Starting the year off right | Atlanta Portrait Photographer

This past weekend I had the pleasure of photographing the headshots for my new client, Adrienne. Turns out, she works with two of my previous clients and when she saw their images she knew she wanted me to take hers. It’s always a blessing to have people book after seeing my images. When she called me she was so excited and ready to get started. In fact, she booked her actual session before she even booked her consultation. Normally, it goes the other way around but I’m open to a new way of doing things. I think she wanted to make sure that her slot wouldn’t be taken by someone else, so I obliged. When we had the consultation, I informed her of all the details that include, the flow of the session, the amount of time it takes, her outfit choices, the makeup artist and let her ask any questions that she may have had.

On the day of the session, her husband, Don came with her. Don’t worry, everyone was masked up. They were running errands together so he went ahead and drove her to her session with me. How cute is that? They were both a joy to meet and get to know. So, while Adrienne was getting her makeup done I decided to ask her and Don a few questions. One question was how  long they had been married. Turns out it has been over 30 years. How wonderful is that? Then I asked how they met. That’s when they both looked at each other and he smiled and she rolled her eyes. That’s when you know it’s an interesting story but they may not agree on the actual story itself. Don was more than happy to tell the story of how she literally and figuratively fell for him at Bible study. When I asked her to tell her side, she said that she would roll with his story and leave it at that. 

Whenever I have a session at my home studio, I try to set the mood by playing the type of music that my clients enjoy. I have an Alexa in my studio but that wasn’t my idea. Personally, I don’t like those home speakers because I think they are listening when they shouldn’t be. I don’t like that. My husband doesn’t seem to mind at all. Anyway, the only time I use Alexa is when I need to find music for the session and I really don’t have the time to look for it myself. Once her makeup was done we began the session.

Like me, Adrienne is camera shy. She told me that she had not had professional portraits before. I was honored to be her first. Because I know how uncomfortable being in front of the camera has made me feel, I could certainly empathize with her. Yes, she was a little stiff in the beginning. Being in front of a camera with the lights and reflectors pointed at you can be a bit intimidating. So, what I like to do is make my clients laugh to relax them. Laughing also helps them produce a genuine smile because I hate forced or fake smiles. You can see those a mile away. I asked Don if there were in jokes that he knew and Adrienne said, “No!” Okay. Moving on. Since that was a no-go, I decided to share a story about a funny video I saw. That made her laugh but she quickly caught herself. Uh, what’s the point of making you laugh if you’re going to stop yourself? So, we tried it again a few times and I believe I was able to capture some really good images of her. By the end of the session, I believe she was pretty relaxed, even if she didn’t feel 100% comfortable in front of the camera. It must not have been too bad since she said she will be booking me in the spring for some branding images. Anyway, check out some of the images from the session. I know some of them are probably a bit “too happy” for business but they sure do show her personality!

“Success is awarded to those willing to do the uncomfortable.” ~ Darren Hardy