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Meet Anastasia MacGillivray of Anastasia Mac Photography in North County

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Anastasia MacGillivray.

Anastasia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi, I am a boudoir photographer and the creator of a unique boudacious method that helps women grow confidence rediscovering their beauty. And most importantly, I am shamelessly feminine but I wasn’t always.

My confidence was killed when I was a child. My friends and family – nice and kind people mostly! – were telling me again and again that my nose was too big, my forehead was too broad and I myself was as tall as a maypole. So, I grew up with the perception that I was not good enough, not pretty enough, and too big to be attractive. I had no self-confidence and zero self-esteem. It came to a ridiculous point when I was afraid to laugh or to smile because I thought my nose was getting bigger. That’s how I lived almost until my late 30s: full of fear, insecure, depressed, and ashamed of that “ugly-me”. Basically, I was hating myself for 35 years, it was devastating. Every day, I kept hearing this nagging little voice “You are not good Enough”…

And then, I decided: it’s enough! I realized that if I wanted to embrace my femininity if I wanted to rediscover it, I needed to find the beauty in this world. Finally, how was I supposed to raise a daughter into a beautiful and self-confident woman if I didn’t know how to be such a woman myself?

So, I bought a camera… and it has become both a great tool and a good friend to me as it showed me the world in a new perspective. Frankly, I tried different photography genres but nothing really gave me much inspiration, or fulfillment not until I discovered Boudoir Photography and created my unique Boudacious method.

It helped me realize that when you truly accept, love and embrace who you are you open up to all the gifts that this wonderful life has to offer. When I realized how much of our precious energy we are wasting on negative thoughts, self-doubt, and self-criticism that hold us back… that was shocking!!! I thought – what a wasted of time, I wasted 35 years of my life hating myself. That day, I promised myself that I will never let it happen to me again or other women that I meet on my path.

That’s why I created this unique Boudacious method for hard working women like you, for “plain girls next door”, for cancer survivors, domestic violence survivors, etc.. To show women how beautiful they actually are, to help them see themselves beautiful and feel beautiful, and celebrate their beauty with confidence. Because everything that we do in life is controlled by our core confidence.

And it has literally transformed my entire life and my business. Forever. And I will never look back.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The transition to exclusively Boudoir and Fine Art Nude photography wasn’t a smooth road for me. It’s not easy to convince a woman to be in front of the camera. I hear the same excuses over and over again – “I need to lose weight first, I am not that brave, I am too shy, I don’t know how to look sexy, It’s scary, I don’t know if I could look as good as women on your website”, etc. etc…

And I know and totally understand what’s going through women’s heads because the same thoughts went through mine ALL THE TIME. But I was able to overcome these challenges, dismiss these negative thoughts that are ruining our lives. Through my own experience, I try to explain to women that everything that we do in life is controlled by our core confidence. If you could change the way you see yourself and if you could see yourself as a confident and beautiful woman – your life shifts. This is going to completely transform your life.

Most people think that Boudoir photography is about sex, it’s about women flaunting their sexuality, about women being objectified. Some people even see it as too disgusting. I encountered certain intolerance when posting my works on a social media. The criticism was aimed not at my work but for at the fact of posting a photograph of a nude woman. By posting my works on a public source I am not expecting to be praised and flattered only. Frankly, it is very rewarding to hear positive comments on the work you are passionate about, but constructive criticism has never hurt a true professional. To my big astonishment, here I faced one more approach – some folks called me a distasteful and horrible human because, in their mind, I was insulting and even breaking up marriages and family values! All these serious accusations were built on a single photo of a nude woman! Not only my business but me as a human being were judged and condemned based on one work.

At the same time, I got much of support from the people who are in favor of freedom of expression, and it fueled a heated discussion on social media. Intolerance and unwillingness to listen to the opponents usually result in a strong urge to prohibit anything contradicting to the dogma, which is nothing else but the ideas its advocates share. Flourishing in one area such attitude may easily spread to the other spheres of life. It is a dangerous trend because it leads to the lack of dialogue in society, affects its healthy development, and jeopardizes the idea of freedom itself.

I see boudoir or fine art nude photography as a celebration of a woman’s femininity, unique femininity without any shame whatsoever. Not shame from the outside world and not shame from herself. I personally choose positivity. If I have worried about what people say about me or my art, I would not have been where I am now, and I would not have changed lives of so many women for the better.

