When I first got wind of a FaceTime Photoshoot I won’t lie, I laughed a little too loud. Maybe you did too, but hear me out.

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It’s been almost a month since I photographed someone in my studio with my DSLR, but it hasn’t even been 24 hours since I shot someone and I have another shoot here in a couple hours. The trending FaceTime Photoshoot has pretty much saved me & even my business.

I remember my last couple studio sessions before this pandemic hit, even those shoots I felt the pending doom that I knew was coming. I was so incredibly anxious about making sure me, my clients and makeup artists stayed healthy. Then came the notices of non-essential businesses being told to close. My anxiety peaked as I sent out emails to all my future clients about our next steps. I had two small panic attacks with all the unknown, as I am sure ALL of us felt & probably still fee. That was weeks ago, yet it feels like a lifetime away. I guess it kinda is, my life – our life – is completely different.

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Ok, getting to the good stuff, FaceTime Photoshoots. Or virtual sessions to include the non-iphone users. I did, I laughed at this idea when I very first read about it. In my defense my brain first thought that someone was taking pictures with a DSLR of the screen while video chatting. Ew, no way and I kept reading. Then a few days later a photographer I know + admire, Teri Hofford was talking about webcam sessions, which registered more in my brain about taking a screenshot verses using my actual camera & shooting a screen. I was intrigued, but my photographer brain instantly went to the quality of how these images would look. Then I thought of the lack of control I would have. I mean I would have no real control of how these images would turn out, the environment & how things looked aesthetically, I would not be able to demonstrate how I wanted my subject to pose… the lack of control was intimidating.

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Now, I am so proud of myself because I almost immediately reminded myself of my words for 2020; OPEN – SURRENDER – APPRECIATE. Surrendering has been something I have been practicing all year, and it has definitely come in clutch the last 6 weeks. So I applied it to this challenge & became open to the idea of these virtual sessions. I started getting excited for the first time in awhile! I rang up my bestie in Ohio, who is also a boudoir photographer, & said let’s do a FaceTime Photoshoot! (she kinda laughed at me BTW, but she was open to the idea) We set it up for the next day, where we got up & actually got dressed, did out hair + makeup and “shot” each other. It felt so GOOD to be excited about something, to get ready & be creative. My whole mental headspace shifted. The time flew, we were smiling & had totally forgotten about the shit storm going on outside our little bubble. It was E P I C.

I practiced on a few other friends & decided this was something positive I could offer during this time; a way to capture an intimate moment in history & a way to keep Blue Flame from burning out all while uplifting my clients!

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Since April 1st, I have had 16 virtual sessions. I have given up the control that my photographer brain thought I needed to make art. I have connected with amazing individuals from all over the country & I provided joy. Given then something to be excited about, a time to let reality melt away & a chance to feel good. These shoots have been a challenge, giving up any kind of control for me can be a challenge, but these sessions are not about me. They are not about creating a technically sound photograph with correct exposure, focus, white balance etc…. they are about still being able to provide a safe space for people to feel good about themselves. To connect + support them. To create an image that makes them see their power, even – and especially- during such a stressful time.

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