This girls got style!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Rachel. She blogs over at Redcliffe Style and I am going to put it right now there and say I was a little nervous to meet her! This woman has some seriously good style! I... do not! But she is one of the nicest people you could ever meet and so, with my nerves put aside we discussed her nerves! She photographs and features herself each day on her blog and social media. But, she has never had professional portraits taken before. She was nervous!

Why do we get so nervous to have our own photos taken? What is it exactly we are afraid of? I don't like having my photo taken either which is usually pretty to easy for me to avoid since I am usually on the other side of the camera anyway.

Is it because we think that it is self-indulgent, vain? That certainly runs through some peoples mind but I think the true reason runs much deeper than that. We are self-concious, we are tired, we are busy, we are too heavy, too bony, to wrinkled, too anything! Whatever our own inner voice tells us.. it comes down to a lot of us thinking we are not worthy.

Since meeting with Rachel and shooting her portrait session I discussed this very topic with a number of friends and colleagues.

Our partners, lovers, friends, children and parents do not see all these things. WE create that in out own minds and it stops us from doing something for ourselves and our families that is actually an amazing gift.

This portrait session of Rachel was for her. For no-one else but her. She took herself out of her comfort zone and did something that she has never done before. What an incredible gift for herself. For her daughters. Her husband. These portraits will mean more and more to her and her family over time and I am so pleased I got to meet her and do this for her.

As an incredibly special treat, Monica from Custom Jewellery Co met us in the early morning to lend us some of their stunning rings for the session.

She rocked the session and has also shared her experience over on her Redcliffe Style blog here

Rachel has written over on her blog "I had so much fun with Helen and loved the results so much. What I loved about the photos, is that they looked like me. A nicer, happier version of me but I wasn’t photoshopped into a Barbie, I still had my wrinkles and imperfection that make me me."

THAT made me so happy read!

Thank you Rachel for trusting me to create your portraits. I am so thrilled that you love them.