You are looking at the queen of the camera. And when I say this, I mean the queen of being behind the camera. I am a nightmare for having my photograph taken and am super critical of myself in every photo my family tries to take of me. I promise this is not vanity, just lack of confidence and a complete inability to be able to pose myself.
You would think that, being a specialist newborn and family photographer in Yorkshire and having built a business on my ability to take stunning photographs of my clients, I would be able to pose myself in a way that looks almost human. But, unfortunately without someone being there to tell me where to place my hands, tilt my head and to move my hair for me, I end up looking like a cross between Chandler Bing on his engagement photos and Phoebe when she runs!
This said I still think it is incredibly important that I bite the bullet and get my act together. See, the images that I reluctantly let my family take, or the ones I take with a trigger and spend ages running backwards and forwards to my camera to find one where I look even slightly normal, are for my children, for their future. They won’t see the parts I hate; they will just see the mum that adores them and who they love too. Without these precious memories how can they show their children or grandchild? We all love looking through images of the past. My Dad has an old tin of photographs of his family, most of them died before I was born, but through these pictures and the stories he tells us, I feel like I know each and every one of them.
Most of my clients are new mums and dads. They are tired and experiencing all the emotions of having a new baby. They are also completely besotted with their little family. This above all shines through in the images I produce. I always encourage my clients to be in some images. Most reluctantly agree and are thrilled with the results in fact I see so many using them as their profile picture! You see, this is my passion, I never want my clients to be anything less than in love with their images and I also am experienced in posing people (if not myself!). I know just the right angle to take an image from to make you look your best. I also know the ones to avoid!
As well and this knowledge, there is also photoshop. I always edit in a natural style, and images where faces are too smoothed out are not my style so if you want every pore and line removed from your face and your eyes unnaturally large, then I probably am not the right photographer for you. That said if you wake up on the morning of your shoot with a spot the size of Mount Vesuvius, then do not fear. It is easily remedied and if you have any special requests, simply say. We are all human and have things that we worry about. The images I take will be treasured for many years after we are all gone. So, bite the bullet, pull out your favourite dress, (you can find advise on outfit styling here) stick on some lipstick and drag your reluctant partner along and get those images done! They are a legacy for your children.