Page 57 of So This Is Love

me

You can’t keep doing the same thingsand expect a different outcome.

18

Laila

My favorite part aboutmy job is photography. The social media aspect of it goes hand in hand with it, but something about capturing the beauty of our products makes me so happy.

When Cass first brought up the idea of doing a photoshoot with Bryce my gut reaction was against it. Then he agreed to it, and I thought about it more and my brain immediately started to put the pieces together for how I wanted it to look. Diffused light to create softness, a grainy texture added during editing, overall less posed and more relaxed.

We haven’t officially moved into our newLovely Daylocation yet, opting to finish packing up the last of the preorders from our launch before transitioning here. That decision makes choosing to do the photoshoot with Bryce at the new location even more appealing to me. It’s bare bones, an empty canvas of brick walls and hardwood floors and huge windows that allow the best light. And my nosey friends won’t be hovering around making it awkward.

“You’re too stiff,” I say, pulling the camera down from my eye.

We’ve been shooting for a decent amount of time and I probably only have a handful of pictures that have turned out okay.

“I’m just sitting here.”

I chew on my bottom lip and turn my head to the side trying to figure out where I can make an adjustment. The pieces themselves are all there. Bryce looks good, too good, in a casual outfit of jeans and a collared shirt. He’s sitting on a stool, some of our products are arranged on a stool next to him. The background looks exactly how I wanted. It’s a bright sunny day and even some of the windows are open since the weather is finally starting to warm up and there’s a nice breeze.

I step forward and fix the collar on his shirt and rest my hands on his shoulders, pushing my fingers into the muscles.

“Your shoulders are tense.”

“I’m just sitting here,” he replies.

I push harder until I feel the strained muscles soften as he relaxes.

“Yeah, but you’re sitting like someone’s forcing you to, not like you’re actually having a good time.”

“Here, let me show you,” I say, pulling on his hand to get him to stand from the stool.

Bryce stands and I hand him my camera and take a seat on the stool. I bring my shoulders up to my ears and look deadpan towards him, mimicking the pose that Bryce was just doing.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he says, laughing.

“It wasn’t much better!” I say. “But here let me show you.”

I show him a bunch of different posing options, easily shifting in between them to show him that it was less about being ‘posed’ and more about being relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera. In a lot of the shots I didn’t even want him to smile

“And sometimes you don’t have to look right at the camera, you can look off to the side and give different angles. It doesn’talways have to look like you’re getting your picture taken for the school yearbook…”

The flash of light startles me and I turn my head back to Bryce to see him taking pictures of me with my camera.

“Am I supposed to frown like you are right now?”

I scowl at him and he takes more pictures moving around to different positions imitating a photographer until I can’t contain the laughter from falling from my lips. “I didn’t know grumpy was the vibe you were going for, but I think you nailed it.”

I stand from the stool and hold my hand out for my camera. When he hands it back, I shove him slightly. “Oh shut up.”

Bryce takes his spot back on the stool and grabs my hand as I start to walk away, stopping me.

“And for the record,” Bryce says, his eyes going down to my lips before slowly coming back up to my eyes. “I am having a good time.”

The second half of the session goes much better than the first. Bryce’s calm easy going personality is on full display, and the awkward stiffness that was so apparent on camera before is gone.

We change set ups a couple of times, getting various different shots until I’m satisfied with the number of photos.

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