L's Story: My first photo in 24 years...

My story is a simple one: For almost 25 years, I've successfully managed to avoid the camera.

Bar one photo taken with each of my three children, I've avoided having my picture taken in every type of scenario you can imagine over two and a half decades. It's not easy, I tell you.

I feared that I could never enjoy seeing how I looked in photos. It stemmed from a lack of confidence in my appearance and so the idea of freeze-framing it and having it mirrored back to me was simply not an option. There was a fear it would make me feel worse about myself. So I avoided it.

People tried of course, but eventually, it turned out I had to overcome this fear in my own time.

I found Merv after doing a Google search for confidence shoots and his website spoke to me. I booked in a call with him and felt immediately at ease, however that didn't prevent me from showing up to the shoot a shaking mess!

Merv made me feel comfortable on the day (not an easy task); not once did I feel pressured to do any poses I didn’t want to.

The shoot was great and I left feeling on top of the world but that wasn't the end of my journey...

During the consultation Mervyn warned that I may find my nerves rising to the surface again once it became time to see my images. Boy was he not wrong. If having my photo taken was overcoming a hurdle, going back in to see them felt like overcoming a mountain.

The day before the photo reveal when again I went into panic mode, what if I hated the pictures, what if those thoughts about myself were true?

Mervyn reminded me after the shoot this may happen and that I should use the shoot as an example that great things can come out of fear.

So I sat there in his office, fear building up inside me to be to be eventually faced with photos of me that I loved.

I found myself wondering how to react. I have never liked 1 photo of myself let alone love the 54 that I chose lol.

It was an amazing experience from start to finish. I’m glad I chose You At Yours.

If you’re reading this and debating it I’d say just do it you won’t be disappointed. It is so much more than a photoshoot. It’s like a therapy session. It allows you to see who you really are not what you think you are.

And to top it all off you have the fantastic Merv who makes you laugh, keeps you calm and just makes the whole experience unforgettable.

Ms. L x

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