"Will you make me look younger and thinner?"

One great way to irritate your portrait photographer?

Ask them...

"will you make me look younger and thinner?"

Are you guilty of lobbing this question at your portrait photographer in the past? 

If so answer this question for yourself;

“Does looking younger and thinner serve my followers, or does it serve myself?”

Now, I’m not suggesting that you show up looking like three shades of hell for your portrait session.

The way you visually present yourself is important, and the way you feel about yourself in these images is certainly important, too.

You must present yourself in your best light possible.

But, should your vanity take precedence over being authentic to your followers?

Think about your portraits from your clients’ perspectives - they follow you because your expertise and thought leadership inspires them to be better person in some shape or form, and in order for them to buy in - literally and figuratively - trust between you must be established.

Do you think that asking your portrait photographer Photoshopping 20 pounds off or removing 10 years from your face is going to achieve that?

Blemish removal, yes. Stray hairs, absolutely. Cleaning up clothing that looks a little too wrinkled, yeah, that’s cool.

Manipulating your body structure and removing every single wrinkle from your face…ehhhh, stop and think about that for a second.

You’re posting images to promote your thought leadership, not get the cover of Esquire Magazine.

When thinking about your portrait session, it’s all about focusing on the end product and what it’s meant to do.

One last thought I’d like to leave you with…

Think of every person that’s ever inspired your in your life.
Think of all the guidance, tough love and lessons they taught you.
Think of how much your life changed for the better because of this person.

Now, answer this question...
Did you give a shit about how they looked when they were inspiring you?

PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you...because I care, :)