Beauty comes from confidence. Confidence comes from allowing yourself to be exactly who you are. I created the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" project as a way to help young teens and tweens feel celebrated and special. Young women and girls have so much to offer, and I believe that when we help them embrace their uniqueness, we give them the support they need to go out into the world and make a difference.

For our very first "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" photography session, I had the privilege of photographing Jasmine, who is big sister to two younger brothers.  Her hobbies include creative writing, reading graphic novels, and playing sports like basketball, track, and swimming. She even makes her own YouTube videos! Jasmine is a highly creative young lady with a lot of style!

Jasmine chose a studio photography session, and our first portraits in the photography studio were of her wearing a beautiful, flowy dress. Things got even flowier when we played with yards of fabric that I simply draped around her.  I could tell from her wide smile that this photoshoot gave her a major boost of confidence!

I also got to use the NEW angel wings I got for the photography studio recently. These wings are large, beautiful, and dramatic and added a lot to our portrait photography session. Because I knew Jasmine liked the more feminine props in the studio, she wore the wings plus a flower crown (also new to the studio!). Jasmine is an active tween with tons of energy, so of course, we also planned for some powder photography with her basketball!  She looks like an absolute star in these last, very unique photographs of the session!

And, Jasmine's mom entered the picture also for a part of Jasmine's photography session for some mother-daughter portraits.  These two are close, and it shows in the photographs!  Jasmine will really cherish these portraits of her and her mom together, especially years from now when she has a daughter of her own.

When I started dreaming of the "Confident Girls, Empowered Women" project, I envisioned a set of portraits that show both the grace and strength of our beloved young girls. The wonderful thing about young women is that they are so diverse and beautifully unique... so let us celebrate them for all that they are: playful, smart, funny, gifted.