I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I rarely put photos of me up on the blog. I don’t think there is even one direct shot of my face anywhere! I guess a change was inevitable.

Earlier this year I blogged about how I was hoping to get in front of the camera more. The surprising thing about blogging, I’m learning, is that people actually read my posts and are willing to help out with my goals! Shortly after that post, I met fellow photographer Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio and she offered to help me with my first time in front of the lens. I was already familiar with Li as she is a fabulous Boston area pet photographer, and seeing the weddings and engagements she’d shot and being a fan of her shooting style, I was excited to see what she would come up with for my portrait session.

I ended up learning a lot on the shoot. The number one lesson that I took away from the day though was that direction and communication between the subject and photographer are key. I found that while it might be easy to capture natural moments as a photographer, it’s quite difficult to be natural in front of the camera when you’re the subject. So for those who tend to stiffen up when they have a lens pointed at them (e.g. me!) it is tremendously helpful for the photographer to give some guidance on what to do. I was thankful that Li told me where to look, how to walk, how to toss my hair around (I still can’t believe I did that, haha). Luckily, she also helped put me at ease and I slowly warmed up to the whole idea of “modeling.”

Something else I learned was to start appreciating what I look like from different angles. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I generally only like how I look from my “good side” in photos. I’m starting to realize that I need to see myself as the world sees me, which is from many different perspectives. And as much as I may prefer some sides over others, they’re all still me!

I’ve been meaning to share these for a while now since we did the shoot over a month ago, just a few days before my birthday. Definitely go check out more images on Li’s blog, but here are some of my favorites from the session. These were all taken by Li and post-processed by me.

Thanks SO much, Li, for a fun shoot and for all of these great captures! :)