Candace Gurley Photography- Beauty & Boudoir

09/11/2026

2016 → 2026
10 YEARS OF CELEBRATING HER10 YEARS. 🥹🖤
It’s kind of impossible to fit ten years into one little Reel.
These aren't all of the women. Not even close. These are just a few of the faces, photographs and moments I’ve been lucky enough to capture along the way.
10 years. 4 studios. Hotel rooms. Airbnbs. Hundreds of women.
Hundreds of women who took a chance.
Some walked through the door terrified. Some told me they weren’t photogenic. Some were celebrating huge milestones, and some simply decided they wanted to do something for themselves.
Some came once. Some came back again and again. Some trusted me way back when I was hauling equipment into hotel rooms and figuring this whole thing out as I went. 😂
And every single one became part of this story.
My locations changed. My work changed. My editing DEFINITELY changed. 😂 My business grew, and I grew right along with it.
But the reason I kept doing this never really changed.
I freaking love photographing women.
I love watching the nerves disappear. I love watching you realize you CAN do this. And I will never get tired of that moment when you see your photographs and realize the woman you're looking at is actually you.
Ten years later, I still can't believe this is something I get to do.
To every brave woman who took a chance on me somewhere along the way…
Thank you. You helped build this. 🖤
Here’s to the first ten years.
And to all the women I haven't met yet…
I have a feeling we're just getting started. 🥂

09/10/2026

One thing I really want everyone to understand about The Decade Experience…
These aren't 10 sessions where I'm going to photograph 10 women exactly the same way.
I actually want the opposite.
I want 10 completely different women and 10 completely different experiences.

Give me the woman who wants full glam and a dramatic dress.
Give me jeans and a tank top.
Give me cozy sweaters.
Give me bodysuits and heels.
Give me lingerie.
Give me birthday balloons and champagne.
Give me barefoot, messy hair and completely relaxed.
Give me YOU.

You don't have to fit some idea of what an “empowerment session” is supposed to look like.
Wear what feels like you, and we'll create the rest together. 🖤

So now I'm curious…
If one of the 10 spots were yours, what would YOUR session look like? 👀

Submitting an application does not reserve your session. Your spot is officially secured once your $99 retainer and booking agreement are completed.

09/10/2026

OKAY… IT’S TIME. 🥹🖤
I’ve been teasing this for days, and I can FINALLY tell y’all what I’ve been working on.
When I started thinking about how I wanted to celebrate 10 years of photographing women, I knew I didn’t want to just throw out a discount and call it an anniversary sale.
I wanted to create something that celebrates the reason I’m still doing this after ten years…
YOU.
So, I’m officially opening applications for:
THE DECADE EXPERIENCE 🖤
10 YEARS. 10 WOMEN. 10 EXPERIENCES.
I’m choosing just 10 women for a special anniversary portrait experience.
Maybe yours is glamorous. Sexy. Casual. Jeans and a sweater. A gorgeous dress. Lingerie. Or a little bit of everything.
Maybe you’re celebrating a birthday, a new chapter, something you survived, or a version of yourself you’re finally learning to love.
Or maybe you just want some damn beautiful photographs of yourself.
That’s reason enough.
The Decade Experience is $199 total and includes professional hair & makeup, multiple looks, Client Closet access, completely guided posing, your private image reveal, a $100 artwork credit, an anniversary gift AND your own Decade Envelope. 👀
Every envelope contains a surprise…
and ONE contains $500 in artwork credit. 🔥
It’s $99 to reserve your experience once accepted, with the remaining $100 due on your session day.
Digital images and artwork are purchased separately. If accepted, you’ll receive the complete Investment Guide to review before you book. No surprises. 🖤
And my past clients… 🥹
If you’ve photographed with me anytime during the last ten years, you’ll receive an additional $100 anniversary artwork credit, giving you $200 total.
Because you helped me get here.
Applications are officially OPEN.
👇 APPLY HERE: https://candacegurleyphotography.mypixieset.com/the-decade-experience/
If you’ve spent years telling yourself…
“One day.”
Maybe eventually is now. 🖤
10 Years. 10 Women. 10 Experiences.
I would LOVE for one of them to be you. 🥹
THE DECADE EXPERIENCE IS OFFICIALLY OPEN. 🥂

