First of all I want to thank everyone for their loving words and support while I’ve been uttering every swear word possible every time I move my mouth. These stupid wisdom teeth are KICKING MY BUTT and I’m just so ready to be over all of it. I feel like I’ve put my life on hold FAR too much for them already! So THANK YOU to everyone for your kind words and messages and virtual hugs. I appreciate them more than you know! Oh, and for the dirty jokes to make me laugh. Those. Were. Awesome.

Second, I wanted to share a little bit about the changes that are taking places in my online presence. Oooh big words right? Website, blog, blah blah blah. Everything online! Anyone who follows me has probably already noticed the changes to the blog. White background, easier to read, right? But the bigger changes are taking place on my website. OH YES. If you haven’t seen them, go check them OUT! Not everything is finalized just yet, but as soon as it’s ALL ready to go, I will be updating you here, as well as with a beautifully designed email straight to your Inbox! Hehe awwww yeah. If you’d like to be on the mailing list to find out everything that is going on here at Brooke Summer Photography, you can sign up by clicking here. I never ever ever EVER sell or give out my clients’ information, so when you use that form to sign up, the information comes directly to me. Okay, sometimes my husband might help with data entry. But it never goes to a third party! That will definitely be the best way to get ADVANCE NOTICE of promotions, parties, contests, and more.

That being said, I want to take a moment to share why I decided to move all of my photography onto one website. I never really advertised it, but I always kept my boudoir separate. I had a separate blog – although never used, just ready to go – and a separate website entirely. I had been told by mentors and photographers that I had to keep things separate if I wanted to please my clients. I had to make sure that they were comfortable viewing my website. Well, here’s the thing. My clients LOVE boudoir! They have the same attitude that I do when it comes to this artwork! And as I’m typing this, I figured that I need to outline exactly what that attitude is. I have never shared this before, I’m not really sure why. Probably because it is near and dear to my heart. So here goes.

My mission statement, for Brooke Summer Photography

Whew. I know this is crazy, but I feel like I really just put something super personal and private out there.

Having them separate gave me this not so good feeling, like something was wrong. BECAUSE I feel so strongly about boudoir and photographing women, I felt that I was doing a disservice to boudoir and intimate portraiture to have it separate. I felt like by separating it, I was saying that there is something wrong with the artform, and the women that have bravely agreed to show their photos. When in fact, the opposite is true. I am SO proud of these women, and these photos. So many of them came to me, nervous and on the verge of full-on flipping out because here they are, stripping to next to nothing (sometimes nothing!) with someone they barely know. And yet, by the time they leave, we are old friends. After viewing their photos, GOOD friends. I talk with most of them regularly, and have heard the positive feedback, and how these photos reflected a gorgeous person that they had forgotten was inside.

So for that reason, I have decided to put all of my work onto one site. One website. One blog, one Facebook page, one email address, one collective group of artwork. Categorized, yes, but in one place.

Yes, I understand that not everyone that comes to my site is looking for boudoir. And I have chosen my images for the front page very carefully – you’ll notice they are extremely mild, typical portraits or headshots. I am very aware of the fact that high school senior parents that might visit my website might look upon images with raised eyebrows – but you’ll notice as you’re going through my site, that you REALLY have to want to see the boudoir images to see them. They are not an accidental click. They are for my clients that are looking for that type of artwork to display in their homes, or to have in a special book.

With that in mind, I would like you to know a few things. Because I have chosen to put all of my photography into one website, and I am acutely aware of certain responses to certain photographs, any blog posts with boudoir images will not appear on the front page of the blog. What exactly does this mean? This means that any images that I wouldn’t feel comfortable showing – well heck, I can’t really say that, I’m comfortable with all of them… so any images that I feel might make my high school parents feel uncomfortable, will not be on the front page. There will be two blog posts for boudoir images – one with the actual images, not on the front page, and one with a link to the post if you choose to view the post.

I would like any parents reading this to know – particularly high school senior parents – all boudoir images are for adult women, aged 18 and over. Most often the women are over 21. I do NOT photograph seniors in any sexual manner whatsoever. I have a passion for photographing women in an appropriate manner, based on their comfort level and life stage. I love working with high school seniors and take great care to photograph them in situations that are age appropriate, fun, and beautiful!!

I welcome any questions that anyone may have about these changes. I realize that my decision to group everything together may cause some discomfort and confusion, and I would encourage anyone with strong feelings one way or the other to contact me. I feel very strongly about boudoir and intimate portraits as an art, and I do not feel that they should be separated in any way from my other artwork.

Boudoir and intimate portraits are beautiful. Glamour and beauty portraits are beautiful. WOMEN are beautiful, and I want to photograph them in every stage of their lives – from teenagers to grandmothers.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I really do read every comment and want to know what you are thinking or wondering. Call me or email me so we can set up YOUR session. I promise you, we will have fun. Love to all, I look forward to working with you!!