what happens when play becomes confidence
a Lola Bunny inspired basketball baddie session about confidence in public and the kind of energy that shows up when the plan pivots
I spent a couple weeks scoping out a public basketball court at a local park around South Houston, TX, somewhere between the towns Friendswood and Alvin. imagine me just camping out in my car listening to audiobooks on weekday afternoons looking to see if a particular court was regularly used or not. let’s call it surveillance for photoshoot prep. and it paid off later! when I went back to the court next, it was photoshoot day with B. I brought the camera and she brought the thigh-high socks. We were the dream team, and the courts were empty and ready for us. 😈 B heard “basketball” and couldn’t get a Lola Bunny fantasy out of her head. So we made it happen, instead. The costume granted B permission to step into playfulness, unseriousness by acting out a cartoon. but also confidence, and sexiness, and edge… because that was the character’s attitude. Playing dress up gave B an excuse to step fully into her definition of Lola Bunny and let me tell yooooou, she did not come to dick around. She came to take some sexy f*cking photos and have fun doing it. the public basketball court gave the whole shoot an anxious emotional edge. I could feel the feelings of hesitation when B first arrived and got out of the car. you might assume this is some star-spangled patriotic session on the surface if you only say the photos and maybe weren’t privy to the cartoon. but the real story was what happened once the unserious play gave feelings of confidence somewhere to land. the courts may have been empty, but the park was not. I understood her initial feelings of hesitation. regardless of if people are looking or not, being out in public introduces a sensation of being permanently perceived and judged. It’s anxiety-inducing! I named the awkwardness out loud but also hyped her up, saying once we started the photoshoot? she’d feel unstoppable, soon enough. I understand and try to explain to my clients that self-consciousness naturally shows up when we think strangers might see us posing. This is normal, and to be expected. The true power comes from getting out of your own head enough to stop being hyper-vigilant to your own damn self.1. The set up
once B really stepped into character and the photos got flowing, though? I remember B saying “Something about feeling confident in a public space and not caring what anyone thinks is a new level of bad bishh” being your bold, unapologetic self where people can witness you trains you to take up more space in life without apology. you aren’t meant to be crammed inside the little box your mind puts you in. you’re meant to take up so much more space than you do. I witnessed B having to emotionally move through her own feelings during the photoshoot. It was an up and down experience, kind of like a roller coaster. to stop caring who was watching, to not care what others think? easier said than done. But once B found her groove? she became a literal movie star and the court was her stage. I think when B says “bad bishh” she means it in a context beyond just looking good, but also moving powerfully and embodied enough to know what follow through can feel like: and how it might require feeling brave at first, but then it just feels like play. watching that confidence shift happen during the shoot was everything I could ever want for anyone I photograph. This challenges the misconception my clients usually have that they need to arrive confident to their sessions, or feel confidence before booking their photoshoot. but what I noticed in B’s body language as the session unfolded? there a moment where the energy changed. Where the confidence really set in for B. once she felt more comfortable and confident? The poses hit harder, the attitude got bigger, and the visual story went from good to great. that’s the whole point I’m trying to make: the confidence happens during the session. you got to take a risk on yourself first, sis. we ended the session with B telling me “I will die on the hill that you are the BIGGEST hype queen.” and I know it’s because I give more than surface-level praise to my clients, which can feel cold on the receiving end (even if meant well) when you’re expecting them to be a certain level of vulnerable with you. I give more than simple reassurance. I offer real witnessing, real emotional vulnerability, in a safe space where it makes it possible to soften in front of my camera.2. The shift
we ended on the courts and jumped in my car for an A/C and yap break. we were basically saying bye until B mentioned, offhandedly, something about wanting a bomb pop. And my eyes lit up like the 4th of July. the original plan for the session had been completed, mission accomplished. However I immediately proposed to B a new side quest: bomb pop and neon lights? and so with the sun fully faded behind us, we immediately drove to a parking lot near Baybrook Mall t end the photoshoot taking unhinged photos on the roof of my car. i didn’t know it until we were done, but that was our favorite moment from the whole day. Being able to pivot into a random creative whim with someone who is down for the plot? The original plan did its job. Then it got out of the way. Amazing. I know B’s favorite moment was, in her words: “Climbing on your car 🤣” which to be fair, was my favorite moment too. Because talk about a complete flip from not wanting to be perceved at a park at the beginning of the shoot to standing on the roof of my car at the end. an absolutely beautiful and complete character arc. B even said “After this shoot in particular, I definitely found my confidence more than before.” that’s what a photoshoot will do to ya, folks. watch out!3. The side quest
play made the session lighter, but it did not make it less meaningful. play was actually an entryway into presence and mindfulness. something no one talks about? lock in on your own identity and inner truth, and the deeper reveal is that you won’t care about being perceived, you will only feel peace. because confidence comes from within.4. The takeaway