09/10/2026

TEN YEARS. 😭🖤
Well… we freaking made it.
Today officially marks 10 YEARS since I made the decision to specialize in photographing women, and I still don’t think my brain has completely wrapped itself around that.
Ten years ago, I definitely didn’t have some perfectly mapped-out plan for where any of this was going. 😂 I had my camera, a whole lot to learn, and this feeling that I had found something I genuinely loved doing.
There was just something different about photographing women for me. I loved the one-on-one experience. I loved watching someone come in nervous, usually telling me all the things she didn’t like about herself or warning me that she had absolutely NO idea what to do in front of a camera. 😂 And then somewhere along the way, the nerves would start to disappear.
But my favorite part was always when she finally got to see the photographs.
That little “Wait… THAT’S ME?!” moment.
THAT was what hooked me.
So I just kept going.
There were the hotel room years, when I would haul all of my equipment in, move furniture around, chase the best window light I could find, turn the room into a temporary studio, photograph my client… and then put everything back like we were never there. 😂
And then came the studios.
Not just this studio either. I’ve actually had three different studio spaces before my current Vancleave studio, which is kind of crazy to think about now. Each one was its own little chapter of this business. Different spaces, different setups, different stages of my work and honestly, different versions of ME.
There was so much figuring-it-out happening along the way. Things I tried that worked. Plenty that didn’t. 😂 Equipment I thought I absolutely needed. Editing styles I would probably like to pretend never happened. Ideas that lasted forever and others that lasted approximately five minutes.
And somehow, little by little, all of those chapters brought me here.
My photography has changed SO much. My style has changed. My studios have changed. My business has grown and shifted and evolved right along with my life.
I’ve changed.
But the funny thing is, after ten years, the part I love most really hasn’t changed much at all.
It’s still the woman standing in front of my camera.
It’s her story. Her nerves. Her personality. Watching her start to relax. Watching that confidence creep in. And then getting to watch her see herself in a way she maybe hasn’t in a really long time.
And there have been SO many of you. 🥹
Some of you photographed with me once. Some of you came back again…and again. Some of you were there during those hotel-room days and are somehow STILL hanging around here all these years later. 😭 Some of you found me somewhere in one of those studio chapters, and some of you have never stepped in front of my camera at all but have shared my work, recommended me, commented, cheered me on and watched this whole crazy thing grow.
So before I announce anything today, and before I finally show you what I’ve been secretly working on for this anniversary, I really just wanted this morning to be about thank you.
Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for letting me create for you. Thank you for telling your friends about me. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for allowing me into some really personal chapters of your lives. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to spend an entire freaking DECADE doing something I genuinely love.
When I made that decision ten years ago, I had absolutely no idea what the next ten years were going to look like.
I’m really freaking glad I did it anyway. 🥹🖤
10 years. Hundreds of women. So many stories, so many versions of this business and so many versions of me.
And somehow, I still feel like we’re just getting started.
Happy 10 years to this crazy little business of mine. 🥂
We freaking did it.
And later today…
we CELEBRATE. 👀🖤

09/10/2026

Okay… tomorrow is officially TEN YEARS. 🥹
And I’ve been thinking about something while going through all of these old photographs.
Over the last decade, I’ve photographed women at SO many different stages of life.
Women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.
Women celebrating birthdays, marriages, motherhood, anniversaries and huge milestones.
Women starting over.
Women whose bodies had changed.
Women who were healing.
Women who had spent YEARS saying they wanted to do a session but kept finding reasons to wait.
And women who walked through my door for absolutely no reason other than...
“I want to do this for me.”
And I think after ten years, one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that there really isn't some magical moment when you suddenly become “ready.”
Life doesn't stop changing.
Our bodies don't stop changing.
There will always be another five pounds. Another busy month. Another bill. Another reason that maybe later would be easier.
Meanwhile, the years just keep moving.
Maybe that's hitting me a little harder right now because I'm about to turn 39 and start my final lap around my 30s. 😂 But I keep thinking...
I don't want to spend my life waiting to celebrate it.
And I don't want that for the women I photograph either.
Take the trip.
Wear the outfit.
Get in the picture.
Celebrate the birthday.
Do something completely unnecessary simply because it makes you happy.
You don't always need a reason. 🖤

09/08/2026

Since I've fallen a little behind on my 10-year trip down memory lane, we're doing some catching up today. 😂

And we CANNOT talk about the last 10 years without talking about...

THE HOTEL ROOM ERA. 🤣

Before I had my own studio, I would literally pack up everything I needed, haul it into a hotel room, move furniture around, rearrange lamps, hunt down the best window light, turn that room into a temporary studio... photograph my clients... and then put everything back like we were never there. 😂

And honestly? At the time, I didn't think anything of it.

I just wanted to create.

I didn't have the perfect space. I didn't have everything figured out. I definitely didn't have all of the equipment and options I have now.

I just used what I had and kept going.

Looking back at those photos now makes me realize how easy it is to look at where someone is TODAY and forget there were years of figuring-it-out that came before it.

