One of the simplest things I do in a session has a surprisingly big effect on the result: I show you the photos as we go. Not just at the end, but throughout — turning the screen round so you can see exactly how it’s looking. It sounds like a small detail, but for most people it’s the moment the nerves start to lift.
The fear of the unknown
Most people walk into a shoot braced for the worst. They’ve spent years disliking photos of themselves, and now there’s a professional camera pointed at them with no idea what’s being captured. That uncertainty is exactly what makes people tense — and tension is the enemy of a good photograph.
Showing you the images early breaks that cycle. The moment you see a shot you actually like — and it usually happens within the first few minutes — something visibly changes. The shoulders drop. The forced expression softens. You start to trust the process, and that trust shows up in every frame after it.
It makes the photos genuinely better
Reviewing as we shoot isn’t just reassuring, it’s practical. It lets us adjust together in real time — a tweak to the angle, a change of expression, a different bit of direction — rather than discovering at the end that we’d have done something differently. You leave knowing you’ve got images you’re happy with, because you’ve watched them happen.
You’re part of it
I see a session as a collaboration, not something done to you. You know how you want to come across; I know how to make that happen with the camera. Seeing the images as we go keeps us on the same page and means there are no nasty surprises — just a set of photos you’ve effectively signed off in the moment.
Why reviewing during the shoot changes everything
The traditional model of photography u2014 shoot, go away, deliver images a week later u2014 puts the client in a position of complete uncertainty throughout the process. You don’t know what you look like on camera. You don’t know whether the lighting is working for you. You don’t know whether the direction I’m giving is producing the result you hoped for. All of that uncertainty adds to the anxiety that many people bring into a session in the first place.
Reviewing images as we shoot removes most of that. The first time I turn the camera around and show you what I’m seeing, something usually changes. Sometimes it’s reassurance u2014 the image looks better than expected, and the relief is visible (and then photographable). Sometimes it’s information u2014 there’s something specific we can adjust, an angle or an expression, that we can correct in real time rather than discovering too late that something was off.
Choosing together
For clients who have strong feelings about how they want to look u2014 which is most of them u2014 reviewing during the shoot also means they have input into the process, not just the outcome. If a particular shot isn’t sitting right with you, we can address it before we move on. If something works better than expected, we can do more of it. The session becomes a collaboration rather than a procedure.
What it means for the final gallery
Sessions where clients have seen their images during the shoot consistently produce galleries that clients are happier with. Not because the photography is technically different, but because the client was part of the process and the final images reflect that involvement. There are fewer “I wish we’d done more of X” moments because we had the conversation about X while there was still time to act on it.
If you’d like to know more about how I approach a session, see my studio photography or get in touch.
