Something’s been on my mind a lot lately as I’m photographing high school seniors nearly everyday… I’m seeing a pattern of insecurity unfold.

Whenever I photograph someone I have a three main goals:

1. Make them feel comfortable
2. Give them reasons to genuinely laugh
3. Try to show them the way their Creator see’s them…absolutely beautiful.

What I’m finding is that nearly every single girl I’ve photographed, expresses some sort of insecurity to me about their physical appearance…and it blows my mind! Why? Because the things these beautiful ladies are insecure about are the very things that I think are some of the most beautiful parts of what makes them unique.

Typically when I show up to a senior session, I’m meeting the student for the first time. So I have no preconceived notions of what they’ll look or act like. As I photograph each individual I come to see bits of their personality come alive and I think it makes them so beautiful!

As I photograph anyone I also pause after each chunk of photos to turn the camera around and show my clients the photos I’m taking of them, right there in that moment, no editing…no retouching…just beautiful them. I LOVE seeing faces light up with surprise and excitement when I turn my camera screen and they see how great they look. I’ve seen brides cry from seeing themselves photographed in their white dress, I’ve seen little kids suddenly realize taking pictures can be fun, and I’ve seen countless women suddenly feel more confident in their own skin and begin to show me their true selves.

But I understand feeling insecure…

I don’t want to blow it off like I totally don’t understand feeling insecure about my physical appearance. Because dannnnnnnnng gurrrrrrl I totally understand. I struggled with depression throughout my adolescence; a primary contributing factor…feeling like I was super unattractive. I thought I was too tall and too chunky to ever be able to look in the mirror and like what I saw there.

I acted like I was confident, but on the inside I held onto every single little remark that anyone would say about my size and I let that be the definition of how I saw myself in the mirror.

It’s crazy to me how people could say 100 nice things about your appearance and one person could make ONE hurtful remark…and its the hurtful things that we believe more than the kind words.

Find Your Freckles

So what’s a person to do? I’ve yet to fully achieve this myself but I find I feel more secure when I notice my imperfections and remind myself that I was created by God, and He doesn’t make mistakes. Sure I can take care of myself, eat healthy, be active, but ultimately I’m always learning to appreciate the things that make me different from the people ‘i’m supposed to look like’.

There’s a song  I love by Natasha Bedingfield called, “Freckles”. The whole song is fantastic but one of my favorite parts that I try to take to heart and remind all these beautiful ladies is this,

“Cause a face without freckles is like the sky without the stars
Why waste a second, not loving who you are?
Those little imperfections make you beautiful, lovable, valuable
They show your personality, inside your heart
Reflecting who you are…” 

It’s SO true! Your little imperfections make you beautifully unique! I love photographing people of every shape, size, and color because what I want most out of my photography business is to be able to make real people, feel really beautiful.

It would be my honor to photograph you and show you just how beautiful you are!

xoxo, Bri’Anne