There is rarely a group photo shoot in which someone (almost always a woman), doesn’t take me aside to whisper apologetically into my ear, “I don’t take good pictures.”
Oh, the myths we tell ourselves and then foolishly believe! I usually ask her if she has ever seen any candid photos in which she looks good. The answer is nearly always YES.
So herein lies the rub, naysayers of your innate beauty — YOU are your own worst enemy.
Maybe it started innocently enough. Like in my case when I was five and presented my kindergarten picture to my mom, who, with horror etched onto her otherwise beautiful face, gasped, “Oh my GOD! This is the worst picture I’ve ever seen! We need to hide it!” (True story ☹)
Needless to say, many years of psychotherapy later, I came to realize that that was HER story, not mine. And for those of you still caught up in the myth of “not good enough,” let me say that you can totally escape that nonsense.
Here’s the secret to set you free: Stop caring. That’s it! Just don’t give a hoot.
The second you wonder what you look like (with that camera pointed inches from your nose) you are dead in the water. From where I stand as a photographer, your eyes get glassy and all deer-in-the-headlights, your mouth contorts into Fake Smile Mode and it’s all over. Your authenticity now being held hostage by your fear. And I’m here to tell you that there is nothing attractive about anyone frozen in terror.
So give it up! Forget the camera! I promise that the second you ignore that thing and smile with your eyes instead of your mouth, you will be on the road to easy street. When you master that, go out on a limb even further. Tell yourself how absolutely fabulous you look and then own it. Works every time.
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