“Photogenic” is one of those words people use constantly without really defining it.
A couple will sometimes tell me:
“She’s photogenic. I’m not.”
Or:
“I always look terrible in pictures.”
Or:
“My partner is going to look great. I just need you to make me look normal.”
But photographs aren’t really about whether someone is photogenic.
They’re about familiarity.
You’re used to seeing yourself in a mirror. A photograph reverses the image and freezes a fraction of a second that you aren’t accustomed to seeing.
That unfamiliarity can make a perfectly normal expression look strange to you.
There’s another issue, too.
We’re often exposed to thousands of highly curated photographs online. We see engagement sessions where every strand of hair seems perfectly positioned and every couple appears effortlessly relaxed.
What we don’t see is the photographer saying:
“Okay, let’s try that again.”
Or:
“Walk a little slower.”
Or:
“That one didn’t work.”
Or the twenty photographs that never made it into the final gallery.
Professional photography is edited photography.
Don’t compare your real-time experience to someone else’s finished collection.
Your job isn’t to look like them.
Your photographs should look like you.
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