Chantel Allen’s Fangirl Friday Feature: Couples Edition
25 years together, one not-so-great past experience, and a flight from Houston because they wanted to do it properly this time. 🖤
This couple had already done a couples session before, and it had left a lot to be desired. So when they started looking again, they weren’t just searching for pictures where the editing style was close to their preference. They wanted someone who was comfortable shooting nudity, understood the kind of work they actually wanted to display in their home, and could take the ideas we talked about beforehand and make them feel like them once they were in front of the camera.
They flew in from Houston hoping this one would be completely different from the first, and because she’s also a photographer, she came in with a VERYYYYY clear sense of the kind of imagery she was drawn to and what she wanted these photos to feel like in their home.
Spoiler: they did.
“Those fears were unnecessary because
the whole shoot ROCKED!”
What I loved about photographing them was that I didn’t have to fake a damn thing about their chemistry or connection. I could step in, fix a hand, change an angle, give them a little direction, and then back out so they could actually be themselves. They had ideas they wanted to try, I had ideas I wanted to throw at them, and we got to play with both without the session feeling like we were racing a clock or checking poses off a list. That is pretty much the DREAM with couples sessions: enough guidance that nobody is standing there wondering what the hell to do with their hands, but enough room for the photos to still feel like the actual people in them.
And after 25 years together, the takeaway wasn’t some giant revelation about who they were as a couple, which honestly makes me love this even more. They already knew what they had. The session just gave them a new way to play with it, enjoy the hell out of each other, and make a memory that somehow had them feeling even closer afterward. Apparently it also gave them a brand-new hobby, because they talked about the shoot for DAYS and she had already looked through the gallery at least a dozen times within the first two. 😂
And listen, I am absolutely not judging because if you flew across the country, had that much fun, and then got a gallery you were obsessed with, I fully support opening that shit every time you have five free minutes.
Even better, several of those images are now printed BIG in their bedroom, which was literally part of the plan from the beginning. Not the digitals living somewhere between screenshots and random camera-roll nonsense. Actual artwork they get to wake up and look at every single day after 25 years together. Her review summed the whole thing up pretty perfectly:
“Being a photographer my standards are quite high so when I say she more than exceeded our expectations she blew them outta the water!! Hubby and I haven’t stopped talking about our shoot and it’s been 2 days.”
And honestly, my favorite part about all of this is that one session absofreakinlutely did not scratch the itch. 😂 They’re already coming back from Houston for another one in early 2027, which feels very on-par considering how hard they loved the first gallery. When I asked what she would tell another couple who has been thinking about doing this, she said:
“Just do it! You don’t need to lose weight or tone up, blah blah blah. Celebrate you where you are now and just live a little!”
Which, if you know me at all… is the exact energy I want you bringing into these sessions. You do not need to hit some imaginary finish line first. You can just decide this sounds hot and fun and worth doing now. Then I got to the very last question on the questionnaire and asked if there was anything else she wanted to add. Her answer?
“A few more sessions?? hahaha”
So just a cautionary warning: the official post-session side effect is planning the next one before the first has even fully worn off, and I support that level of commitment COMPLETELY.
