This past week I broadcast a little series over on Instagram stories. Each day for 7 days I made a confession to the world. I was a bit nervous to share these things, some of which were pretty personal, and some which were just sort of silly and weird. But, after confessing, I was shocked to find out that so many other people out there have the same confessions! Who knew??? There are other people in the world who have ‘session clothes’?! This is why I could never give up social media completely – it validates I’m normal. 😉 

In cased you missed any days, I saved all 7 confessions and have compiled them into one video. 

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And if you’re somewhere you can’t watch a video (like at work….being sneaky!), here’s a quick summary of the confessions:

1. I only use one lens.

   Although I technically own more than one lens, the only one that lives on my main camera body is the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8. I’ve been exclusively shooting with the 24-70 for almost 3 years and I just love it to death. The versatility it provides during in-home sessions can’t be beat. 

2. I am sneaky with inspiration

   When I’m shooting a more posed session I sometimes panic that I’m going to draw a complete blank and not remember any poses that I want to use. To calm myself down, I pull up my inspiration notes and photos, clear the memory cards I’m going to use in the session, and then use my camera to take photos of the notes and inspiration photos. It’s essential that these ‘reminder’ photos are the first frames on the memory card. Then during a session if I do draw a blank, I simply view my LCD and flip forward through the images, and then I can see all of the photos I took of example poses. The client never knows I’m looking at my notes and it’s a lot more professional than pulling a sticky out of my back pocket to refer to! It’s rare that I actually refer to my notes, but it makes me feel better just to know they are there. 

3. Life can be overwhelming

   The last 6 months have been hard! There have been a lot of tears, and frustration, and I realized that I simply can’t do it all anymore. I can’t parent all day and then work all night without a real end in sight. This is no longer a side job, but a really legitimate part time job with legit part time hours. As a result, I’ve made some big changes that I hope are going to provide better boundaries in my life. Also, the biggest thing that has helped me lately is believing that I’m a working mother. It sounds simple, but the shift from ‘stay at home’ to ‘working mom’ is a tough one when your work and your momming are continually intertwined. 

4. I have session clothes

   This was a weird one to admit, as it sounded silly even saying it. I have a few outfits that I refer to as my ‘session clothes’. They are clothes that I can crouch down in without them ripping (critical!), and are comfy enough for me to move around in while shooting super fast moving toddlers. The funny thing is that I sometimes forget what I wear to a session and I’m pretty sure I show up in the same clothes with those same clients again. Hopefully nobody notices! 

5. Auto white balance all the way!

   Many photographers use Kelvin numbers to set their white balance (if an image is warm or cool), but I’ve always relied on auto white balance and it hardly ever lets me down. 

6. I time everything

   I have an obsession with timing everything when it comes to business. I time how long it takes me to respond to emails each day, to edit sessions, to order prints, etc. It has actually been such a great thing as it forces me to stay focused on the task at hand and not get distracted. 

7. I love it, then hate it, then love it again

   There’s a real creative roller coaster that happens after I leave a photo session. I love the photos, then think I didn’t do a good enough job, then love them again, and over and over again until I feel confident in the work and send off the final gallery. It’s a cycle I think a lot of creatives go through and is proof that I really do care about the product I’m delivering.

There was such a great response to this series that I’ll be launching another week long series in a few weeks – 7 days of what I’d do differently in business if I had to start all over again. I’d love it if you follow along over on Instagram, and we can chat throughout the week. If there are any more series you’d like to hear, please leave me a comment below. 

Want to chat to someone who has been through it? I offer one-on-one mentoring to other photographers local to Edmonton and via Skype worldwide. Packages are available for all experience levels and can be customized to suit your unique situation. View the mentoring options and don’t hesitate to email me with any questions.