note: this is a lot of rambling on my part. I won’t blame you if you skip to our actual photo session!

I’m not gonna lie: I hate being photographed.

Hate it! Aside from being weird looking, it just feels so odd to have someone take your photo…and then you blink or sneeze or make a goofy face and it’s up on the internet forever (see: every photo of me on Facebook).

But I’m a fair person. And I’m asking you guys to get all pretty-ed up and jump around and smile and I point a huge camera in your face and then blog the photos, well, it’s only fair that I do it too.

Plus, I always say that if you don’t hire a photographer you’ll regret it, but I haven’t ever hired a photographer. Do I regret it? I mean, I haven’t even graduated college yet so I can’t really say. But still: hypocrite x100! I suck.

Soooo, I am stepping in front of the camera. For you guys! If I can do it, and I am ridiculously awkward in photos, then you guys can do it so much better.

I answer photo questions every single day. What to wear, what to bring, balloons or no balloons, hats, shoes, locations, lipstick. So I figured I’ll take my own advice and set up a couples photo session with my Steven and see what happens. Worst comes to worst, my weirdo face is all over the internet and everyone laughs. But it’s cool, cause I’m definitely going to laugh, so we’ll all be laughing together.

I’m off to see the awesome Tim Riddick in a few hours to get my photograph taken. Tim is fun and I love his work. So, just like my clients trust me to take their photograph–I’m totally trusting him. Go Tim!

Pre-Shoot Thoughts//

Clothes. I always tell ladies to wear a twirly dress. I subscribe to the firm belief that twirling is the coolest thing ever. Problem is, in the winter I’m pretty much a pantsandateeshirt girl. But I’m taking my advice here! I’m going to wear a twirly dress and bring some pants just in case I want to change. But I’m definitely wearing leggings. Leggings are where it’s at.

I recommend that people don’t get too fancied up–that they wear something they would normally wear, just a bit nicer. You don’t want to look like a stranger in the photos! So I’m wearing one of my favorite dresses (that I totally wear all the time in the summer), and a pair of leggings that don’t have much life left (so I want to immortalize them in the photos).

Number of outfits: undecided. I figure I’ll bring two. One with pants.

Hair & Shoes & Stuff. My hair is normal. I blew it dry. I did get a hair cut last week cause it was lookin shabby. But, I’m about halfway through the dye cycle so I’ve got some roots coming in. Oh well–authentic Maggie, eh?

Sneakers. I love sneakers. Steven hates when I wear flats (which is hilarious because I wear them at least 364 days a year). Also, he is a good 13-14″ taller than me, so heels would really give me some much needed height, but hey–authentic! Flats, guys.

Location. We’re going to shoot in the basement of the Hirshhorn because the type is so awesome that I squealed for ten minutes straight the first time I saw it (Chris & Jennifer, you know what I’m talkin about!). Also, it is freezing outside. The Hirshhorn is my favorite museum to photograph in, so it seems appropriate.

Steven, the cooler half. The dude is reluctant. I don’t blame him. I am going to give him an early libation–another piece of advice I give nervous people–and see what happens. He said I can choose his outfit (oy), so he’s wearing jeans and a tee shirt…unless he has a last minute fashion epiphany.

So, you guys think I overanalyzed it a bit?

I’ll add thoughts post-session here when I return! Wish me so much luck. I seriously need it. No! Tim is super talented. I am being nuts. <–see what is happening?!

If you have questions like this before a session–please please ask me! Not only will I have a totally different opinion after going through it myself, but I’m always more than happy to talk it out with you to make sure that you love your outfit/location/all other choices. 

Next up…check out the photos, and part two of this post, here.