People are sometimes surprised, at the start of a session, that I barely direct them. No "chin up," no "closer together," no countdown to a smile. That's on purpose.
Posed photography asks you to perform a feeling for the camera. Candid photography waits for the feeling to actually show up — and then just gets out of the way. The difference is subtle in the moment, but it's everything when you look back at the photos years later.
It photographs real emotion. A posed smile and a real laugh use different muscles, and somehow, a camera always tells the difference. The real one is the one you'll still love a decade from now.
It captures the in-between. Some of the best storytelling in a gallery happens in the moments nobody was thinking about being photographed — the walk between locations, the quiet moment before a ceremony, a kid tugging on a sleeve.
It ages better. Trends in posing come and go. A genuine moment — your dad's face when he sees you in your dress, your toddler's unfiltered belly laugh — never goes out of style.
It takes the pressure off you. You don't have to know how to "pose." You just have to be there, doing something you'd normally do — talking, laughing, holding hands — and I'll capture it.
That doesn't mean there's zero direction. I'll get you standing in good light, facing a flattering angle, close enough to actually connect. But once that's set up, my job is mostly to watch, wait, and press the shutter at the right second. The rest is just you, being you.