The Story of Sexy Beautiful Me

There’s a Story Behind the Name Sexy Beautiful Me

There is a story behind the name Sexy Beautiful Me, but 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, and I loved it because it represented exactly what I wanted women to feel when they saw their photographs. Sexy. Beautiful. Me. Not a model or some impossible version of themselves, but the woman they were already looking back at in the mirror.

The name was never meant to be provocative or explicit. My whole reason for photographing boudoir was to give everyday women an opportunity to see themselves a little differently through photography. But somewhere along the way, I learned that having the word “sexy” in the name of a business can create all kinds of problems online, even when the business itself is perfectly legitimate and the content isn’t explicit.

When Algorithms Decide What Your Business Is

One of the strangest and most frustrating things about running a business today is realizing that you can know exactly what your business is, but an algorithm can decide that it is something completely different. Sexy Beautiful Me was a photography studio. I photographed adult women, and the work I shared publicly was carefully selected with social media and advertising guidelines in mind. But automated systems don’t necessarily understand the difference between boudoir photography and adult content. They see certain words, look at certain images, put your business into a category, and that can be the end of it.

Once that happens, trying to convince a computer that it got your business wrong can be incredibly difficult. Over the years, I dealt with restrictions, advertising issues, reduced visibility, and other problems that seemed to follow the Sexy Beautiful Me name around. Sometimes I could get something fixed, only to run into another problem somewhere else. I learned the hard way that when an algorithm decides your perfectly legitimate photography business belongs in a “sensitive” category, getting yourself back out of that box isn’t nearly as simple as explaining what you actually do.

Google Became One of My Biggest Problems

Over the years, Google became one of the biggest headaches I had with Sexy Beautiful Me. My business listing faced restrictions, advertising became difficult, and things that should have been pretty straightforward for a legitimate photography business suddenly weren’t. Google has policies around adult themed and sexually suggestive content, which I completely understand, but boudoir photography falls into this weird gray area where artistic photography can sometimes get treated the same way as adult content. Add the word Sexy right into your business name and, well, you can probably imagine how much fun that was.

I started feeling like I was constantly changing things just to keep Google happy. I would change wording, remove a photograph that might be causing a problem, appeal a restriction, wait for a decision, get something working again, and then eventually run into another issue. There was never really a clear answer about what was triggering it, which made the whole thing even more frustrating. After dealing with it over and over again, it became exhausting trying to convince an automated system that Sexy Beautiful Me was simply a boudoir photography business.

Then There Was Facebook

Facebook became another problem altogether. At its peak, the Sexy Beautiful Me Facebook page had more than 20,000 followers, which took years to build. These were women who had voluntarily chosen to follow a boudoir photography page because they wanted to see my work, but over time it started to feel like fewer and fewer of them were actually seeing anything I posted. My reach became ridiculously small compared to the number of followers I had, and eventually Facebook also stopped recommending the page to other people.

That was probably one of the most frustrating parts because the page wasn’t actually banned and I could still post normally. It was just becoming practically invisible. What good is having 20,000 followers if Facebook decides not to show your posts to the people who chose to follow you in the first place? I would post something and wonder how many of those women would ever actually see it. After spending so many years building that audience, watching my reach slowly disappear was incredibly discouraging.

I Tried Changing the Name

Eventually, I got tired of fighting it. In 2023, I decided to change the name of the studio from Sexy Beautiful Me to Dark Moon Studios. There were several reasons behind the decision, but constantly dealing with problems on social media, Google, advertising platforms, and pretty much anywhere the word “sexy” could trigger an automated system was a big part of it. From a business standpoint, changing the name seemed like the sensible thing to do. I thought a new name might finally let me concentrate on photography instead of constantly worrying about what an algorithm might decide was inappropriate.

The problem was that Dark Moon Studios never really felt like me. Sexy Beautiful Me had years of history behind it, and more importantly, it actually meant something. Women knew the name, former clients remembered it, and I had spent years building a business around it. I tried to embrace the new name, but I never had the same connection to it. It bothered me that I had changed something I loved largely because internet platforms made it so difficult to use. But when so much of your business depends on people being able to find you online, sometimes you end up making decisions you really don’t want to make.

