Today I want to share with you all my most recent personal portrait experience. Like most people, particularly women, I have a few body issues. I am self described as "camera shy". As is my boyfriend Dean. So far he has been such a trooper and sucks it up for me when I turn my camera on him. I however, still have a mini panic attack when I am at the target end of the lens. It is not an experience that is particularly comfortable for me. To be honest, that is a huge part of the reason I picked up my first camera in high school. When I was behind the camera I could be part of the fun, but still be comfortable at a time when discomfort in my surroundings was the norm. I am still to this day working on making myself take more behind the scenes images, and selfies with my clients to push my comfort zone. 

All this to say I am not one to be in front of the camera much. Because of my boyfriend's health issues soon after we started dating, I got a little perspective that has changed the way I look at family portraits. No matter that neither of us were particularly happy with how we looked at the time, I wanted us to have professional images of us as we are now. We will never again be at the place we are today, and I want to document the "now" for us to have forever. 

As I said last week, my friend Jessi and I traded a portrait shoot. Well this week I want to show off the great images she captured of us. I want to make it clear that these are not my images, I simply edited them. They were shot by the super talented wedding photographer Jessi Marri Becker. And I already have a few of them hanging in my home. 

If you are currently considering a shoot with myself, or any other photographer for that matter, ask yourself, what is holding you back? Are you worried about the way you look? Do you think that you need to lose x amount of pounds to deserve to look beautiful in photographs? I can honestly tell you, a professional photographer's job is to make you look good. If you have parts of your body you are not happy with, TELL your photographer. Before the shoot is best, but even in the moment. The more honest you are with your photographer, the happier you will be with the end result. Part of our experience that you are paying for is our knowledge of how to hide problem areas and highlight your favorite parts of yourself. We work hard to bring out our subject's personality in every image. 

I hope if you are considering hiring me in the future, you will drop me a line and talk with me. We can even set up a consultation in person. I want you to feel as comfortable as possible before you ever step in front of the camera so you get the most out of your experience with Stephanie Quates Photography. Click here to go directly to my contact page to start the process of planning your shoot.