If you want to participate, read on. If you don't, read on anyways.
I would also love if you shared your thoughts in the comments afterwards!
First: Find a picture of yourself. Preferably one of just you, with no one else in the photo.
Now for the next minute, I want you to just stare at the picture. Really look at it. Jot down or take a mental note of the things that stand out to you in the photo. It can be anything, but try to be specific.
Now, I want you to find a picture of a loved one. It can be anyone: your mom, your spouse, your child, even your dog if you want.
Stare at this picture for a minute, and do the same thing. Take some notes on the things you notice about the picture, how it makes you feel, etc.
Now, I want you to go back over the notes of each picture and take a tally: how many of the comments are positive, and how many are negative? They can also be neutral.
You see where I'm going with this, right?
How many of your comment toward yourself were positive?
Were your thoughts generally more positive toward your loved one, or toward yourself?
What about finding the photos? Was it easier to find a picture of yourself, or your loved one? Which one did you choose faster?
I try to keep this blog fun and uplifting. But guys, this is so important. And I don't know of any other way to say it.
You have to like yourself.
As a photographer, it just breaks my heart. I can't tell you how many times I take pictures for someone, and they complain that they don't like themselves in the photo. Everything is else is perfect: the lighting, the location, the pose, we got it all right. But there is just something, or lots of things, about themselves that they can't see past.
I can't tell you how many pictures I post that I love, only to have the person delete it off social media and ask me to do the same because "their hair looks bad" or "their smile looks weird" or "they don't like the outfit they chose."
Guys, I'm not above this. I get it. Every picture that has ever been taken of me I have criticized down to every last zit or misplaced strand of hair, but all I'm saying is we have to stop sometime.
I wish you could all see yourselves the way I see you through my camera lens. I have truly, truly, never been taking pictures for someone and thought, "Wow, their smile is weird." or "Interesting shirt choice."
You know why?
Because all I see is your beautiful family, and how happy you are when you're together. (Yes, even when the kids aren't smiling and your shoes got muddy and nothing is going according to plan.)
I wish you could see yourselves the way your family sees you. Especially your spouse and kids. I promise, they never look at your family picture and think anything negative about you.
That's partly why I love taking pictures of kids.
They always stand in front of the camera so confidently, so excited to pose and grin. I love showing kids their pictures on my camera, and I always ask them something like, "Isn't that pretty?" or "Aren't you so cute?" In the hundreds of times I have done this, I have never had a kid say no, or ask me to take a new one.
Ever.
But when I show an adult their picture, 9 times out of 10 they ask me to retake it because something was wrong. Or they ask me to photoshop them in some way.
And I realize it's the hardest thing in the world to reverse our thinking and start thinking positively about ourselves.
But I think we owe it to ourselves to try.
Besides, I don't want to take all these beautiful pictures for you if you're going to hate them over silly things!
So I want to know: what were your results with this experiment?
What can I do to help you feel more confident about your photos? How can I help you love the way you look in your photos? (And before anyone says it, I don't mean by using Photoshop to alter you into someone else!)
And what can you do, specifically before a photo shoot, to feel more confident and love the way you look in pictures?
Any and all ideas are appreciated!
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