I'm getting ready to launch my Class of 2020 photoshoot packages next month and I'm so excited to photograph some amazing young women who are diving in to their next life adventure!
But.
One of the main push backs I hear when it comes to having your photo taken is all about lack of confidence. Whether you think you need to lose a few pounds, you're not 'pretty enough', you're not 'tall enough'... it all comes down to confidence and how you see YOURSELF.
There's no getting away from the fact that I am now in my 30s. Ha! But, along with 3 decades of experience, has come a fabulous sense of peace with the way I look and, more importantly, the way I FEEL about myself. Because, trust me, I was there with you as a teenager. Feeling not good enough, too short, too quiet... too weird. I even said to someone once 'If only I had enough confidence, I could...' This person taught me that confidence is a myth. Who decides how confident you feel? Who tells you how fabulous you SHOULD feel or are ALLOWED to feel?
No one but you, girl!
Confidence in front of the camera is the same as confidence in every day life. It's hinges on accepting yourself and being kind to yourself. You will make mistakes. Some days, you'll wake up on the wrong side of bed, with messy, 3-day old hair and the only thing you feel like wearing is a big baggy jumper and sweat-pants. But that's OK. Embrace it! Tomorrow, you can wash your hair, put some lippy on and use the pavement as a catwalk.
Today, start by standing in front of the mirror and telling yourself one awesome thing about YOU. Did you crack a hilarious joke yesterday? Did you make someone's day? Did you get out of bed even though it was the last thing you felt like doing? You're funny, loving, kind and intelligent - tell the person you see in the mirror. Soon, she'll stop caring about what every one else thinks. The only person who needs to love her is herself.
"Confidence is not something you earn as a reward."
I've learnt that you shouldn't be waiting for someone to give you confidence. It's not something you earn as a reward. It comes from you, from pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and from realising that you could do it all along. So, I understand that putting yourself in front of a camera can be an alien concept, but that's because it's not in your comfort zone. I'm here to tell you that you deserve to be in photographs. You deserve an amazing portrait of yourself and you deserve to be celebrated.
And once you see your beauty shining back at you in portraits you'll love forever, you'll know there is no stopping you!
See you in the studio ;)
