Today I wanted to share a few tips on how to achieve beautiful portraits of yourself! I always find it fascinating when other photographers share their process and I hope that today inspires you with things that you can think about if you find yourself in front of the lens for a wedding or portrait session.

1. Shift all of your weight to one foot so that you have one side of your body slightly elevated than the other. This will also allow for you to naturally lean or stand into what feels most comfortable.

2. When in front of the camera, think about over-exaggerating your movements. Subtle movements in person aren’t as easily translated to photographs. For this instance, I had Leotie bring her chin down more as she leaned into her hand. Think of it as almost needing to “stretch” your limb(s) for a photo.

3. Straight lines don’t photograph well. Whether that’s fingers, arms, you name it. Always aim to have some sort of curve, even if it’s minimal. You can see here that Leotie’s arm is bent ever so slightly, her shoulders aren’t level, and her arm draws a diagonal line, bringing attention to her gorgeous ethnic features. Photography is supposed to reel the viewer in, so by offsetting “perfect lines” with other angles it helps create more dimension and depth to the final result. ☺️

Beautiful Leotie, from this past fall!

Photo @hannah.forsberg, Planner @eventsbysofia, Beauty @hannah.easterwood