Own the Power Dynamic

I’ve said this before but your face is an invitation and your portrait (on social media, websites, bios etc.) is either going to beckon connection and interaction or it’s not. If we’re bothering to be here on these platforms at all then it’s interaction we’re after.

I always tell people, “Think of me as your client, your customer. Look at me the way you’d look at them.” The energy should flow from you to me. That way you have the ‘power’ in the dynamic.

That power dynamic is, I think, what intimidates some people about being photographed. A photographer is not an authority figure, though he/she is often looked at as one. What we do do is get close to you then show you what you look like now, in the moment, and that’s kind of powerful.

Not all of us are up for that. We age, we gain weight, our skin changes. Time does what it does. It’s easy to squint in the bathroom mirror but not at a photograph you just paid for. So before you get that portrait done, spend some time looking at yourself, really looking. And love what you see. Remember, when it comes to getting your photo taken you’re in charge. Own it. Own yourself.