Priscilla and Eli

She was a bundle of nerves, and he didn’t know what to expect. We met up in front of the Durham Hotel, and having never had their pictures taken professionally, they were nervous. And honestly, I can relate to this, and most of you probably can to. The trend in photography is life-stylistic. This buzzword carries a lot of insinuations, but it ultimately is the idea that photos should seek to capture the real thing, the unmanufactured and authentic. This style isn’t new…its been around for a long time. Our moms ran around every birthday party with their disposable Fujis trying to snap a pic of us stuffing our face with cake, and those photos weren’t stunning but they were our favorites because they were spontaneous and true to the emotions of the moment. Since no photographer can follow their clients around with such veracity, achieving those authentic photos in a short hour and half session comes with a certain level of anxiety.

And in my experience, regardless of the side of the camera I am on, the best way to combat this is to distract, to talk, and to forget about the camera. So that is what we did, and within just a few minutes I got Priscilla sharing about how she met Eli and their most embarrassing moments together in their early dating days. And those conversations quickly turned into Eli teasing Priscilla and Priscilla’s comebacks and contagious laughter. As the session progressed, they relaxed and leaned into the moment with each other, so when I asked them to really think about what they are proud of in the other, the laughter faded and that spark, that stupid, crazy love came out in their own way, and it was amazing to capture. So if you’re riding the awkward train when it comes to taking pictures, take heart. Look at these two! They’re stunning!