I vividly remember the first time I worked with somebody who was uncomfortable in front of cameras. I was just starting out, barely getting paid for photography, and I was still in the phase of learning about lighting and how to pose people. I made an appointment with an acquaintance, Stephanie, to take some free business headshots for her as practice.

 

When we met up, the first words that tumbled out of her mouth were: “Just so you know, I look really bad in photos.”

 

I told her I would try my best to make her comfortable in front of the camera and draw out as much of her inner confidence as I could. I talked to her as we took the photos, and posed her in certain ways that would accentuate her best features but still keep her looking like herself. Eventually, she relaxed, and when I showed her the raw images on my camera, she started tearing up. I asked her why she was getting emotional, and she told me that she had never seen a photo of herself that she’d liked before.

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From that point forward, I made it my mission to use photography to help spread self-love, to encourage people to see themselves through someone else’s eyes, instead of their own in the mirror. I use minimal editing on almost all of my shoots, unless a client requests otherwise. My goal is to draw out the best in people and capture that in a photograph, but keeping the raw uniqueness of each individual is extremely important to me. I don’t ever want a client to look at a photo I took and barely recognize themselves.

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Authenticity in my photography is my number one goal. No matter how fancy the lighting equipment or how expensive the camera, genuine personality and connection is something that cannot be staged. This is what my art centers around and I hope that you, as my potential client, embrace that and allow yourself to be vulnerable with me when shooting. The most beautiful photographs are born from truth.