– PREPARING YOUR SPOUSE FOR VICTORY –
If your husband is anything like mine used to be, then you may be DREADING your photo session. I know I used to. But the nice thing is that it doesn’t have to be that way. You shouldn’t have to feel stressed about your family or couple session and you definitely don’t have to threaten your husband to get him to “smile at the camera.” Although, the opposite – bribery/reward system definitely works and can be a terrific motivator. We’ll talk more about that a little later!
PICTURE THIS: A confident, doting husband who is dressed in his finest, laughing, smiling his natural sweet smile (you know the one – that special one you fell in love with). Then leaving the session, feeling happy and almost as excited to see the pictures as you are! Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Almost too wonderful? Is this picture perfect scenario even possible? Short answer: YES! And I’m here to tell you how.
First, lets start with presenting the buy-in. A great place to start is sitting down with your loved one and explaining to him why you want pictures. Tell him how good he’ll look in the pictures and how much you’ll cherish having the captured images of your loving relationship. Explaining the reason behind the pictures will help him understand your heart and even if he may not love getting his pictures taken, he loves YOU and will want to do it for you. Make sure you THROW COMPLIMENTS HIS WAY! You may not realize this but guys can be just as self-conscious as women when it comes to getting their pictures taken. By confiding your trust in him he can feel empowered to show up in front of the camera lens. You can also tell him that he is in good hands; that as a professional photographer, I know the art of posing naturally. I will guide him to looking like his true self: the confident-handsome man that you fell in love with.
Now, even though he loves you and wants you to be happy, he may still have doubts about how much “fun” a photographer taking his picture will be. To seal the deal, as I previously mentioned, you can tell him of a special bonus just for him after the session as a reward for his valiant work as your studmuffin… Ok, maybe not in those exact terms but DO BE GENEROUS with the compliments!!! Here’s an example: “I know you are going to be amazing and look smokin’ hot in the process, and because you are doing this for me, let’s make plans to go out to your favorite restaurant afterwards!” Or whatever else he might love: a day for him to go golfing, a game night for him and his buddies this week, or an intimate evening together – just the two of you. Whatever your husband would love, use that as his reward. Just as in other areas of your marriage there is give and take, make sure he is feeling loved as well, since getting pictures taken may seem like a sacrifice to him. By showing him how much you care, love, and respect HIM, he can feel more EXCITED and COMFORTABLE to show his love back during the session. AND BONUS – he will be easier to convince the next time you want to capture new memories with Lara Ann Photography!
The rest is up to me. I want you to just relax, enjoy your 1-2 hours with your husband and just breathe him in. The time will fly so definitely slow down, shake off those jitters, and drink in the moment!
Check out E & G’s Full Gallery. This Daddy doesn’t enjoy getting pictures taken and this time was no different. While he wasn’t keen on the idea of getting his picture taken at first, he was doing it for his wife (who loves family photos), by the end he was more relaxed and enjoying himself. This was able to happen because of his lovely wife’s compliments beforehand, and then having a photo session that was focused on natural posing, capturing his personality in photos and keeping the session fun and engaging so that it didn’t feel too long. You could just see the confidence grow in each photograph, and by the end of the session HE was even asking for certain moments to be captured! That’s what I call a WIN!!!
