How to Gain a Better Attitude About Having Pictures Taken | Whitney Beth Photography

How to gain a better attitude about having pictures taken, Whit's tips, headshots, braces headshots, headshots with braces, love yourself, take the picture

How to Gain a Better Attitude About Having Pictures Taken | Whitney Beth Photography

I know. I can feel the anxiety through the screen. Family Pictures. (Or heck, pictures in general.) I fully understand most people do not enjoy getting pictures taken. And that stems from a number of reasons:

  • You don’t like how you look
  • You’re worried how your kids will behave
  • Picking out outfits
  • All the details stressing you out – which in turn stresses your partner out
  • There’s at least one (if not more) members of your family who don’t want to be there
  • etc etc etc

I could go on and on. And it’s ok to feel those things. It’s ok to be worried how your 18 month old is going to react. Or maybe you’re not happy with how your body is right now, we’ve all been there. But hear me out – pictures are important.

Not to go for the cheap shot, but what does everybody do when someone has died? They start combing through every photo they’ve ever taken to find as many pictures as they can find of their loved one. Social medias turn to memorials as everyone shares stories and photos. Pictures help us find a way to connect with loved ones and remember them.

But what happens if you don’t take pictures? Well, for one, the few pictures that you do have will be all that more valuable (so hopefully they’re good), but more important than that, you are losing part of your family history. You are loosing pieces to your puzzle.

Taking pictures is family history. It’s a visual journal of who you are, what you like, what’s important to you, etc. And while you may not be where you want to be appearance wise, (time for some tough love) that’s what you look like. It’s still important to take pictures.

Listen to me, I was nine months pregnant with BRACES. Pregnancy is not kind to my body. I gain so much weight. With Remmy I gained 60 pounds and had a face full of metal. Real cute. I looked like a knocked up teenager. But I still took my maternity pictures and had my birth photographer in the room while I delivered.

How to gain a better attitude about having pictures taken, Whit's tips, headshots, braces headshots, headshots with braces, love yourself, take the picture, maternity pictures, braces and pregnant, maternity pictures with braces
Believe it or not – I got wayyy bigger than this. I still had two months of growing Remmy to do when I took my maternity pictures.

You may be thinking, “But Whitney, those were big, important moments.” To which I will say, “so what?! So is your life.” So are all the small details that make you, you.

Plus your kids are watching. If you make a big deal about how hard and awful it is to get your pictures taken, they will mimic you and think that is the norm. You will condition them to hate having their picture taken.

So what do you do?

It’s one thing to say, “I’m going to have a better attitude about pictures” and another thing to actually do it.

So here’s how – start one picture at a time.

Ease yourself into this. It can be hard to love yourself and the skin you’re in, and it’s ok to feel like that. But it starts with one picture. So if someone pulls out the camera, try not to flinch or judge or zoom in and ask for a retake. Just take the picture and be done. If you want, don’t even look at it. Just know it’s there and come back to it later.

I’ve talked before how I’m able to convince my extended family to take yearly pictures – if you don’t like how you look, it’s only for this year and we’ll take another one next year. This picture is not the one and only.

Whatever your next picture is does not have to be the headshot to accompany your life story (I mean, unless it’s amazing and you love it.) But starting small with letting pictures be taken of you can help condition your mind to be ok with it, and in turn love yourself in all stages.

So yes, take the picture for your family history, for your children, but most importantly, for you. <3

How to gain a better attitude about having pictures taken, Whit's tips, headshots, braces headshots, headshots with braces, love yourself, take the picture
Look at that, headshots (with braces and a postpartum bod) Not my favorite look right now, but like it or not, my braces are a part of my story for the past year and a half. I don’t want to meet people having had them only seeing what I looked like pre baby and pre braces. No cat fishing going on over here! This is who I am right now.

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