Almost everyone is nervous before their first shoot. That is completely normal and it is also the single easiest problem to solve, because nerves come from not knowing what happens next. Here is what happens next.
Know what the photos are actually for
This is the question that changes everything else. Images for a website homepage need negative space so a designer can drop text over them. Images for Instagram need the subject centred and tight. Images for a printed banner need resolution and a completely different crop.
Before you book, write down where the photos are going. Three lines is enough. That list quietly determines your outfits, your locations and how we frame every single shot.
Bring more clothes than you think you need
Outfit changes are the cheapest way to multiply your content. Two outfits shot in the same location look like two different sessions. Four outfits across two locations look like a quarter of content.
- Solid colours photograph better than busy patterns
- Fit matters more than brand or price
- Avoid tight stripes and small checks, they can shimmer on camera
- Bring options you feel genuinely comfortable in, discomfort always shows
- Steam or iron everything the night before
Sleep and water, not a crash plan
The two things that visibly change how you photograph are sleep and hydration. Both take a couple of days to show. A late night before a shoot shows up under the eyes and no amount of retouching fully hides it.
Skip the extreme prep. Crash diets, brand new skincare and a fresh haircut the morning of are all ways to arrive looking less like yourself, not more. Get the haircut a week out so it has settled.
Accept that the first ten minutes will be stiff
They always are, for everyone, including people who do this for a living. I build that into the plan and start with easy setups I know will work while you settle. The frames I am actually excited about usually come after you have forgotten the camera is there.
You do not need to know how to pose. Directing you is my job. If you find yourself wondering what to do with your hands, that means I am not doing mine.
Turn up early and eat something
Rushing in ten minutes late with no breakfast is the most reliable way to look tense in your own photos. Arrive with a buffer, have a coffee, look at the location for a minute. Starting calm is worth more than any piece of equipment in my bag.
What happens after
I cull the session down to the frames that are genuinely worth having, then edit and grade them to one consistent look. You get them back within seven to ten days, sized for wherever you told me they were going.
