08/07/2026
Posing. Clients are 100% always worried most about whether or not I’ll be posing them during the shoot. Of course, I assure them, “I will be posing you through and through, you will never need to know how to move your body on your own.” But it’s not necessarily for the reason most of you assume; I don’t want them to look posed, but they do need somewhere to start. For me, it has much less to do with the poses and much more about helping them feel more and more confident that they’re doing it “right”. If I put someone in lingerie and said, “Just act natural,” she’d probably want to run out of the room— I know I would. The posing gives her something to succeed at and the further we get into the session, the quieter her self-doubt becomes. Her real personality starts sneaking in between the poses, and I catch it. She allows herself to trust the process, which allows her more freedom and permission have fun with it, and that’s where the gold is. My eye is trained for the what-happens-in-between-and-after-the-poses, when adjusting herself and paying less attention to doing it “right.” Of course I’m shooting throughout, but it’s very much a flow from one pose to the next for that exact reason. My truly favorite photographs usually aren’t the pose itself, but how it evolves as I direct her past it and catch the twists she puts on it without her awareness. Or when I stupidly put the camera down and she does something perfectly her… the laugh that came naturally, the glance through her hair, the brush of her hair that if I didn’t catch I’ll ask her to do it again. The little moments when I catch her revealing something to me that she doesn’t even realize she’s doing, but is the most perfect thing she can do in that moment. Most of us don’t trust that what we do naturally is beautiful or worthy enough for a camera, so we find comfort in posing — but just know that while you totally nail the pose, the personal spin you unknowingly put on it is my most favorite moment to catch ✨
