Exist in Photos
This week’s blog post is gonna go a little deep. Here’s the thing, I’m a woman but I’m also a photographer, a business owner, a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. I’m not sure if you’re like me at all but I don’t like being photographed. Actually, I love being photographed when I feel comfortable but then I see the images and feel self-conscious. We all do it right? I’m sure I’m not the only one to make her husband take 10 selfies in a row cause my double chin is showing in that one but my smile looks odd in this one…. lol.
I photograph teens for their senior pictures and even the most beautiful girls are self-conscious about how they look. As a photographer, I find beauty in everyone I photograph and I can always tell when someone isn’t sure of their beauty. I love it when I take a shot and am just dying over how gorgeous the senior looks and show them the back of my camera. Sometimes that is all it takes to give them a bit of confidence that they truly are beautiful. And for some that tiny boost barely scrapes the surface of how they see themselves.
Most of the time your body isn’t the issue, it’s your thoughts. If you tell yourself that you are beautiful, over time you’ll believe yourself. And it works the other way too. I know this sounds super woo-woo and it is, but I truly believe how we speak to ourselves matters. When I’m being harsh on myself I try to stop and think, “would I say that to my best friend?”. If the answer is no because it would hurt her feelings then I probably shouldn’t be talking to myself like that. I am my own harshest critic, no one will be as tough on me as me. And that can be an awesome motivator but it can also never let in any praise for when I do something well. So don’t forget to find those shining moments!
One of my senior clients asked me what we were doing for family pictures this year. I didn’t have a plan! She said, “so just like the cobbler’s son has no shoes? ” and she was totally right! I’ve been so concerned for my seniors’ families that they get updated portraits together before they go off into the world that I hadn’t even thought to get pictures for my family. The last family portrait we had taken by a professional was my son’s newborn photos when he was 11 days old! He’s over 2 now! Last year I set up the tripod for our family photo but there’s no way I could wrangle him and a tripod this year with as fast as he moves! Plus I’ve got an extra 60lbs I’m carrying that I’m not thrilled with. But am I waiting to take that family picture? Hell no! I booked a family portrait session for the end of October. I couldn’t be more excited and more relieved to have this taken care of. I know we’ll have a great shoot and get a family photo worthy of a large print to put on our wall and a cute pic for our holiday cards.
Here’s the point of this rambling self-help blog post, don’t avoid being photographed. Don’t avoid your senior pictures because you don’t think you’re beautiful enough or worthy of the expense, don’t avoid updating your family portrait this year because you’ve gained a bit of weight and don’t avoid getting professional headshots done because you can’t imagine showing your face to your clients. If you are feeling the stress of wanting updated family portraits but not wanting to because of feeling insecure, I invite you to do it anyways. Exist in photos! The little ones are only this little for so long. When they are older they will love to see how their family has changed over the years and taking an updated portrait is the best way to capture those memories.
I have 1 spot left at my Family Mini Session on November 4th. These are at Summerlake Park in Tigard this year. The trees at this park are all the gorgeous colors of Fall! Red, Orange and Yellow! Mini sessions are an easy way to update your family portrait with a 20 minute photoshoot and you’ll get 3 image downloads with a print release. Contact me soon to grab this last spot!
If you don’t get a session with me I hope that you will find another photographer! Mini sessions are super popular this time of year and there are hundreds of photographers in the Portland area. Do it! You’ll be glad you did!
