Dancing in a Tutu — The Importance of Capturing Personality in Your Portraits

Lorenna and I sat down in front of my big screen TV and I revealed these photographs that I'd taken of her daughter. She really liked them. She thought her daughter Angie looked absolutely gorgeous in the white tutu. But it wasn't until Lorenna asked to see the 'behind the scenes' photos that we discovered the real gemstones. I had originally chosen, edited and published the 'pretty poses' — the poses that resembled a fashion magazine. But when we scrolled through the behind the scenes photos, tears appeared in Lorenna's eyes. I heard her whisper, "Now, that's my Angie." These pictures of Angie laughing were Lorenna's favorites. These were the photos she loved. These were the images that Lorenna wanted to purchase. These were the images that captured her daughter's truest personality. They weren't he perfectly pretty poses that I'd tried so hard to memorize and coach Angie into. They were the moments in-between these awkward body-twisting positions, the moments that made Angie wiggle, giggle and shine (wiggle & giggle?...my apologies for such a sickly sweet phrase haha). Five months later, I've finally really embraced these in-between laughing snapshots of beautiful Angie. I am so excited to share this sequence with you today! Angie you are beautiful on the outside but especially on the inside! Thank you for sharing your light with me! And thank you Lorenna for reminding me of the real beauty that I want to search for and capture with my camera. 

These are the first set of images that I presented to Lorenna...

These are the behind-the-scenes images that Lorenna loved...

These two images below are my favorites :D I wanted to share them with you in BIG VERSION hehe! I love #1 because it's simple — no tutu, just Angie staring straight at me and I love #2 because her laugh is so genuine and I love the way her hands are placed on her knees, it just adds that little touch of vintage Hollywood sparkle...or something like that haha

Remember to capture the beauty of personality my friends! 

10 Tips for Helping People Relax in Front of the Camera

Q: How do you put people at ease during a photo shoot? I feel like I talk too much, laugh nervously, and stay stupid things because I want to avoid an awkward silence when I'm shooting. How do I make my clients relax when I'm feeling nervous?

People are always telling me that I’m good at ‘making people feel relaxed in front of the camera’. I always feel a little awkward about this compliment because I don’t really feel like I deserve praise for it. I don’t think it’s a special skill. Admittedly, there are plenty of people (and photographers) out there who are incredibly awkward, creepy, stressful, uncomfortable to be around etc… BUT the majority of us definitely have what it takes to ‘put people at ease in front of the camera.’

It’s an easy task if you’re a nice friendly person who is excited about photography, enjoys being with other people and saying “pretty” “pretty” “pretty” “cute” "really cute" over and over again.



These are my 10 best tips for helping your clients relax in front of your camera:

1) Smile (a lot)
2) Serve food & drinks - nothing like holding a glass or chomping on a carrot to help deal with awkwardness
3) Play Music (that your clients likes)
4) Keep talking with positive encouragement during the photo shoot - this makes a HUGE difference because people are worried about how they look and they'll start to believe you (and relax) when you say they look beautiful over and over again
5) Ask questions and listen when you’re not shooting, keep your connection with the client flowing & keep the focus on them because people love talking about themselves— remember, it's not about YOU
6) Have great eye contact, it helps you and your client feel grounded and connected and comfortable together (eye-contact is uncomfortable at first but it breaks down social barriers)
7) Get to know your clients as much as possible before or during the shoot — if they feel like you’re interested in them, they’ll feel welcome and relaxed
8) Give your clients an outline or timeline of their photo shoot & entire experience with - people feel more relaxed when they have a game plan & they know what's about to happen
9) Give really simple clear directions. Talk to clients like you're explaining neurochemistry to preschoolers. People are more relaxed when they understand (without a shadow of a doubt) what you want them to do.
10) Join them so they don't feel alone. If your client is nude, take off your parka and just wear a tank-top. If they're barefoot, kick off your shoes. If you want them to dance, you have to dance first. Don't ask them to do anything that you wouldn't do (right then and there). It's classic high school dance syndrome, nobody wants to be on the dance floor by themselves.
11) (Couldn't resist throwing in one more tip for extra credit)... SLOW DOWN. Nobody is rushing you. When I feel nervous about a shoot, I rush and my pictures get blurry, sloppy, boring and repetitive (the same poses over and over and over). When I realize I'm rushing, I take a deep breath, remind myself that the client isn't going to run away if I stop shooting for a moment to analyze the image, adjust shutter speeds or have them move into a different pose. I speak slower, move slower, shooting slower and pause in between shots to reassess. Shoot in (what feels like) slow motion. If you relax, your clients can relax.

How do you help your clients relax?
 

{Grateful on Sunday} Tasty Treats & Rainbows

Hello friends :D

We moved into our new house this week and we haven't set up our internet yet...hence the reason I missed 'Grateful on Sunday' this weekend. But better late than never, right? This week has been all about tasty treats, fun with new friends and enjoying our new neighborhood.

This week I am grateful for doing makeup with friends like we did in high school,

having this beach 1 minute away from our house, 

Brooke's Halloween party & our fun sugar skulls,

caramel apples,

rainbows,

Starbucks treats,

my new plant to make our new house feel more like home,

our little studio apartment that is exactly what we need and nothing more (keepin' it simple),

late night snacks,

finding a new TV show to be addicted to (Revenge),

finding songs that I instantly fall in love with,

early mornings before the sun gets hot,

my morning walks,

Starbucks dates :),

visiting the video rental store for the first time in like a decade,

movies that have multiple story-lines,

red lipstick and red convertibles,

discovering my new favorite Starbucks drink.... Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino!

a weekend of delicious Italian food,

What are you grateful for today?

Black Bikini Maui Photo Shoot at Baldwin Beach with Ellie Ray

Last weekend, I met Ellie at Baldwin Beach for her Maui beach portraits. Like most women, she brought her entire closet with her in the back of her car. I love when women do this because it gives us so much choice for wardrobe! She also came with lots of creative ideas for her shoot but my favorite was the bikini-leather-jacket-jewelry combo. It seemed like it was the kind of vision that should be on every photographer's bucket list — "Photograph a model in a black bikini with a leather jacket and gold jewelry sitting on a giant rock on a beach in Hawaii…at sunset." In the past couple weeks, I've done a few shoots for Karma at this beach and she showed me this awesome rock. I love it for family portraits because it's so big everyone can cram on and cuddle. But of course, I was stroking my chin and concocting visions of my own photo shoots and how I could photograph a woman on this awesome rock of glory. So when Ellie arrived with her long golden locks and piercing eyes, I knew she was the one….the one who was worthy of the rock LOL jk. 

Ellie's an actress so while we were taking pictures she was telling me all about the Maui film industry and how it's growing. She's going to be in a short film this year! I love talking to the women I work with and hearing about what they're doing with their lives. Women's lives are always so interesting and you can never tell what they're up to just from the photographs. I turned the final images black and white for the beautiful simplicity that it creates. When we remove all the colors, it makes it so much easier to focus on shapes, light and expressions. I really love how it makes Ellie pop out from the dark background. The rock is like a platform that puts her in the spotlight and you can just barely see a hint of pretty palm leaves blending in behind her. Thank you so much Ellie for playing dress up with me at the beach!