Those hotel rooms were a huge part of building what I have now.

And I wouldn't trade those years for anything. 🖤

Although I will say... having a studio where I DON'T have to put the furniture back when I'm finished is pretty freaking nice. 🤣

Who in here photographed with me during the hotel room days?! I know some of you are still here! 👀🖤

09/01/2026

Okay ladies, it’s officially SEPTEMBER!! 🎉 And this month is a pretty BIG one around here.

First of all, September officially marks 10 YEARS since I made the decision to specialize in photographing women. TEN YEARS!! I honestly cannot believe I’m even typing that. 😭🖤

I’ve been going back through old Facebook posts and photos from over the years, and y’all… we have come a LONG way. 😂 There was a time when I didn’t have a studio at all. I was packing up all of my equipment, hauling it into hotel rooms, moving furniture around, chasing the good window light, shooting, packing everything back up, and doing it all over again.

When I started this journey, I really had no idea where it was going to take me. I just knew I loved working with women one-on-one. I loved watching that nervousness start to disappear during a session, and I especially loved that moment when a woman saw her photos and realized she could see herself a little differently.

And somehow… here we are 10 years later. 🥹

Over the last decade, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph so many incredible women and be trusted with so many different stories and seasons of life. Some came in to celebrate a birthday or milestone. Some wanted a sexy little gift for their partner. Some needed a confidence boost. Some were going through huge changes in their lives. And some just finally decided, “You know what? I’m doing this for ME.”

That’s probably what I love most when I look back at the last 10 years. My photography has changed. My style has changed. My business has grown and changed. We went from hotel rooms to having our own studio here in Vancleave. But the reason I love doing this really hasn’t changed very much at all. 🖤

So there is NO WAY I’m letting our 10th anniversary quietly pass us by. 😂 We are celebrating ALL MONTH LONG!

I’m going to be digging into the archives and sharing old photos, old posts, behind-the-scenes memories, client stories, and probably some old graphics that are going to make me seriously question some of my design decisions. 🤣🤣

And of course… I have something BIG planned for the anniversary. 👀

I’m not spilling those details just yet, but if you’ve been hanging around in this group for months—or YEARS—thinking, “One of these days I’m finally going to book a session…”

You might want to pay attention this month. 😉🔥

AND as if celebrating 10 YEARS of photographing women wasn’t enough for one September… I’ve got another milestone coming.

I turn 39 on September 21st! 🎂😳

Y’all.
THIRTY. NINE.
My official LAST YEAR OF MY 30s. 🤣

I’m not entirely sure who authorized this because I’m pretty sure I was 29 approximately four years ago, but apparently the math says otherwise. 😂

So I guess September is officially doing the MOST this year. We’re celebrating 10 years in business, my 39th birthday, AND the beginning of my farewell tour to my 30s. 🤣🥂

And you know what? I’m actually excited about it.

The older I get, the more I realize just how ridiculously fast these years go by. I’m becoming a lot less interested in waiting for the “right time” and a whole lot more interested in making memories, spending time with the people I love, doing things that make me happy, taking the damn pictures, and actually celebrating the season I’m in while I’m still in it.

Which, when I think about it, is pretty fitting for what I’ve been telling women in front of my camera for the last decade. 🖤

So here’s to 10 YEARS OF CELEBRATING HER.
Here’s to 39.
Here’s to my final lap around my 30s. 😂🥂

And here’s to making this September one worth celebrating.

39… LET’S FREAKING GO. 🔥🎂

Now where are my other September babies?! Drop your birthday below! And if you’ve already crossed over into the fabulous 40s, feel free to tell me what I’m in for. 🤣💕

08/25/2026

Pshhh... 👀 Need a little confidence boost this week?

I have TWO last-minute session spots available! 🖤🔥

Come spend a little time in front of my camera, let me handle the posing, and remind yourself just how damn good it feels to do something that's completely for YOU.

💕 Only 2 spots available!
Message me “ME!” and I'll send you all the details! 📸✨

08/25/2026

Pshhh... 👀 Need a little confidence boost this week?

I have TWO last-minute session spots available! 🖤🔥

Come spend a little time in front of my camera, let me handle the posing, and remind yourself just how damn good it feels to do something that's completely for YOU.

💕 Only 2 spots available!
Message me “ME!” and I'll send you all the details! 📸✨

08/25/2026

Just popping in with your Tuesday reminder:
You are allowed to do things simply because they make YOU feel good. 🖤
Not for your spouse.
Not for your kids.
Not because anyone else expects it.
For. YOU. 👏
And speaking of doing something for yourself... I may have a little reminder coming your way later tonight. 🍑👀😂