You might be reading this because you've already booked, and you're now quietly panicking. Or because you're considering booking, and the main thing standing between you and the yes button is the memory of every photo you've ever deleted of yourself.
Either way — I've worked with you before. Dozens of times. And I want you to know: by the end of the session, the women who came in most nervous are almost always the ones who leave most transformed.
Here's how to set yourself up for that.
Stop Waiting Until You're Ready
The most common thing I hear is: I just need to lose ten pounds first. Or: I want to wait until after the rebrand. Or: I'll book once I feel more confident.
Here is what I know after years of doing this work: ready is not a feeling that arrives on its own. Ready is something you create by doing the thing before you're ready. The woman who walks in nervous and walks out with images she'll keep for the rest of her life did not wait until she felt prepared. She showed up.
Your body, right now, as it is, is the right body for this session. I've never once looked at a client and thought: she should have waited.
Wardrobe: The One Thing You Can Actually Control
Here's a question I want you to sit with before your session: what do you wear when you feel most like yourself?
Not most professional. Not most flattering. Most like you.
That's where your wardrobe for the session starts. For most of my clients, this means:
- Solid colors over busy patterns — they read cleaner and let your face lead
- Something structured — a blazer, a fitted top, something with intentional shape
- At least one piece that makes you feel something when you put it on
- Accessories that speak to your identity, not just your outfit
Bring options. More than you think you need. We'll make the final decisions together on the day.
The Pre-Session Mindset Shift
I want to reframe something for you before we meet.
Most people walk into a photo session thinking: I hope I don't look terrible. I'm giving you a different frame: you are coming in to be witnessed. Someone is going to look at you — really look at you — and find the image that finally matches who you are. That is not a performance. It is not a test. It is an act of being seen.
You don't need to arrive confident. You need to arrive willing. I'll handle the rest.
What Happens When You Arrive
You sit in the makeup chair first. Professional hair and makeup is included in every session — not as a luxury add-on, but as a foundation for everything that follows. By the time we get to the camera, you've already had the experience of being tended to. Of being prepared with care.
When we begin shooting, I'll direct you completely. You don't need to know what to do. I'll tell you exactly where to put your chin, your shoulders, your hands. I'll build your portrait from the ground up, one specific instruction at a time. You'll feel it working — and when you do, you'll relax into it.
At some point in almost every session, there is a moment when the client stops trying and starts just being. That's the moment I'm waiting for. That's when we make the image that matters.
Give Yourself Permission to Be Moved
Some of my clients cry during the session. Some laugh. Some go very quiet and very still — and the camera catches something in that stillness that no one has ever photographed before.
Whatever happens, let it. You're not being photographed for a stock image. You're being witnessed as yourself. That is a significant thing. It's allowed to feel significant.
The One Thing I Ask of You
Come. Show up. Let me do my job.
Every woman who has ever sat in front of my camera thinking I'm not photogenic has left with images she did not believe were possible. Not because I worked magic. Because I looked at her — really looked — and found what was already there.
It was always there. We're just going to find it together.
"She came in not knowing what she loved to wear anymore. She left remembering exactly who she was."