I Had My First Photoshoot & Here’s What I Learned (Part 1 of 2)

Here at Peplums & Pie, I’m a one woman show but over the past year it’s been increasingly difficult to create quality photos. Normally it’s me, my tripod and 15 minutes before running out the door to catch the bus. Then there’s editing. Which if you know anything about photography, can take a long time when you’re not an expert.

So, this past month Peplums & Pie sought out a little help and worked with a local photographer for the first time. If you’re a follower, you’ve probably noticed a huge difference in my photos from Warm Red Sweaters & Distressed Jeans to Denim Dress & Accessories, to my latest White Tank and Striped Beach Pants post. The difference is pretty significant and the organization is surprisingly less because I can actually have the time to organize my outfits and not be running out the door.

With that said, there were also a lot of concerns on my end. Starting with a strange moment of panic and flash backs to senior portraits in high school. Additionally a huge realization that I am not a model. Did I seek guidance and trust in my photographer? Girllll, this is the biggest learning I had from this experience. The answer is: Always trust your photographer.

So here’s what I learned:

1) Photography has nothing to do with acting natural, it’s about looking natural:

Poses are never what you think they are. Poses are primarily based on staring off into the distance or having people walk past you wondering what you’re doing. Thank goodness my photographer knew what they were doing and came prepared to work with an amateur!

Acting natural and being natural are two separate things. How natural do you feel holding your glasses and checking out a mailbox? Probably not very natural. The trick we used was pretending that mail box was someone to look at. Hello, Henry Cavill, Michael B Jordan, you get the idea. Making it feel natural will help it look more natural.

2) The Pinterest effect:

I try to keep it as real as ever on this blog because life really isn’t all rainbows and unicorns (though, I wish). Just like everyone else, there are times when my inspiration is stirred by checking out pinterest. This is a trick my photographer actually recommended to me. She is very energized by pinterest so the first few minutes were swapping ideas and boards.

Me, being me – went overboard and not only created a secret board but then spending an hour the night before pinning to it. Doing this is a great idea BUT my photos still came out unique as ever and I love them more for it. Above is a screenshot of my secret board called “Blogger Poses”.

3) To laugh on command:

Turns out if you fake laugh, you end up laughing IRL. Sometimes the shot comes out beautiful, sometimes you look like a hyena. Haha. Regardless, if you have someone in front of you saying “try to laugh” and you try to laugh… you’re going to actually laugh!

It also helps to establish a relation with your photographer to better get to know each others personalities. My photography, Karya, was kind enough to meet up for coffee two weeks before the shoot. So we had gotten to know each other and could laugh at each other pretty easily. Roll with it and have fun!

4) Turning is hard:

Apparently, turning is hard. I had at least 3 Zoolander moments and could not simply turn to save my life! Every time it was an awkward pivot turn, as seen in the photo above. Pretty sure my photographer asked me to practice this in the mirror before our next session. Which is a great way to remind yourself to slow down for future shoots.

5) Sometimes your Photos aren’t going to look like you:

Is that me? Awkward turning pose // peplums & pie

All Photos by the lovely Karya Schanilec

There were a few photos where I saw my outfit, saw my body stance and still thought “… that doesn’t even look like me”. It’s you, you’re just awkward as a cow on roller skates. You’re new to working with someone else and that’s okay! What will help you in the future is trying to remembering the faces you made and not making thing again. Study and learn from these pictures.

The biggest take away from my experience was practicing how to keep your face less forced and more realistic in my poses for the next shoot. You can’t go back, but these pictures are lessons learned and can help you. Not only be more professional, but make the next session a lot more successful.

Part two will be added in a few days but outfit details are below and in this post! Thanks for stopping by!