The Story of Sexy Beautiful Me

There is a story behind the name Sexy Beautiful Me.

Unfortunately, there is also a very long and frustrating story behind trying to use that name on the internet.

Sexy Beautiful Me was the name of my boudoir photography business for many years. I loved the name because it represented exactly what I wanted women to feel when they saw their photographs.

Sexy.

Beautiful.

Me.

Not someone else. Not a model. Not some impossible version of themselves.

Me.

The name was never intended to be provocative or explicit. It was about women seeing themselves differently through photography.

But somewhere along the way, the word "sexy" became a problem.

When Algorithms Decide What Your Business Is

One of the strangest things about running a business today is that you can know exactly what your business is, but an algorithm gets to make its own decision.

Sexy Beautiful Me was a photography studio.

I photographed everyday women. My work was artistic boudoir photography. My clients were adults. The photographs I shared publicly were carefully selected and appropriate for the platforms where I posted them.

But automated systems don't necessarily understand context.

They see words.

They see images.

They classify things.

And once your business falls into a category they consider sensitive, getting yourself out of that box can be incredibly difficult.

I learned that the hard way.

Google Became One of My Biggest Problems

Over the years, I began having problems with Google.

My business listing faced restrictions. Advertising became difficult. Things that should have been relatively straightforward for a legitimate photography business became an ongoing headache.

Google does have policies restricting adult themed and sexually suggestive content across some of its products. The problem for a boudoir photographer is that there can be a huge difference between artistic portraiture and adult content, but automated moderation doesn't always seem particularly good at understanding that difference.

And when your business literally has the word Sexy in its name, you can probably imagine how much fun that becomes.

Eventually, I found myself constantly trying to make my perfectly legitimate photography business acceptable to automated systems.

Change this wording.

Don't use that photograph.

Don't say this.

Appeal that.

Try again.

Wait.

Get restricted again.

It became exhausting.

Then There Was Facebook

Facebook was another battle entirely.

At its peak, the Sexy Beautiful Me Facebook page had more than 20,000 followers.

Twenty thousand people had voluntarily chosen to follow a boudoir photography page.

You would think that when I posted something, at least a decent portion of those people would have an opportunity to see it.

That increasingly wasn't what happened.

My reach became ridiculously small compared with the number of people following the page.

At one point, Facebook also stopped recommending the page.

That distinction is important because Facebook itself explains that some content can be perfectly acceptable to remain on the platform while still being considered ineligible for recommendations.

In other words, something doesn't necessarily have to be "banned" to become almost invisible.

And that is one of the most frustrating forms of censorship for a small business owner.

Your page is technically there.

You can technically post.

People can technically follow you.

But if the platform stops distributing your content, what good are 20,000 followers?

I could post something and wonder how many of the women who had specifically asked Facebook to follow my business would ever actually see it.

I Tried Changing the Name

Eventually, I got tired of fighting.

In 2023, I changed the studio name.

Sexy Beautiful Me became Dark Moon Studios.

There were several reasons behind that decision, but the constant battle with social media, search engines, advertising platforms, and the word "sexy" was a big one.

From a practical business standpoint, changing the name made sense.

Emotionally, though?

It never really felt like me.

Sexy Beautiful Me had years of history behind it. Women knew that name. Former clients remembered it. I had built something around it.

Changing the name because algorithms didn't like it felt awful.

But when your livelihood depends partly on being found online, there comes a point where you have to choose between the name you love and your ability to market the business.

So Why Did I Bring Sexy Beautiful Me Back?

When I decided to photograph boudoir again, I wanted the old name back.

Enough time had passed that I thought maybe things had changed.

Maybe platforms had gotten better at understanding context.

Maybe artificial intelligence could distinguish between a legitimate boudoir photographer and adult content.

Maybe I wouldn't have to fight the same battles again.

Apparently, I was a little too optimistic.

The problems started creeping back.

And I found myself right back on that familiar rollercoaster.

Restrictions.

Visibility problems.

Advertising problems.

Wondering whether using one completely innocent word in my business name was affecting where and how the business could appear.

It was incredibly frustrating because I had already lived through this once.

I didn't want to do it again.

Sexy Beautiful Me Isn't Going Away. It's Just Coming Home.

This time, instead of inventing another boudoir brand, I decided to do something different.

I'm bringing my boudoir photography under Negroni Studio.

Negroni Studio gives me a place for all of my photography.

Weddings.

Elopements.

Portraits.

Boudoir.

Film photography.

Personal work.

It also means I don't have to build another business from scratch simply because technology has trouble with the name of one of the services I provide.

Sexy Beautiful Me will always be part of my photography story.

It represents years of my life, thousands upon thousands of photographs, and so many women who trusted me to photograph them during an incredibly personal experience.

I'm proud of that.

I'm proud of the name too.

The Internet Has Changed Small Business

When I started photographing professionally, I never imagined that one day I'd spend this much time thinking about whether an algorithm approved of a word in my business name.

Yet here we are.

Small businesses are incredibly dependent on companies like Google and Meta. They decide what appears in search results, what can be advertised, what gets recommended, and sometimes whether the people who deliberately followed your business will actually see what you post.

I understand why content policies exist.

I understand why platforms need moderation.

