5 Things Everyone Should Understand Going into a Portrait Session with Me

#1 I’m here to play and I invite you to play along.

This is play. First of all, that takes a lot of pressure away. When we understand that there’s no need to get this “right” then everyone relaxes.??

If we take it too seriously we will never find the different ways you can express yourself.? It stays rigid and limited and stale.? By playing we get to shake it up and just see what falls out.? I’m constantly watching what you do and how that comes across.??

And by keeping it all lighter, we drop into a more relaxed, honest and authentic frame of mind which opens up the possibility to find the matching postures and expressions.

#2 It’s confronting.

You’re going to see some very unflattering things.? I work with all shapes and sizes and so far there is not one human I’ve worked with when I haven’t been able to find flattering postures/ positions/ poses.? Sometimes it takes a little more time and some rather clever tricks, but it always works.??

You might see some expressions that are diametrically opposed to who you are and how you want to show up.? But it doesn’t matter because every single one of those shots are thrown in the bin.??

It’s a bit like sculpting marble.? Michelangelo didn’t create David by starting with a piece of sandpaper on a giant block of raw marble.? He had to start with some very rough cuts.? He would need to see how a particular piece of marble would start to express itself…? And then once the basic shapes were sorted, it’s just refine, refine, refine.? We do it the exact same way.? I just don’t use a chisel.??

If it gets to be a bit overwhelming, refer to #1 above.? This is play.? So we laugh off the terrible things we see, make the right adjustments, and just keep moving forward.

#3 Every decision we make about everything… body language and expression - literally every choice - is made using real time feedback.??

There are no surprises in this process.? The camera is attached to the computer and we see everything on the screen, full size as we go.? So we see immediately what works and what doesn’t.? You see right away which avenues you’d like to explore… and the ones we avoid at all costs.

Having this feedback allows us to filter out the crap a lot faster and get to the good stuff sooner.? It means that you don’t have to trust me.? You are making a lot of the decisions yourself.? I’m there to facilitate the process, helping you express yourself in the best way possible.

#4 This is called Superpower Portraits for a reason.

I tend to see the best in people.? I recognise that within everyone is a superpower that is unique to you.? I know how much thought, care, attention, money, blood, sweat and tears that goes into your business. And I know how resilient and clear-eyed one needs to be to achieve something significant.??

This is what I see and what I’m always trying to find a way to capture on camera.? I want to help you express your ultimate vision and highest values in a few frames.? To be perfectly honest, it’s a bit of a feedback loop.? Because when I can do that for you, I’m expressing my own vision and value which is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

Interestingly, another confronting side effect is actually seeing yourself more significant or powerful than you ever imagined.? You know that all that value is “in there” but no one ever expects to see it land on a screen in front of them.? I’m holding up a very powerful mirror and you might just see something more profound than you’d ever expect.

#5 You’re going to have a hard time choosing your favourites because you will have so many amazing images to choose from, you’re seriously not going to believe it.

I know this is quite a bold claim, but it is the most common problem my clients have.??

Because we are using real feedback to decide how we proceed in the shoot, we get way more great shots than you’d ever expect.??

Once the photoshoot is over, I go through the images and select a highly curated set of shots that gives you maximum diversity of expression and impact.? So you’re not sitting there with hundreds of what seems like the same shot.? It’s always a bit different,? but you can end up with as few as 3-4 and as many as 15-20 of each set-up to choose from.??

Hopefully that helps get your head around what you're in for when we get together and truly collaborate to create some super-powerful visual communication!

Cynthia Dearin GAICD Rugare Gomo ????? ???? ???? Rebecca Cribbin Bron O'Loan Ben Nash Michelle Monk