2 WAY INSPIRATION

THIS EMPOWERMENT SESSION HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON ME AS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND PERSON AND ON MY CLIENT.  

AS ALL OF MY CLIENTS ON THE FIRST GO AROUND FOR PHOTOS, THERE ARE NERVES.  WILL I LOOK GOOD?  I NEED TO LOSE XXX POUNDS. I DON'T TAKE GOOD PICTURES!  I DON'T KNOW HOW TO 'LOOK SEXY'. THE LIST GOES ON, BUT THATS OK!  YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST AND WILL NOT BE THE LAST WITH THOSE KINDS OF THOUGHTS.  I REALLY WANT TO CELEBRATE YOU AS YOU ARE!  

MY CLIENT HERE WAS GETTING A TASTE OF THE 'GIVE ZERO FUCKS' ATTITUDE BEFORE SHE CAME TO ME, I THINK THERE JUST NEEDED TO BE A LITTLE BIT OF A NUDGE TO SEND HER DOWN THE PATH.  AS MOST OF MY CLIENTS SHE WAS NERVOUS AND WHEN THE DAY CAME FOR THE SHOOT SHE SOON REALIZED THAT IT WAS JUST AN HOUR OF JOKES, LAUGHTER, FEEL GOOD TALK AND (MOSTLY)  FUN RELAXING POSING!  

I HAVE A TENDENCY TO GO OVER THE TOP WITH COMPLIMENTS WHILE I AM PHOTOGRAPHING.  I ACTUALLY DON'T MEAN TO DO IT, I JUST CARE A LOT ABOUT MY ART AND WHEN I CAPTURE SOMETHING THAT IS GORGEOUS MY INNER CHILD COMES OUT AND GETS SUPER EXCITED!  IT MAKES MY CLIENTS FEEL REALLY GOOD AND RELAXED DURING THIS VERY INTIMATE SHOOT.  

AFTER IT WAS OVER AND WE SAID OUR TEMPORARY GOOD BYES TILL GALLERY REVEAL DAY, SOMETHING JUMPSTARTED HER HEART.  SHE TEXT ME WITH THE MOST BADASS TEXTS WHICH READ:

"Seriously had such a fun time today girl! It's so hard to try to get your sexy on with a camera in front of you (lol I've never been great at having cameras pointing at me in general) but you made me feel so comfortable and confident with every bit of it! Hahahah even when I was being an awkward mess at times anyway, thank you again!! I seriously can't wait to see how they turned out!! Fingers crossed I'm not a laughing goof in all of them 😅" ... 

 "I've been walking a huge no fucks given path lately..."

I MEAN WHAT DO YOU DO WITH SUCH A HUGE COMPLIMENT LIKE THAT OTHER THAN JUMP UP AND DOWN AND SQUEAL WITH EXCITEMENT?!  

A COUPLE DAYS AFTER GALLERY REVEAL MY CLIENT HAD A HUGE 21 PADDLE FOR A CANCER FUNDRAISING EVENT AND SHE POST A FEW UPDATES ON IT THE DAY IT WAS HAPPENING.  IT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT ALL THE WORK I HAVE PUT INTO TRAINING IN KRAV MAGA AND HOW MUCH I MISS GOING.  I HAD TAKEN A COUPLE WEEKS OFF BEING BUSY WITH WORK.  THIS WOMAN WAS PADDLING 21 MILES STRAIGHT FOR AN AMAZING CAUSE! TALK ABOUT A SUPERWOMAN!! SHE WAS BEING MY INSPIRATION TO BE STRONG AND KEEP GOING! NEXT DAY SHE SENT ME THIS:

"About yesterday btw, you totally popped into my mind during a really difficult moment. I was struggling so much around mile 16 and one of our support boats was driving by me motivating me by telling me how powerful and strong I was, I nearly cried thinking of our conversation about empowerment, it helped give me such a huge boost of energy so thank you so much for being such a powerful advocate"

I AM JUST IN AWE OF THE AMAZING WOMEN THAT I KNOW THAT LOVE BUILDING EACH OTHER UP.  THAT WANT NOTHING BUT HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS FOR ONE ANOTHER, IT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING!  AN EMPOWERMENT SHOOT AND OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WOMEN EMPOWERMENT FUELD US BOTH IN STRUGGLING TIMES! HOW FREAKIN BEAUTIFUL IS THAT?!