“For years I had been admiring photos by Francesca Bliss of so many beautiful and empowered women from the community and thought to myself... "Wow, one of these days I would love to do a shoot with her, but I am so not ready for that. I don't even know who I am, what my offering is, or how I want to be seen by the world. When I'm more clear in myself, I will reach out to her."

Fast forward a few years, I was still secretly admiring her from afar and hadn't reached out to her, but she posted about wanting someone to just play with for a Goddess Photoshoot. I still didn't feel super clear about how I wanted to be captured, but I thought "Hmmm, I do love to play, I can definitely do that! This is my chance!"

Hours before the shoot we had planned, I was suddenly feeling lethargic and irritable, uninspired, resistant, and not very playful. I thought, "Ugh, I don't feel like myself at all, this is definitely not how I want to be seen and captured, maybe I should reschedule."

But something told me to just go, to just show up and trust. I reminded myself that I had waited years for this moment, I had made the commitment, and I needed to honor it and just come exactly as I am and that will be enough.

Within minutes of our arriving together in nature, I started to feel relief, grounding, and my playfulness returning. Francesca Bliss had such a gentle way of guiding and drawing out of me my essence in various forms. I remembered my connection to many archetypes that live within me - my playful inner child, my wild warrior, my wise woman, my forest fairy, and my nurturing inner mother.

She followed her inspiration even at times when it didn't make sense, and we trusted it. Somehow she was able to capture all of these sides of me in just one session! I was amazed at her ability to truly see me and capture me so effortlessly. Beyond taking these photos for others to see, I came to see myself more fully and remember who I truly am through the journey.

I now see her often at conscious gatherings and events continuing to capture the beauty of goddess embodiment and empowerment. Her presence as such a loving witness and powerful creative force is a blessing to our community.

“Goddesses, if you are in South Florida, I highly suggest coming to Francesca Bliss for photos that truly portray your soul. Don’t wait until that “perfect time.” Now is the time to allow yourself to be seen and shine!””

— Aura Lila

Oh, how thankful I am for this beautiful testimonial and heart-felt words Aura Lila generously expressed here… Before I melt into a puddle of thankful weeping to have the honor of witnessing these gorgeous women, I must tell you MY STORY of this Goddess photoshoot.

The crazy thing is, I felt exactly the same way as Aura Lila did - irritable, uninspired, and I was definitely not in the mood to do a Goddess Photoshoot that evening! (But of course I was ecstatic when we first scheduled it.)

I got to the park before she did. I parked, got out of the car and walked over to the trees. I was surveying the area that I had seen a hundred times, thinking about how showing up determines 80% of success. I was also thinking about how I don’t cancel things that I commit to, but at the same time wondering how the hell I was going to pull off a playful photography experience when I was not feeling playful at all.

As I was thinking that, I caught a movement with the corner of my eye. It was something brown on the brown ground - a bunny! His cute little ears were almost transparent, he was chewing on some grass, his little nose moving from side to side, and seeing him hop off with his snow white tail bouncing up and down put a smile on my face.

When Aura Lila arrived and parked her dark blue Honda Fit next to my white Honda Fit, “what a coincidence”, I thought.

When we started talking and discovered that we were both feeling “blah” before a photoshoot that we were both excited about, it made both of us laugh and we decided to go into the woods and just see what will come out of this experience. I told her about the bunny and as we headed into the nature, it quickly healed us of our apathy and helped get into the creative process.

playful inner child

Our first stop was near the lake. Aura Lila strikes me as Tinker Bell, a playful and mischievous spirit, and that’s exactly what we set out to portray in the first series of photos. Aura Lila sang her song “Seed” to me as she hugged a plant, danced, and allowed me to capture her expression in these photos.

Wise woman

There was a dried up leaf of a palm tree that caught my eye and that I was called to play with. I get my inspiration from nature and I will get excited by a dried up leaf or a dead stump, but in this case it didn’t seem to make sense. It didn’t vibe with Aura Lila’s playful spirit but because the urge to try it was too strong, I invited her to play with me. Naturally, she agreed. Here are the photos we created in this series, and when she saw the final photos, she did not say these photos didn’t resonate with her. Instead, she said that I captured the four different archetypes that she identifies with: playful inner child, wild warrior, wise woman, forest fairy, and nurturing inner mother.

