Things that seem weird in the moment but make the best photos

Love all the posing. “Walk toward me but like you’re not thinking about anything.”

“Laugh but not at anything specific.” “Just sort of... exist over there.”

Or “don’t do anything cute yet I’m not ready!”

I love bringing out your personality and having fun and making it more of a convo as we go through your session.

Walking Shots

Being asked to walk while someone photographs you feels deeply unnatural at first. You become acutely aware of how your arms swing and whether your face is doing something normal. But walking shots, especially slow, easy, not-thinking-about-it walking, produce some of the most natural, alive photos we take. The movement loosens everything up. By the third pass you’ll have forgotten about it entirely and that’s exactly when we get the shot.

Laughing at Nothing

We might ask you to just laugh. Not at a joke. Not at anything. Just... laugh. This feels incredibly awkward for about four seconds and then your body catches up and it becomes real.

The photos from this are always some of the best in the gallery, open, bright, joyful. The trick is to commit to it instead of half-doing it. Go all in on the fake laugh and watch it turn into a real one.

Looking Away From the Camera

When people think “photo,” they think looking at the camera. But some of the most compelling portraits happen when the subject is looking somewhere else entirely, off to the side, down at something, lost in thought. We’ll direct you on this, but when we ask you to look away don’t second-guess it. The slightly mysterious, slightly candid quality it creates is something you can’t manufacture any other way.

Doing Your Actual Thing

If you play guitar, we might ask you to actually play it. If you’re an artist, we might ask you to actually draw. If your thing is sitting on a tailgate staring at a field, we might ask you to actually do that. It feels weird to do your normal thing while someone photographs it. But those shots where you’re just in your element are the ones that capture who you actually are better than any posed portrait ever could.

The In-Between Moments

Between setups, between looks, between the “real” shots, we keep the camera ready!

Because the in-between moments are when people are most themselves.

Mid-sentence.

Mid-laugh.

Mid-fixing-your-hair.

Those frames are gold and they happen when nobody’s performing anything. Don’t be surprised if some of your favorite photos from the whole session came from a moment you didn’t even know we were shooting.

Good photos live in the in-between too.