"Is this the place?" My mother looked at me skeptically. I could see where her concern was coming from. The building was somewhat isolated and even sketchy. But soon, if all went according to plan, I would be undressing and posing nude for the photographer ..... .who I had met on Craigslist.

"This is it," I replied confidently. Inwardly, I was very grateful that I had shared my plans with my mother.

I parked the car and went inside. Little did I know that in that old industrial building, wearing nothing but pearls, I was about to have one of the most transformative experiences of my life.

As a child, I was fat, bookish, and very self-conscious. I was always known more for my academic achievements than for my enviable figure. As a plus-size woman, the idea of drawing attention to my body never crossed my mind as something I was willing to do.

At some point in college, however, I started working out. Not to lose weight, but to make my body look strong. Now that I was about to get married, that strength made me the most confident I had ever been. I wanted to capture that essence in a photograph, and I thought nude photos would be appropriate. Recently I started hearing about boudoir photography, where wives take sexy pictures for their husbands as a wedding gift. So I thought I would do it.

After weeks of scouring the creative jobs section, I saw the ad I had been waiting for: figure model wanted. The photographer was experimenting with a new lighting technique, and in exchange for posing, I would receive an edited copy of the image and retain all rights. I sent an email and the photographer responded immediately, we set a date and signed a contract.

I walked out from behind the studio partition wearing only my sarong and a set of pearls my husband had bought me. I blushed and thought about how silly it would be to wear nothing. A few minutes later I stripped down and studied my body through the lens of my camera.

The first pose, with my knees folded into my body on a stool, was a classic setup and exactly what I wanted. I wanted to capture a simple, beautiful photograph, and this is exactly what I got.

Over the course of the three-hour session, I posed in many poses: sitting, standing, and lying down. In one, I covered my chest. In other poses, I turned my back to the camera. But what I ended up liking about this session was the full frontal nudity, with nothing hidden. As the morning progressed, I went from "I can't believe I'm doing this" to "Damn, I feel beautiful."

That confidence showed in the photos. The first time I saw the photos, as cliché as it may sound, I gasped. Seeing myself through the photographer's eyes made me more aware of what I already knew: that every body is perfect and beautiful in its own way.

In the pictures I don't look like a model - I have a belly roll and my breasts are wide open, but I look gorgeous. I was convinced that confidence is the sexiest element.

My husband was thrilled when he opened my photo album.

He looks at the pictures and sees a pretty wife. The shy girl who was ashamed of her body had grown into a brave and confident woman.

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