When I took my first photography class, my teacher told our class to always work outside our comfort zone. You’ll be a better photographer and a better person for it. I wanted to incorporate both what is comfortable and what is not. I’ve been doing portraits for what feels like forever. It’s normal, it’s expected, it’s comfortable. Then there’s the different, unique, uncomfortable. Not only was it a new, exciting adventure for me, but all my models (bless their souls for being patient with me) all called it, “weird”. Some would always try not to be in front a of camera. Others didn’t know how to pose, and others seemed more comfortable than uncomfortable. All together though, they all said they had so much fun and wish they had time to do it again.
One model didn’t want mismatched clothes, crazy hair, or crazy makeup—which is the whole point. Afterwards, I let her look through all the photographs and was shocked by how “awesome” she looked. Another one asked to shoot more after I got lots of good shots because she was having “so much fun”.
One of my roommates was very different from the others. Dressed in a formal dress, heels, and looking gorgeous with makeup and curly hair. Others asked how it would work with the others. She said, “I was in a formal dress, heels, and half my hair up and the other half up. I was walking in the woods, getting close to trees. I was getting poke and proded by everything. It was super uncomfortable. The hardest part was that I couldn’t smile! But I had so much fun!”
Confidence can be found even when we don’t think we look good, or know what we’re doing. As long as we take the chance to step outside our comfort zone, we’ll find a confidence in ourselves that we didn’t know we had before. Whether you’re the photographer or a regular person.
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