'Just shake it off like a jellyfish'. 'Laugh at each other'. 'Look at the magic purple unicorn in my lens?' Can you believe these are my best one-liners to get people to feel more comfortable during their shoot? Yeah, me neither, but they always seem to work.
I get it!
Having your photo taken can be pretty confronting, especially if you've never had professional photos taken before. I like to think that I have the kind of personality that people can turn up and just think 'Oh, she's not as scary as I thought she'd be. Her camera isn't that big. This isn't entirely awful'.
It is TOTALLY normal to feel nervous before your photoshoot. After all, you want it to turn out wonderfully. What I find is that yes, it is awkward as I take the first few photos - I make an effort to get to know you a little bit before we meet up, but we'll still be strangers! BUT, pretty quickly, you'll find yourself settling into the nature of how it feels to be photographed. Hopefully you'll find it enjoyable and feel your walls coming down in no time.