I Love it When Women...
…fearlessly meet me exactly where they are, with no excuses, no apologies, and with a burning desire to set themselves above everyone else, even if only for one afternoon.
I’m so lucky. This is something I get to experience with every single session I am honored enough to photograph. By the time a woman steps into my studio, she has already spent countless hours ruminating in her own mind if this is something she should actually do. Then she spends countless hours researching not only photographers that do the work I do, but also the kind of women that invest in such things. Who are they? Are they like her? They realize they are exactly like them, and all of a sudden “Could I really do this?” sees the switching of 2 little words and the replacement of one punctuation mark, and it becomes “I could really do this!”
The planning is a huge part of the experience because it builds up all that excitement. Scanning Pinterest to see what she’s never thought of before, shopping and trying clothes on that she never thought she’d look good in, but is more than pleasantly surprised when she realizes she not only looks good, she looks and feels amazing!
She steps into the studio and she’s buzzing with excitement and apprehension. She second-guesses herself but she’s here and there’s no turning back now. Her shoulders fold in a bit, feeling the weight of the nerves. I mean, she has arrived as instructed, with no makeup on, hair undone, and in loose-fitting clothing so as to not leave marks on the skin so it’s not as if she’s showing up in a way that represents the tone of the experience she’s about to embark on. One hour later and that girl has all but completely disappeared. Hair styled, makeup artfully applied…and then I see it. It’s instant and something that I notice for just about every woman. She looks in the mirror and in her glance she says “Oh man…yeah…it’s ON!”
Lace and little bits cling to her body, or nothing but skin, and she walks out from behind the dressing area and it never ceases to amaze me to see the transformation from the woman that walked in to the woman about to stand in front of my camera. Yes, the makeup, hair, and clothing certainly makes a gal look different, but it’s so much more than that. She KNOWS she looks incredible. She feels so sexy, so confident, so invincible. Those shoulders that once folded in are now set high and squared. She’s so ready.
Sure, the nerves set in just one more time because she’s not sure I’ll really direct her in the ways she needs, and even if I do, she still suspects she’ll be the one woman in all my history that I can’t seem to pose. I snap a few and make the short walk to her, knowing I’m about to blow her mind. She sees what appears to be herself on the back of a 2x3 screen and at first she can’t believe it. “THAT’S ME?!?!?” and I looooove this part where I get to say “Yeah, girl. That’s you. ALL YOU.”
Suddenly, it’s like a different woman whooshes in and all that confidence she felt 10 minutes ago multiplies by a thousand, and before me stands a goddess. Somehow she just grew 3 inches taller right in front of me and now instead of being my student, she becomes my partner and her experience becomes our experience, and we dance the afternoon away.
When you’re ready to see if it’s all you think it could be, I’ll be here waiting for my next dance partner.
Makeover by AtHome Beauty.
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