If you've ever met me, or stalked me on fb for even a minute, you'll notice that I talk to a LOT of people. Most of the time, I'm talking to people to help expand my photography business as photography is my passion-the thing I love more than anything else in the world. In talking to the thousands of people I have, I've noticed that a lot of girls discount the idea of doing a photo shoot with the reasoning that they aren't a model, aren't the model type, aren't pretty enough, skinny enough, or some other off the wall reason which is just enough to push the idea to the back of their mind, to be forgotten about.  I'm going to attempt to change that thought process by explaining to you my philosophy on photography. 

The main purpose for me as a photographer taking pictures of you as a client, is to capture you looking like you in the best light, best quality, and best, most natural pose possible, while attempting to show your personality in 1/200th of a second. You see these girls in the photographs I release, and you put them on a pedestal. What you don't realize is that most of them aren't models, we took hundreds of pictures to release a few, and yes I do some minor editing. So what if you're awkward, or don't like pictures? Well, that's where my experience, and ability in making you feel comfortable comes in to play. Most people I've asked who've told me they don't like pictures is because they always look awkward. Free tip, think about something that makes you smile when you want to smile rather than thinking about smiling. Your brain telling your mouth to smile for a picture is not saying the same thing as "OMG! That's funny!" I've worked with hundreds of people, maybe even thousands at this point of all personality types, and I know I can get you being you. A goal I attempt to achieve with every client is to take THE best pictures, they've ever seen of them self. For some, this is quite a task, as they've shot with many other photographers before me, still I achieve this goal more often than not. For the people I'm aiming this blog post at, I'm confident in achieving this goal with ease.  

Before I ever picked up a professional camera, I knew the value of a good photo. My grandmother spent thousands on photography equipment, and prints for her children and grandchildren. Looking back after she died, and my grandfather sold the house, each one of their 6 children had a huge box full of pictures of their families. Pictures capturing memories from childhood, birthday parties, school events, and just random days with the family. Beyond family photos, my other grandfather's wife was the first woman ever on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine in October of 1954. (Photo below) Since I've been alive, she's been old and senile. For me being able to look back at who she was 60 years ago is crazy. Had I never seen it, I wouldn't have believed she was EVER an attractive woman. Granted, I learned all of this years ago when I was still young, but one day you'll have a young member of your family curious about you.

My point to all of this is you are as young as you'll ever be right now. Every day that passes is another possible wrinkle, scar, or passing. We can all hope for none of these, but life ultimately only goes one way. Your children and grandchildren are going to want to know what you looked like in your prime, and you are going to want to have that to share. Yes, you can take pictures with your camera phone, or even with your point and shoot, but when you're old and wrinkly you'll wish you had something a little better quality, taken by someone who spends the majority of their life striving for greatness in photographs.

If you'd like to schedule a photo shoot, please contact me directly. I have sessions starting at just $100 which offer huge value for the cost. 

Thank you for reading, you guys make it all worth it,

David Avant Portrait Photographer