"We're really awkward, just so you know."
I hear this before probably eight out of ten sessions. Then ninety minutes later people are surprised at how easy it was. So let me explain what is actually going on, because it is not that some people are photogenic and others are not.
The Real Problem
When a camera comes out, most people do two things: they freeze, and they start thinking about their face.
Both are the problem. Stillness reads as tension, and a face you are actively constructing looks constructed.
The fix for both is the same. Give your body something to do.
Why I Keep You Moving
Almost everything I ask for during a session involves motion. Walk toward me. Walk away and look back. Spin. Pull them in. Whisper something.
None of that is about the walking. It is that a moving body cannot hold tension the way a still one can, and a person mid motion is not thinking about their chin.
The Awkward First Fifteen Minutes
This happens every single time and I plan for it.
You will feel stiff. You will not know what to do with your hands. You will wonder if you look strange. This is normal, it is universal, and it passes.
I usually start with the easiest possible thing, just walking and talking, and I do not show you the back of the camera during that stretch. By minute twenty you have forgotten the camera exists.
That is also the whole argument for doing an engagement session before your wedding. It moves those fifteen minutes off your wedding day.
Small Adjustments That Fix a Lot
Hands. The most common question. Give them a job: in a pocket, on their waist, holding a hand, touching a face, holding a drink. Anything but hanging straight down.
Weight. Shift onto your back foot and drop the front shoulder slightly. This one adjustment fixes about half of all stiff standing photos.
Chin forward and down. Feels wrong, looks right. It defines the jaw.
Space. A tiny gap between your arm and your body slims everything and looks more relaxed than arms pressed flat.
Breathe out. People hold their breath when a camera lifts. Exhale right before.
The Smile Problem
A held smile decays fast. Fifteen seconds in it becomes a grimace, and everybody knows it.
So I do not ask you to hold one. I ask you to do something that produces one. Tell them the worst thing about them. Say your own name in the most annoying voice possible. Whisper what you actually want for dinner.
The photos that work are reaction shots, not held expressions.
For the Reluctant Partner
There is nearly always one person who is enthusiastic and one who agreed to this.
If that is you: it is ninety minutes, you will be told exactly what to do so you never have to invent anything, and it will be over faster than you expect. Most reluctant partners end up liking the photos more than the enthusiastic one does, because they had lower expectations.
What You Can Do Beforehand
Eat something. Low blood sugar makes everyone tense.
Do not schedule anything after. Rushing shows.
Have one glass of something if that helps. One. Not three.
Wear something you are comfortable in. More on that here.
Stop practicing in the mirror. Genuinely. It makes it worse.
The Thing Nobody Tells You
Your favorite photo will almost certainly not be the one where you look your best in a technical sense.
It will be the one where you are laughing with your eyes closed, or your hair is doing something, or you are looking at them instead of at me. Every time.
My Job
You are not supposed to know how to do this. That is what I am for. I will tell you where to stand, where to look, and what to do with your hands, and if something is not working I will change it without making it weird.
You just have to show up and be willing to feel a little silly for fifteen minutes.
More on the portfolio, and you can reach out here.