What frustrates me is how little room there sometimes seems to be for context.

Boudoir photography is not pornography.

The word "sexy" is not pornography.

A woman feeling sexy in a photograph is not something shameful that needs to be hidden.

And yet, after years of trying to navigate automated restrictions, I've reached the point where I would rather spend my energy making photographs than fighting algorithms.

So Sexy Beautiful Me is coming home to Negroni Studio.

Same photographer.

Same philosophy.

Same belief that women deserve photographs that make them feel absolutely incredible.

Just under a name that will hopefully allow me to spend a little less time arguing with robots.

Because after more than two decades behind a camera, I'd much rather be taking pictures.

Why I Love Film Photography

Mya here! I’m a sucker for film photos. There is something about film photography that digital just can’t quite replace for me.

And I say that as someone who has spent more than two decades photographing people professionally with digital cameras. I love digital photography. It gives me incredible control, consistency, and flexibility. But film gives me something completely different.

It makes me slow down.

With digital, it is very easy to take another photo. And another. And another. With film, every frame matters. There are only so many exposures on a roll, so I find myself paying closer attention to the light, the composition, the expression, and the exact moment I press the shutter.

Then comes my favorite part.

Waiting.

In a World of Instant Everything, Film Makes You Wait

We are so used to seeing everything immediately. Take a picture, look at the back of the camera. Take a picture with your phone, see it instantly.

Film doesn't give you that.

You take the photograph and move on. Sometimes I don't see that image again until weeks later.

And strangely, I love that.

By the time I get my film back, I may have forgotten some of the photographs I took. Looking through the scans feels a little like opening a present. There are usually a few surprises. Sometimes there are imperfections. Sometimes a frame turns out completely differently than I expected.

And every once in a while, there is one that makes me stop and stare.

Those are the photographs that keep me shooting film.

Film Isn't Perfect, and That's Kind of the Point

Digital photography has become incredibly polished. Cameras are sharper than ever. Editing software can correct practically everything. We can make photographs extraordinarily clean and technically perfect.

Film doesn't always behave that way.

There is grain. Colors can shift. Focus might be a little softer. Highlights can glow. Different films have their own personalities. Sometimes there are little imperfections that I would probably correct in a digital photograph.

But on film, they belong there.

Film has texture and character. It feels less like a perfectly manufactured image and more like a memory.

That is probably the biggest reason I love it.

Film and Boudoir Are a Beautiful Combination

Boudoir photography on film has a completely different feeling.

It can be soft, intimate, moody, romantic, grainy, imperfect, and incredibly beautiful.

There is also something about the slower process of photographing with film that works beautifully during a boudoir session. Instead of constantly shooting, there are pauses. I compose the photograph, adjust the pose, look at the light, and wait for the right expression.

Click.

One photograph.

Then we move into the next one.

For someone who wants boudoir photographs that feel a little more artistic, nostalgic, or cinematic, film can add something really special to the session.

And yes, you can absolutely request film photography as part of a boudoir session with me.

Weddings and Elopements Were Made for Film

There is a reason so many old wedding photographs still feel incredibly romantic decades later.

Film has a timelessness to it.

I especially love it for intimate weddings and elopements because those days are already filled with little moments that happen once and disappear.

A hand squeeze during the ceremony. Wind catching a veil. Someone laughing. A quiet look between two people when nobody else is paying attention.

Those moments don't need to be perfectly polished.

They need to be remembered.

I photograph my weddings and elopements digitally, but couples can request that I bring film along too. It becomes another way of documenting the day alongside their regular wedding photography.

The digital photographs tell the story beautifully.

The film photographs can feel like memories of the story.

You Don't Have to Hire a Photographer to Fall in Love With Film

This might actually be my favorite part.

You can try it yourself.

You don't need to be a professional photographer. You don't need an expensive camera. You don't even need to understand every technical part of photography before you begin.

Pick up an inexpensive film camera and take it somewhere.

Photograph your family. Your dog. Your garden. A day at Disney. A weekend trip. Your kitchen in the afternoon light. Your kids or grandkids doing absolutely nothing important.

Especially the nothing important.

Those photographs have a funny way of becoming important later.

You can find old 35mm cameras at thrift stores, flea markets, antique stores, camera shops, and online. There are also new reusable film cameras available if you don't want to deal with figuring out whether a vintage camera actually works.

Put a roll of film in it and give yourself permission to experiment.

Some photographs might be terrible.

That's okay.

Some might be wonderful.

And one might become your favorite photograph you've taken all year.

Film Changed the Way I Look at Photography Again

After photographing professionally for so many years, film reminds me of something that is very easy to forget.

Photography doesn't always have to be perfect.

It doesn't always have to be for a client, a website, social media, or a portfolio.

Sometimes photography can simply be about noticing something and wanting to remember it.

That's what I love most about film.

It makes me look.

It makes me wait.

It makes me wonder what I'm going to get.

And somehow, after all these years of taking photographs, it makes photography feel a little bit magical again.

If you're booking a boudoir session with Negroni Studio or an elopement through Elope to Orlando and love the look of film, ask me about adding film photography to your experience.

Or maybe this is your sign to pick up a little film camera of your own.

Load a roll.

Take it somewhere.

And see what happens.