Why bother?

As a photographer who has been both behind the camera, and in front of it, I know how much fun a photoshoot is, and how it makes you feel. But one of the biggest challenges I face is helping people fully understand the experience. As a one woman band, it’s rare that there’s any behind the scenes photos or videos of what goes on during a shoot, which adds to the mystery of what actually happens when we work together.

Most people see booking a photoshoot for themselves as a little too self indulgent, the idea of having a few hours focused entirely on taking photos of you, taken by a professional, usually in a public environment (the gym), feels like a but too much. And I can understand that! As the kind of person who doesn’t really like all the attention on me, it feels vain.

But let’s reframe this shall we.

Firstly, why shouldn’t you indulge yourself? Why don’t you deserve something lovely that’s just for you? Who told you not to love who you are and not treat yourself? We are so, so good at putting ourselves last, and dissuading ourselves from having something that makes us feel good, at never feeling quite good enough. And you know what, us women are even worse for doing this, because it’s how we’re raised: Don’t love yourself too much, fix this thing that society disapproves of, don’t take anything for yourself, that’s selfish. It’s a constant message that we shouldn’t indulge our desires or like ourselves too much.

But I think that message should be binned out, buried deep, and left to rot. Because why don’t we deserve to treat ourselves? I have been actively working on rewarding myself for various things that I’ve worked hard for (like buying a bottle of prosecco and a cake, as well as a new pair of leggings, to celebrate the Pursuit launch last month). Otherwise, life is all work and no fun. Hard work deserves a reward, something that makes us feel good.

Secondly, have you every actually thought about the amount of hours spent training to get your physique to where it is today?

For myself, I train an average of 4 days per week (when conditions are optimal, it’s 5 days), those sessions average about 2 hours each, so that’s 8hrs a week in the gym. Per month, that’s adding up to 32hrs of training, and in a year I’m logging an average of 416 hours of training.

That’s a considerable amount of hours spent pushing, focusing, refining, and grinding, all for more strength, functionality, and a pretty cool physique (I don’t claim to be anywhere near what competitive bodybuilders are looking like though, you guys are on another level!).

Then look at all the dedication that goes into your nutrition, all the various supplements you add in, the adherence to a quality sleep schedule to optimise recovery, the constant need to pee because you’re guzzling obscene amounts of water, the regular sports massages you pay for to ease tight, hard working muscles, the part of your monthly income you assign to go to towards your coach who helps keep you on track and programmes all of your training.

That’s a LOT of resources going towards one goal - to build a phenomenal physique. And I know it’s not just about the external stuff, I understand the addiction to growing and building, the mental release that comes from it all, the value of structure we get from rigorous training, the love of the iron, the friends we make through this wonderful common love. It’s a huge part of our lives.

But what I don’t get is putting in all of that work, with the understanding that we only get to look super cut once or twice a year, and also that we will age and not look like this forever (no matter how we continue to train), and not having physical mementos to look back on this point in our lives!

It seems absurd to me not to have a record of this. Not to honour all of that hard work with professional imagery, to immortalise that intense level of work required to achieve this.

And thirdly, have you ever looked at a photo of your physique and felt a deep sense of pride well up inside you for the work you’ve put in? I can’t imagine that you’ve done that very often, if ever.

Back in May, I had a shoot with my business and photography mentor. I’d spent several months cutting, not to the point of stage lean, but to a level that I was really proud of, and I wanted to have that captured for the short while that it lasted.

I won’t deny that I was a little nervous, having never really been the person in front of the camera, and it was also a truly unusual experience for me to be the one being directed, having all the attention on me. As I said earlier, that’s something I tend to avoid, preferring to put the attention on other people.

But you know what? I found the entire experience exhilarating. It was awesome to watch someone else work, to be the subject, to see my body transform under the studio lights, and see all of my hard work recognised, sculpted through masterful photography.

When I finally got to see the finished images my heart swelled. My entire life I’ve struggled with body image issues, grappled with the complex battle of wanting to build my body whilst struggling to let go of the message that women’s bodies should be small and petite. It’s a hard complex to battle, and one that I’m almost certain a vast majority of women who train deal with as well. We want to be huge, but we have to constantly fight our conditioning.
When I saw those images I felt an intense amount of pride. I saw my hours of hard work come to life, the gorgeous flow of muscle wrapping around my body, and I felt intensely feminine with it. But not that bullshit packaged idea of femininity that we’re sold growing up, femininity in it’s truest form: Powerful, unstoppable, the creatrix who manifests her destiny and moves through this world with confidence in her self assurance.

All of that, I got from a handful of images of myself. And that exact feeling is why I genuinely believe that every single person should have professional images of themselves at least once.

If these three reasons aren’t enough for you to realise that you really should have a photoshoot, with me or another photographer, then I really don’t know what to tell you. I honestly believe everyone should have their hard work recognised, you put so much in to achieve that phenomenal body not to take a moment to admire and reward that.

If you’re now thinking you’d like to book a shoot, for any of the reasons I’ve mentioned above or more, then head over to the booking page and lets make something awesome together.

Stay strong,

Emma x