Genuine portrait session | Beloved | Main Line Photography
People don’t generally like having their photo taken. They feel awkward, self-conscious, and can’t really relax. It’s hard! About a year ago, I came across a technique to evoke natural expressions from people during their photo session. Who doesn’t want a genuine portrait that actually gives a glimpse into a relationship? A REAL portrait. To me, that’s the whole point of a portrait. Not the perfectly posed, “say cheese” portraits. They can look nice but they don’t “say” anything about the couple or family.
So I finally decided to take the training for this particular technique. Our final assignment was to shoot a session. This session…
I asked a couple who I’d never photograph before to stand in as models. They ended up cancelling at the last minute due to illness. Since my assignment was due that weekend I needed to get to work! Thankfully, my friends stepped in to save the day.
This type of session is not meant for everyone. You need to be mentally and emotionally open to the experience. It is an emotional journey. For this assignment, the husband had no idea what he was walking into, which caused some challenges. This type of session involves letting down your personal walls so you can experience it with your partner. Unfortunately, he could not forget that I was there. There were moments of connection, but they were fleeting.
It was very cold this day so the coats were on and hands were jammed into pockets. Not conducive for our lovely, intimate session. I still managed to get some emotion.
We still had lots of laughs, even though I heard no secrets. It was special and only between them.
Of course, what’s most important is that their children will have these images of their parents forever. Hopefully, their grandchildren will see these too. Imagine that!
My assignment critique provided some very insightful help for future images. So I’m very excited to book a few more sessions for play! If you’re interested in experiencing a Beloved session, please send me an email. I will be conducting a limited number at a discounted session rate.
