Love yourself! Body Positivity Photoshoot
We all have had those days. We wake up and we don't feel pretty, or beautiful. We look in the mirror and pick out all of our flaws. This is natural. We all have done it, I've done it numerous times. The thing is we are all beautiful. This world is full of companies that shove the idea of 'perfect' down our throats. That is why I wanted to use the photography in a positive way and start a photo series that shows the true beauty in people. A lot of work went into this project and I hope you readers enjoy.
My Process
To start this project I had to ask myself why I cared so much about making people feel beautiful. It turns out that I cared so much because growing up I was definitely not the popular boy nor the 'hot stud', but over the nears I have learned to love myself and I realized that I wanted to make people see their true beauty and love themselves!
I started this project a few months ago by talking with my friend Corbin, he is transgender and has had to learn to love himself over the years when he hasn't felt like his true self. So this was my jumping point. I set up the photo shoot in a makeshift studio with some basic equipment; lights, a back drop, tripod, an 80-55mm lens, a 50mm lens, and of course my trusty Canon DSLR. My point of this is that you do not need a full equipment bag to make something special. I finished all of my photos with some post editing in Photoshop. I did very little post editing, as I felt it was crucial to try and keep the images as natural as possible, this way the true beauty of the models would stand out about all else.
After getting everything set up I had Corbin and Brooklyn (my fiance who volunteered to be part of the photo shoot) take some time and write out some quotes or statements that would tell the world who they are and how beautiful they are. The only other props I used was an empty picture frame. The idea behind this is that we are all works of art and we should all be able to see that within ourselves. The last step of the project was having them stand in poses that made them feel empowered and strong.
Conclusion
Over all I loved this project, there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into this project. From models canceling on me, to having to switch venues for the shoot, and so on. I loved working with Corbin and Brooklyn and I feel like I learned a lot about myself and my process and well as it helped show me why I fell in love with photography in the first place. I love the lens and making people feel valued and feel special. Every person should feel like they are worth something and feel as if they belong in this world. Because this world is filled with a lot of weird, and wonderful people and that is what makes us all beautiful. Our individuality is what sets us apart from one another and I find it truly amazing.
Please feel free to give feedback and let me know what you think, as well as if there is anything I can improve on!
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Again thank you all!