So Why Did I Bring Sexy Beautiful Me Back?

When I decided to start photographing boudoir again, I really wanted the old name back. Enough time had passed that I thought maybe things had changed. Technology had certainly changed, and with all the advances in artificial intelligence, I figured these platforms might be a little better at understanding context by now. Surely they could tell the difference between a legitimate boudoir photography business and adult content, right? I was hoping I could bring Sexy Beautiful Me back and this time just enjoy the name and the history that came with it without dealing with all the same problems again.

Well, apparently I was a little too optimistic. It didn’t take long before some of those familiar problems started creeping back, and suddenly I felt like I was right back where I had been a few years earlier. Restrictions, visibility issues, advertising problems, and once again wondering if one completely innocent word in my business name was affecting where and how my business could appear online. It was incredibly frustrating because I had already been through this once, and I really didn’t want to spend another few years fighting the same battle all over again.

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

This time, instead of coming up with yet another name and trying to build another boudoir brand from scratch, I decided to do something different. I’m bringing my boudoir photography under Negroni Studio, where honestly, it makes perfect sense. Negroni Studio has always been connected to my photography, and now it can be the home for everything I photograph, including elopements, weddings, boudoir, film photography, and my personal work. I don’t need a completely separate business name for every type of photography I love doing, especially when having one particular word in that name can make marketing the business so unnecessarily difficult.

That doesn’t mean Sexy Beautiful Me is disappearing or that I regret bringing the name back. It will always be a huge part of my photography story. I spent years building that business, took thousands upon thousands of photographs, and met so many amazing women who trusted me with such a personal experience. I’m incredibly proud of what I created with Sexy Beautiful Me, and I’m proud of the name too. It isn’t going away. It’s simply becoming part of Negroni Studio, which feels a lot more like bringing it home than saying goodbye.

The Internet Has Changed Small Business

When I started photographing professionally, I never imagined there would come a day when I would spend this much time worrying about whether an algorithm approved of a word in my business name, but here we are. Small businesses have become incredibly dependent on companies like Google and Meta. They have a lot of control over whether we show up in search results, what we’re allowed to advertise, what gets recommended, and even whether the people who deliberately chose to follow our businesses actually see what we post.

I understand why these platforms need content policies and moderation. The frustrating part is how little room there sometimes seems to be for context. Boudoir photography is not pornography, the word “sexy” is not pornography, and a woman feeling sexy and beautiful in a photograph is certainly not something that needs to be hidden. But after years of dealing with restrictions and trying to figure out what I can say, what I can show, and what might upset an algorithm this time, I’ve reached the point where I would much rather put that energy into photography.

So Sexy Beautiful Me is coming home to Negroni Studio. It’s still me behind the camera, with the same approach to boudoir and the same belief that women deserve photographs that make them feel absolutely incredible. It’s just under a name that will hopefully allow me to spend a little less time arguing with robots. 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 and look at the back of the camera. Take a picture with your phone and see it instantly. Film doesn’t give you that. You take the photograph and move on, and sometimes I don’t see that image again until weeks later. Strangely, I love that.

By the time I get my film back, I may have forgotten some of the photographs I took, so looking through the scans feels a little like opening a present. There are usually a few surprises and sometimes a few 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, and we can make photographs incredibly clean and technically perfect. Film doesn't always behave that way. There is grain, colors can shift, focus might be a little softer, and highlights can glow. Different films also have their own personalities, and 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 shooting film that works really well during a boudoir session. Instead of constantly taking photos, I slow down, adjust the pose, look at the light, wait for the right expression, and take the photograph before moving on to 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 your 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, and I especially love it for intimate weddings and elopements because those days are filled with little moments that happen once and disappear. A hand squeeze during the ceremony, wind catching a veil, someone laughing, or a quiet look between two people when nobody else is paying attention. Those moments don't need to be perfectly polished. They just 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, while the film photographs can feel like memories of that 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 film photography yourself! You don't need to be a professional photographer, own an expensive camera, or 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, or your kids or grandkids doing absolutely nothing important. Especially the nothing important, because 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 if you don't want to figure 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, and that's okay. Some might be wonderful, and one might even 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, and 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 slow down, really look at what I'm photographing, and wonder what I'm going to get. 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.