Before the title makes you think I’m turning into a hippie or something, I’m only talking about my engagement photos. (Yes, I mean the ones I took with my fiance!)

It was a few months ago (okay, like five) but I still want to blog about it.

My friend Kate (of Kate Fine Art) volunteered to take them for us, and I could not be happier! Our styles are quite similar, which made the transition from photographer to subject a little easier for me. I knew I could trust her to execute a vision that would be similar enough to mine that I would be happy, but still very much her own. Because let me just say, it’s pretty stinkin’ weird to go to an awesome location like ours for a photo shoot and not pick up a camera. So I of course had all these ideas about how I would shoot us, and how I would pose me, but I took a deep breath and let it go.

Or at least I tried. You’ll have to ask Kate how well I succeeded. Haha.

No, in all seriousness, being on the other side of the camera is a strange and unfamiliar experience (as I think it probably is for most people, unless you’re a professional model.) I can sum up the biggest take-away for me in one word: trust. I realized firsthand how important it is to trust your photographer. Only then can you begin to establish a connection and feel comfortable.

Relationships are personal. Trust me, I get it. It’s hard to let someone you may not know (and add in a big camera!) see the dorky, laughable, lovable you. But it gets easier when you stop worrying about how the photographer is framing the photo, or what your expression looks like, or if your hair is out of place, etc. Just stop, take a breath, and let it go.