Why You Won't Get That Perfect Pinterest Photo
Wait what? Abby, you’re a photographer telling me that I wont get a photo like the one on my “dream life” Pinterest board? Yup. But not for the reason you would think!
As a photographer, I am QUEEN of looking for inspiration on Pinterest. Like most people, I see photos of couples, families, homes, vacations, and think, “I want a picture like this!”. I am SO guilty of trying to recreate that same photo, whether it’s in a session or in my own life. And you know what? I am always disappointed.
I recently shot an in home session for the cutest family. Of course the mom had spent hours on Pinterest and screenshot tons of photos that she loved and wanted hung in her home of her own family. In the session, she would pull up the photo and tell her kids to pose the same way as the kids of this famous blogger (it never worked out), and get down on herself for her home not looking the same as it did in this other gal’s home that she saw online, and so on. Her mistake (and all of our mistake) is NOT in finding inspiration in photos on Pinterest. Infact, it is such a great resource to give us an idea of a direction that we are wanting to go and to recognize things that we like! Trust me, I love it. Instead, the mistake is in trying to recreate photos instead of recreating feelings.
There was a point where I put down my camera, and told her the same thing that I tell all of my clients. “You are not going to get that perfect Pinterest photo. You know why? Because you are going to create your OWN Pinterest photo!” I go on to tell them that what makes us love the photos that we do on Pinterest is people being themselves. We love the emotion, the smiles and laughs, the snuggles and kisses, things that are impossible to recreate! And that’s okay! Because you will only get that Pinterest perfect photo if you be YOU. Instead, look at a photo and don’t say, “I love that all of the little girls are sitting in a perfect line holding and laughing and looking directly at the camera", and instead say, “I love that all of the little girls are close together and look really happy”. THAT is something we can do! And it will turn out oh so cute.
Wanna know something? I would bet that most of the photos that I love the most on Pinterest or Instagram are photos that didn’t turn out the way they thought they would. Because money shots aren’t captured in perfectly manicured environments and poses, they are captured when people forget about the camera and are able to be themselves.
On another note, if I spent a photography session trying to get you that exact photo, I would spend way to much time readjusting everyone and telling the kids to focus and look at the camera and nobody is going to be having fun. So, no. You won’t get that photo you saw on Pinterest. But you know what? Stick with me and I will get you a photo that you look at and think, “This picture perfectly describes my family, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Because that’s the good stuff.