You know when you’re feeling big feelings and you want to punch something or scream until there’s nothing left or writhe on the floor or jump up and down with glee?

Well it’s because emotions are energy and energy wants to move. 

If you hold all of your emotions in it’s basically like you’re the human equivalent of a champagne bottle. Eventually you’re gonna pop off and explode. And that can look differently for everyone but it’s pretty much never good.

When I finally realized that emotions are signs telling me things…well life just got a bit more interesting. Suddenly I’m finding myself playing the ‘what does this emotion I’m feeling right now mean’ game. You unpack your feeling and get honest about stuff so you can better understand and grow. It’s a wonderful life hack and it continues to be a valuable tool I use many times a day.

So honor your emotions and let them move and breathe in healthy ways, the world will be a much better place.

Obviously emoting is a subject matter near and dear to me. I frequently say ‘emotion over aesthetic’ in regard to photography. An image can be technically great in every aspect but if it doesn’t move me…well.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a gorgeous headshot. I love a flowing dress in the wind. And you can bet your sweet butt that I will capture all of those images during a session.

But there will be a portion of our shoot where you will be emoting. It will probably be a bit uncomfortable and scary. You may or may not be able to cry. But if you allow yourself to go deep and access your own personal pain points we will get the most beautiful images. And I do not mean beautiful in the sense that a Vogue cover shot is beautiful. I mean beautiful as in moving.

The images of you emoting aren’t meant to be pretty or aesthetically pleasing. You might not even particularly like your sniveling, crying face. But what makes them beautiful is your rawness. Your vulnerability. These images will be meaningful to you in a way that goes so much deeper than the pleasing, posed ones.

And that is the gift I can give you. The space to be open and exposed with zero judgement. I let you express your feelings in whatever way they come out. I show you what form your human body takes when it is releasing emotion. And that can never be ugly because it is a part of you, a part of your soul.

Here’s Marina, Act 2. As you can see, we got the most gorgeous images. And then she took off the pointe shoes and dug a bit deeper. We are all so very blessed to see a bit of her beautiful, glorious, honest soul.