It felt amazing to know that my inspiration did not lead me astray, but instead helped both of us to go deeper. It always does, so why even question it?

wild spirit

After the introspective and calm wise woman, it was time to unleash Aura Lila’s lioness into the wild. She slipped into a silk slip that was the color of the grass, so she could blend in with the territory, the land where she belonged and where she ruled. I asked her to scream (as I often do during a Goddess Photoshoot, read and watch more about it here) and she claimed the land with her voice:

The color of her dress against the backdrop of the Boca Raton Yamato Scrub Natural Area inspired me to have Aura Lila IN the grass, like a wild cheetah going on a prowl. Here is what it looked like:

I also took several photos using my favorite Lensbaby Composer Pro II because I love the dreaminess it creates in camera:

nurturing and motherly

Aura Lila’s next outfit was an off-the-shoulder crop top and a matching skirt. She looked like a flamenco dancer in it, and needless to say, happily performed for me when I asked her to dance. We played on a path that had a field of fluffies (I don’t know what to call these things in English, so I call them fluffies). The backdrop for some of the photos was a huge oak tree adorned with garlands of Spanish moss. The images we created during this part of the photoshoot are still playful but she looks softer and more nurturing here:

I call photos in which women spread their arms wide or reach for the sky “big poses”. In a pose like this, you take up a lot more space than when you are standing with your arms by your sides. Because you take up more space, you are feeling as if you are physically bigger and this, my friend, increases confidence. I am not a scientist and you don’t need to believe me (because we don’t believe everything we read on the internet) but do believe the scientists in this TedTalk from which I realized the psychological impact of a technique I had been using intuitively!

A few more images from this series:

I titled the image below SURRENDERING TO THE PATH. It speaks to me.

As a creator, as a human, sometimes I question myself about what I’m doing. But I also have a deep INNER KNOWING that this is my path… And I all I need to do is surrender to the process, take it one step at a time.

Keep making connections,

keep showing up,

keep honing my craft,

keep following my inspiration even if it doesn’t make sense at times…

The path of your soul’s purpose will lead you to where you need to get. It’s about following what brings you JOY, delight (that’s my word for this year 2023), it’s about following your bliss. And sometimes it is easy to put something on your calendar that you think will bring you bliss, but showing up to DOING that thing may not feel like bliss, but you gotta do that part too. You gotta show up, inching your way closer to the dream.

This experience with Aura Lila also taught me something valuable that everyone needs to hear:

Keep showing up because you don’t know whose lives you are impacting.

Aura Lila says she had been a fan of my art for several years! She never liked any of my posts and I wasn’t aware that she was a follower of my Facebook page. I didn’t know she existed while my photographs deeply impacted her! The same may be happening to you. You might not be getting much engagement or reach with your social media posts, but you don’t know who is reading and, most importantly, RESONATING, with your message. Keep showing up, my friend!

Before the photoshoot Aura Lila thought “I don't even know who I am, what my offering is, or how I want to be seen by the world.” During her creative play Goddess Photoshoot she expressed VARIOUS VERSIONS of herself. Humans are such multi-faceted and complex creatures. The beauty of a photography experience like this one is that you get to DISCOVER who you are. By removing labels and identities of every date life and playing in nature, the woman can get in touch with her TRUE NATURE. Grounding, relaxing, re-wilding and starting to listen to the voice of your soul will help you understand what you are drawn to and what path you should take.

Oftentimes we don’t get to see how the world sees us, so having a professional photoshoot experience, especially the one that helps you get in touch with your divine feminine energy, allows you to see magic in yourself. “I came to see myself more fully and remember who I truly am through the journey, “ Aura Lila says in her testimonial. Self-discovery or coming to self is a long process, and sometimes the first step is just to show up for yourself in this way.

If this story resonated with you, please feel free to share it with your friends, leave a comment or send me a direct message. I love connecting with you! ♥ And if you would like to talk about what kind of photos we can create during YOUR Goddess Photoshoot ceremony, let’s connect.