It's not you...it's me...

“Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.”  —Anonymous

The idea of getting a portrait or a headshot taken, to some people is nerve-wracking, especially if you didn't grow up in the "selfie generation."

What is it about sitting in front of a camera that creates such anxiety?

Why do some (including myself) feel so vulnerable or uncomfortable waiting for that shutter to click?

Some don't see it as an issue at all, perhaps they are used to it, but most tell me that getting their picture taken is up there with going to the dentist. 

Most of us would rather be somewhere else.

But we've either been sent by our employer to get a headshot for the new website or updating our photo is a necessary evil as we progress through our professional careers and milestones.

So how do you ease your anxiety when you are about to do something you have no interest in doing?

I talk to myself.

I invite that positive roommate in my head to tell me it's going to be okay, that I'm being silly, that "this too shall pass."

I've translated that approach into my business  (not the talking to myself...that would be weird.)

First, I assume all my clients are anxious about feeling vulnerable in front of the camera - even with the ones who boast they aren't.

Throughout the session I find that if I explain everything that is about to happen to them with a dash of humor, they release that anxiety, and that fear of the unknown dissipates.

Finally, I empower my clients to choose, on site, the images they like, not the images I tell them to like.  I've come to learn that there are so many things I control in the studio, but the one thing I can't control is how the subject feels about themself.

"It's not you Laura...it's me.."

So if you don't like what you see, it's digital baby....lets go again! 

It's all about control, we get anxious about sitting in front of a camera because we have suddenly relinquished control to someone else to interpret how we appear. 

So instead, find a photographer who's willing to collaborate with you, one that will put you at ease, enough that you forget you hate having your picture taken.

I happen to know that photographer...jus sayin'