A few weeks before Christmas I had the opportunity to display some of my work at a local gym for women for a day and that very same day I received a phone call from Rina.  Now Rina had never been photographed before, she mentioned on the phone that she was going through a lot of life changes and this was her treat to herself.  A week later Rina was in the studio for her very own portrait experience.

Rina was very shy, quite nervous yet quietly excited at the same time.  She had brought in a number of outfits, a mixture of her clothes as well as borrowing items from her friends.  I had sent her a style guide to prepare her for her shoot and she went all out, with beautiful colour + styles.

Rina loved having her hair + make up done, she was blown away and it helped her relax.  Prior to this day Rina had never really worn make up let alone have anyone treat her to a makeover.

During the photoshoot, Rina was open to any of my suggestions and really trusted me to create some beautiful portraits of her. However one thing I noticed was every time I asked Rina to smile, really smile, she would smile with her mouth closed.  I had seen her smile prior to photographing her, so I already knew she had a wonderful smile, yet once the camera went up she became a little reserved.  I decided to put the camera down and told her she truly had a great smile and I want her to really smile, show her teeth and give it everything she had. Well when I picked that camera up again, away she went.  Yes she was still slightly shy about smiling, but when I showed her the back of the camera, she herself said how good she looked.

The rest of the shoot went amazingly well and I enjoyed myself just as much as Rina did.

Weeks later, I got to catch up with Rina again for the viewing of her portraits. Well, she walked in with her hair styled and a touch of make up on.  She said, since her photoshoot she now wears more colour, styles her hair and wears a bit of make up.  She feels great and said after her portrait experience she feels like a brand new women and her self-esteem has grown because of it.

Having this conversation with Rina meant the world to me.  The changes she has made in her life lately are huge and I take my hat off to her for all that she has achieved and for all that she has planned. I fell so privileged to have had the opportunity to photograph her and know she walked out with more than just gorgeous portraits of herself.

Rina is a mother of five, a nana and one inspirational women.

Thank you Rina.

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