As a photographer, I have met a lot of people who are not confident in front of a camera. Part of my job is to make them conformable or at least look like they are in photos. I get a lot of people who feel really awkward while I'm photographing but once they get their images back, they are pleasantly surprised at how great they look. I work hard to find poses and prompts that showcase a clients favorite features so when they see themselves in my images, they feel good.
I've spent most of last 7 years focusing on natural light with outdoor family photography. While I absolutely LOVE using natural light, I'm always trying to improve on my skills and learn new ways to be creative. Living in New Jersey, there are not many outdoor sessions happening in the first 3 months of the year, it's just too cold for most. I've worked hard to build up more studio sessions as well as in home sessions for my clients. However, I still have some time to utilize those first few months to brush up on my education, work on my marketing strategies for the year and feed my creative soul with fun/different sessions.
This year I was blown away by two of my dear friends who were in the middle of training for a body building competition. They had been working so hard for months, working with a special coach to eat the right foods and working out daily. I wanted to do something for them that would help showcase all the hard work they have been doing and build up their confidence. I also wanted to play with my indoor lighting and getting the right "mood" for the session.
I was able to use the workout room in my home with a backdrop. I even had my husband bring our giant mirror into the room for me to use, I had a vision and I couldn't wait to bring it to life!
The day of the session I had the girls wear clothes they felt confident in but still showed a lot of skin. I had them use body oil on themselves to give their skin a great shine. I then played around with my lights until I found the perfect angles to show off their muscles. I grabbed some dumbbells, other workout accessories and a workout bench, it was time to get creative!
I had so much fun with these two, we laughed and goofed around. I would show my friends the back of my camera every few photos so they could see what I saw. They were amazed at what I was able to capture. I loved watching as their confidence grow as we continued with the session.
After the session there was some editing to do, as always. I was able to extend the backdrop in many of the images and play around with the highlights and shadows. I am so pleased with how these turned out. Not only was I able to get creative and do something I usually don't photograph, but I get to play around with my lights and turn my vision into reality.
Thanks to the outfit one of my friends wore, I'm over here patiently waiting for #Nike to call me to use my images for marketing. Don't worry, I won't hold my breath until they do.
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