All women that I worked with they all had their own stories. And this is one of them – Anna was in her 40s, was lonely her entire life, always wanted to have a family, but never had a chance, she didn’t believe she was worthy or beautiful. She hired me to photograph her for a dating website. That was fascinating to see her transform from timid and nervous to confident, strong and beautiful goddess just within an hour. She just forgot who she was. Somebody else was telling her other lies for so long that she started to believe them. And I had the opportunity to tell her “Anna, you see this beautiful sexy goddess – this is who you really are”. Guess what, a couple of months later, she called me to invite me to her wedding.

We may think that it is in human nature to bring others down, but we should not take it for granted. I believe in the better side of human nature, I believe in harmony and in the beauty of body and soul. This belief has become my knowledge which empowers me as a photographer and makes me see a true beauty in my every client. I live and work with this knowledge and I eagerly share it with every woman.

We can’t get rid of haters, but we may ignore them. Simply continue doing what we are passionate about, be positive, and adore the beauty. Such attitude weakens the hate because true love and true passion are always stronger.

Anastasia Mac Photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Anastasia Mac Photography was founded in 2005 and specializes in boudoir and fine art nude photography. Being a photographer for over a decade I’ve discovered a secret to women’s self-confidence.

Most of my clients have back thoughts when they come to boudoir shoots: they either think they won’t look as pretty as my other models or they need to lose a few extra pounds, or they think they are complete “not photogenic”…

All of them leave my studio fully self-confident.

What is the secret?

It’s a boudoir shoot itself. It inspires us to invest in ourselves, makes us to step out of our comfort zone and to see ourselves through someone else’s eyes – and lens. We won’t find perfection by losing few pounds: we’ll find something else we are not happy about in our bodies. So, we need someone to show us that we are beautiful right now and we deserve to feel like the gorgeous women we are.

During the shoot, I show my clients one of their first photos I take: unretouched, unedited, straight out of a camera. Their reactions range from disbelief to thrilled shrieks and happy tears. From this moment they start seeing their beauty and their confidence starts growing. The journey to accepting themselves as they are begins.

This is how I see my mission: to touch women’s lives, to boost their confidence and to help them rediscover their femininity. This is what I do every day and enjoy a lot: I help women of any age and body type see themselves stunning and beautiful at this very moment. Boudoir photography is for every woman because every woman deserves this feeling.

And it is for you!

At Anastasia Mac Photography studio we take a full care of you: from hairstyle, makeup and lingerie consultation to printing your photos, framing them or making albums. I tailor a boudoir experience in a way perfect for you, and I’ll be with you every step of the way. As one of my clients described me “Anastasia puts her heart and soul into every moment during her work!”

I can make you see yourself in a whole new light. I want you to see what a beautiful, confident, and strong woman you are. And I feel blessed when you leave my studio with empowerment, raised confidence, and beautiful artwork from the day.

What sets me apart is care, passion, the desire to serve my clients to the highest level and making women’s lives better no matter what. Because of this dedication to my mission, I am proud to admit that women that come to my studio have 100% success rate. Out of hundreds of women, I had a privilege to work with I have never had a one woman who was not in love with the transformation. How did I achieve that? Because of my unique Boudacious method.

While other studios don’t even bother to meet with you before the session, I will spend time getting to know you personally, so I can tailor a boudoir experience in a way that is perfect for you. Because I know how scary it can be, I will be with you every step of the way.

• I will have a one-on-one pre-shoot consultation with you;
• I’ll give you advice on how to pick the right lingerie that will show your beautiful body off at its best;
• I will create a Pinterest idea board for your shoot;
• You will be picked up and dropped off by a limo, so you feel like a movie star, a supermodel;
• You will have a personal stylist working just for you so your hair and makeup compliment your features;
• I will create a personalized sequence of poses that is exactly right for you.

Your transformation will be unbelievable. And, I know I can make you see yourself in a whole new light. I want you to see what a beautiful, confident, and strong woman you really are. I will help you rediscover yourself by empowering you with confidence and self-acceptance. Why? Because confidence is powerful. Actually, confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can wear!

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
We all measure success in different ways. For some, it is in prestige and accolades. For others, it is money or possessions.

But for me… I think it is measured in moments when you feel like your life is a dream… moments when you look around you and can’t stop smiling because you love where you’re at and what you’re doing. Because what you do makes women happy.

That’s how I feel when I shoot a client and watch her transform from shy and timid to sexy, CONFIDENT and in love with her own body within an hour!

I will stay true to my mission and will keep infusing life, uplifting and inspire women, so they don’t feel worn out, depleted, drained. We all need to be infused to see ourselves differently than we know ourselves to be.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Anastasia MacGillivray @ Anastasia Mac Photography

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