“When you take a photograph of someone, you take a portrait of their soul.”― Winna Efendi, Refrain

I LOVE taking portraits. There's just something about it. I don't see what you see.

We often look at ourselves and see the "ugly", we see the faults and the imperfections, but what I see is the beauty within you. From my point of view - that is through my lens, I see life and honesty. I see you.

I had the opportunity to photograph so many people, especially women who were shy and uncomfortable with themselves, one could tell that it's out of their comfort zone to make themselves vulnerable in front of a camera. Yet, after a while, their demeanor change - suddenly they become comfortable, they show their soul a little bit more than a while ago and they start to feel like themselves even more. That right there is the beauty for me, someone who believes in herself and someone who shows exactly who she is - you get to capture the honesty within the person in front of the camera. It's a different story to tell.

Women tend to think that portrait shoots are just for fit and muscular, body types, sleek and model-like ladies. It's really not, taking a portrait of someone is not all about how she looks, it has everything to do with who she is and what she's telling others about herself.

Don't ever be afraid to feel confident about yourself, celebrate who you are, and enjoy your life in the body you've been given.

I love taking portraits of someone because it's my way of celebrating the beauty of someone else, appreciating other souls who inspire me to be myself - indirectly they help me too.

Tips for a portraits session:

1. Wear something that's reflecting who YOU are - but don't be scared to push yourself and to go a little outside of your comfort zone. You would want to wear something different than your day-to-day clothing.
2. Wear a bold lip (depending on the style you are going for.) Wear that lipstick with pride. It will help you feel good about yourself.
3. You don't ever have to do a pose asked by your photographer, that you are not comfortable with - just say "no, let's rather try something else."
4. Come as you, don't try to be something you're not.
5. Do research - make a mood board of what you like and share it with your photographer.
6. Decide whether you want to shoot indoors or outdoors - do research for locations. Some venues ask for fees to shoot there.
7. Trust your photographer.