Awkwardness… I swear if you look it up in the dictionary our names will be there, we are awkward. However we don’t see this as a hindrance, rather we use it as a strength. I was always taught two things: Your greatest weekness is your greatest strength and always turn a frown upside down. So thats what we do.

I can remember our first engagement shoot ever, we were both so nervous – I literally almost threw up on the way to the shoot! I had so many questions racing through my mind:

*How do we get them to smile and it look real?
*How do we get them to laugh?
*Are we going to be able to provide them a fun experience?
*How do we avoid being awkward?

Seven years later we have come a long way since that first shoot and have learned so much along the journey. But still today the things we learned on that first shoot have stuck with us. Now we can confidently capture gorgeous moments of our clients having fun, laughing, smiling and being who they truly are. Here are a few tips to create a fun + playful environment for your clients.

*We explain the shoot to our clients before we  start, how we have envisioned the shoot, the mood of the shoot (fun + playful), and I share with my clients all the adorable ways I have seen them interact thus far since we met and how much I love those things about them

*We let our clients know that they don’t need to worry about freezing in a pose and that we actually prefer them to move freely, be goofy and that yes it is totally acceptable to be awkward and laugh about it.

*As I mentioned we are awkward and we use that to make our couples laugh, smile and relax.  Brandon and I actually point out our own awkwardness and laugh about it during the shoot. First because it makes our couples die laughing and second because it lets them feel comfortable to let their guard down. They realize we are not looking for perfection we are looking for authenticity. Whoever they are we will LOVE them for it! And that who they truly are makes they BEST photos.

I want to share with y’all a few photos from Iche + JuRiel’s engagement shoot last month. We placed them in front of an amazingly old abandon warehouse. I asked them to look at each other and picture the last dance of the night at their wedding. This instantly brought on smiles and glimmers in their eyes. But we obviously needed to make it a bit awkward so Brandon pulled out his phone and started playing Marvin Gayes “Let’s Get It On”. Then Brandon and I brook out in dance… but what followed was even better. JuRiel let the dance moves rip and started singing to Iche, ADORBS!!! Followed my AMAZING Photos!!! 

Embrace awkwardness it can make wonderful memories!