Make Them Feel Beautiful Not Imperfect

My cousin asked me if I could do a shoot with her. She told me she went to the mall with a few of her friends to take pictures. My aunt began to tell me about their experience. “The man at the studio used a green screen for the backdrop. The picture came out looking fake. You could see green in their hair. He also touched up the photos, painting make up on the girls, adding eye lashes, taking out the lines on their face, and making their eyes bigger. He said he was making the photos ‘better’.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t know if I should laugh or be angry. For one, these girls are fourteen, they have no wrinkles!
Getting photograph is an experience that should make the subject feel beautiful not imperfect. It’s the photographer’s job to capture the best in people not be a plastic sergeant.
I told my cousin I would take a few photos of her. I knew she loved to draw graffiti so I took her to a wall of graffiti I found a few years ago. She loved it.