confident in myself again.

My most memorable photoshoot, however, was when Lana took pictures of me in her pool. Lana and I had both been inspired to do an underwater shoot and so we planned out how we were going to execute it.Lana had to order a special underwater camera case which took some practicing to get used to underwater. We also picked out some wardrobe options to bring with us. I was especially inspired by the wardrobe choices we made because Lana let me wear my favorite color — blue!

Once we started shooting, we soon realized how difficult it is to take pictures while we were both underwater (Lana even had to tie weights to her shorts to stop floating), but after we saw how the pictures turned out we agreed that it was so worth it.

My biggest takeaway from this shoot as a photographer was realizing that you should always try concepts and ideas that you feel inspired by even if you have doubts that it may be difficult or might not work. Some of the best ideas during shoots that Lana and I ended up having during my time at Voulez Vous were often spur-of-the-moment ideas. Even just in my everyday life, I have learned to step outside of my comfort zone and take more risks in life.

As someone who recently just graduated college, I am so thankful that I have a mentor and a friend like Lana in my life. I don’t think I would be as confident as I am now with both myself as a twenty-one-year-old woman and also as a young creative professional without my time spent with her.

I hope that you too will also get to experience the magic of Voulez Vous. Until then, here are the amazing creative portraits Lana and I were able to create together during my internship this past spring. Enjoy!

-Kyra