You want your photos to be unique.
There are so many ways to make this happen! I have put these 4 easy tips in the format of questions to help YOU find the answers for yourself *within yourself.* Because in truth, while I am happy to help you to discover the answers, I can't answer these questions for you.
I’ve included some photos as visual examples of these concepts put into practice.
1. What drives and excites you?
If it helps, think about your free time (when you're not dead exhausted and binging Netflix because life is hard). Do you love art? Cuddling with your pets? Reading? These things are part of what makes you as a person unique. Tap into that to inform and breathe life into your portrait session!
I'd taken photos of Amelia (see photo) every year from the time she was born and prior to this session her mom told me that she had been fascinated with airplanes. The irony (her name is Amelia, remember) added to the charm.
We looked for ways to portray her love for planes and aviation at this precious stage. We decided to incorporate a childhood toy of hers, a dress with airplanes (how cute is that?!), while also showing her sweet innocence and playfulness with motion, twirling, flying the plane and barefoot adventures. To top it off, it was taken at the location we shot her newborn session!
She’s always been a favorite client (shhh I meant to say "I don’t have favorites"). The dimple gets me every time.
2. What are your personal goals?
Further, what season are you in, and where are you going? Are you celebrating a milestone or major life change?
This high school senior was graduating and embarking on a new adventure, so she chose to incorporate a globe and luggage in her session. But even as she began to take these major steps toward her future, she also valued and cherished her family roots, so she included other photos with heirloom items of sentimental value. Ashleigh nailed her senior session!
3. What overall vibe are you hoping to create with your session?
Put some thought into your vision for your portraits. Consider what colors, textures and other elements might carry and convey your story.
I adore an organic feel in a lot of my personal photos, which tends to mean they involve a lot of earth tones. I grew up with the outdoors as my playground, and I’m a houseplant and gardening enthusiast so I often incorporate greens. For some photos of my son, I wanted to go for an earthy, organic, green vibe while he was still small enough for my kitchen sink (LOL). I also wanted to capture the sweet innocence and pure magic of the early years. I love how this one turned out!
4. What catches your attention in portraits/art that you love and admire?
Is it the light? The clothing style? The pose—or candid feel? The connection between subjects? The emotion, or expression? Consider *why* you feel the way you do about your favorite art pieces or portraits, and that will guide you to determine how you can bring those same elements that you admire into your own session. The possibilities are endless!
If you are looking to create unique photos that really tell a story (hint: that story is YOURS, love), it’s worth taking the time to do some soul searching to discover what drives you as a person. Don’t stress about trying to incorporate every aspect of who you are (we are far too multi-faceted beings for that!), just focus on a few pieces of your story that mean the most to you and consider how you can portray those in an image or series of images.
Let's recap:
1. What drives and excites you?
2. What are your personal goals?
3. What overall vibe are you hoping to create?
4. What catches your attention in portraits/art that you love and admire?
If you’d like to bounce your ideas off of someone with a passion for storytelling and would like some help channeling and bringing a vision for your session to life, contact me today via email (victoriacphotography@gmail.com), using my website contact form (here), or call or message me at 540-533-1180. This is literally what I do and I’m here for you!
