Beloved

If you haven’t heard of the Beloved Movement, I’m delighted to be the first to share!

I’ve been a long time fan of Jesh De Rox, and the moment I heard he was teaching an online course for photographers on his incredible method of shooting (which he has named “Beloved”), I signed up immediately.

Jesh explains Beloved in his own words HERE.

In short, Beloved is a celebration of relationship that stirs the senses and the heart.

It is a method of interaction with your subjects that helps to create a meaningful experience and environment. This environment helps people naturally share the most beautiful emotions and expressions as they react to questions, games, prompts and invitations issued by the photographer.

Beloved confirms my hearts deepest desire to capture authenticity.  The experiences that I have had thus far have dramatically altered my view of photography, life, my marriage, and have most certainly changed the way I approach photography forever.

Does that sound like a dramatic testimonial?

Well, its true.  And I actually feel I’m still holding back on everything I’d like to say about it, simply because there aren’t any words to give it justice.  Maybe I should write a Beloved symphony or something to better express the power it really has?

The following images are of two amazing people.  Leigh Ann and Reid have been married over twenty years.  I hope you can feel the love of their relationship through the images.

Image #1 is the “before” image.

Here we have two incredible beautiful people who are posed well, dressed well and the photograph is exposed well.  The expressions they have are the typical camera smiles a photographer will get when asking people to “look at the camera and smile.”

We all have a camera smile.  Promise.  

And I can spot it a mile away now.  

Now watch what happens to all the following images using Beloved invites.  What an amazing difference.

This next image is one of my absolute favorites.

One thing that strikes me profoundly in the Beloved movement, is how important the marriage relationship is–yet we never seem to photograph it after the couple is married.  We get family pictures, but rarely take the time to focus on the couple till the Golden Anniversary rolls around.

We need to celebrate the marriage relationship everyday.

Having an experience like Beloved–and then having pictures of that experience to remind each other how close you felt in that moment for the other person–can be an incredible influence for good.


A deep hearted thanks to Leigh Ann and Reid for sharing this experience with me.

Some of you know that I have taken a Sabbatical for 2011 in my portrait business.  When I discovered Beloved back in April, I knew immediately that this would be the focus of my time off.

I was scared to death for my first session and admit that everything about Beloved takes practice, humility, trust,  and preparation.  But what an incredible experience its turning out to be.

 

Brooke Snow is a Lifestyle photographer in Cache Valley, Utah.  Every time she does a Beloved shoot she comes home more in love with her fabulous husband.  What a great side effect!  The only downside of Beloved photography is that going back to the old manner of shooting feels very superficial and fake.  Brooke is searching for ways to incorporate Beloved into every kind of shoot.  So far, so good. The results speak for themselves.

Brooke teaches inspiring online photography classes that bring you confidence in your skills and creativity.

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43 Responses

  1. Yes! Amen! I’m on a Beloved crusade. It’s truly something that must be experienced to be appreciated. So far, it’s been awesome for me and the couples I’ve photographed. Thank you for introducing the Beloved Movement to me!

    1. Hooray Crusader!!

      Beloved is amazing and we need a strong armed force of Beloved photographers to change the world… one shoot at a time 🙂

  2. Beautiful job Brooke! I have loved the listening to Jesh and his webinars. The Beloved movement is beautiful. I need to not be a wimp and have a Beloved session done myself and incorporate them more into my standard sessions. I admire that you follow your heart and things that move you 😀

    1. Belinda! I didn’t know you were doing the webinars!! That is fantastic! Another Beloved photographer in Cache Valley! Wahoo! Are you going to go to LA in September???

  3. I still get a little teary when I see these because of the feelings I had during the session. Thanks again for letting me be a part of it!

    1. THANK YOU Trisha, for filming everything! The video footage has already been an amazing asset to the Advanced Pro class! You were golden!

  4. You are so amazing Brooke! I love you how much of your heart and soul you put into your pictures. It amazes me how deep your thoughts are and how much your photos impact your own life and spirit. They are beautiful.

    1. Thank you, Jenny! I do put in my heart and soul 🙂 I’m glad you sense that! I so appreciate your kind words!

  5. Did you just say that there is some video of this shoot in your advanced pro class? I have been debating if I should take that one again or the Lifestyle one. Have you ever had anyone take the Advanced Pro course twice? I feel like I would learn so much going through it again….

    1. I do have a video of my beloved session with this couple in the Advanced Pro class now 🙂 As well as a family session! Always working on improving the classes! If its beloved that you are really interested in Marilyn, I’ll let you in on a little secret… I really really REALLY want to teach a whole class on Beloved and am dedicating most of my shooting time the rest of the year to gaining as much experience as possible in this genre. I’m attending Jesh’s workshop in LA this September, and would love to be able to offer a Beloved class sometime in early 2012 (fingers crossed). Still some things to iron out. You’re always welcome to take the class again, but where you live so close to me, we can also do some one on one things together if you like (including a beloved session). Let me know if any of those options perk your interest 🙂

    1. Congrats Kerry!!!! I’m so excited for you! And I know exactly what those nervous feelings feel like! The best thing I ever did was choose some long time super close friends of mine for my very first session. It made all the difference in the world for my nerves because I already had a relationship of trust with them. My tip: Be prepared. And prepare them. I usually come in with notes (and totally refer to my notes openly throughout the session) of what invites I want to use. And… I really like to start off the session with a little chat that explains everything about beloved and why I love it, what its goals are, and how we’ll make it happen. Once that chat happens I feel so much better about life because I don’t have to worry at all about being self conscious or wonder if they think I’m crazy. The success of beloved is largely built of on trust. You’ll do great! Please let me know how it goes!

  6. Brooke:

    Love it!! Thanks for sharing! I have not been trained in the Beloved type session. Unfortunately, his workshop is not coming to a city near me. What do you think is the best way to become trained? Is just buying the Field Guide enough and of course practice? What do you recommend?

    Thank you,
    Shayna

    1. Shayna, that is such a great question. My personal experience… I bought the Field Guide last summer and although it seemed really interesting, I wasn’t confident about how to use it… so I didn’t. When the class came around, I jumped right in and finally found the “context” that I think the field guide really needs. Seeing a Beloved shoot done live changed everything for me, as I finally understood. Hearing the philosophies behind it from Jesh helped things to fall into place in my mind. And now, the Field Guide is REALLY valuable to me. I think one of the best ways to get into it is to experience it or see it happen. I had an assistant come on one of my Beloved Shoots with me (the one featured here) to film the shoot for my advanced class. She said after the shoot was finished that she was completely inspired to do her own beloved shoot with her Brother in Law and his wife. And so she did! Two days later! And it was an amazing experience for her! Not sure where you live, but if there is a beloved photographer in your area, I’d see if you could participate in a beloved session (as an assistant or better yet, as the subject :). My husband and I had a beloved session a few weeks ago and it was amazing. Experiencing it yourself is another incredible way to learn. Hopefully I’ll be able to teach a class on it sometime in the near future, but for now, I’m still gaining my own experience 🙂

      1. Thank you Brooke for your response to my question about education on Beloved. I looked at a blog/website that claims to have a listing of photographers but I didn’t see one in my area (Chicago). Do you know where to find a class or a photographer in my area? Thanks again for all you do for the photog community!

          1. Illinois Beloved Photographers: chicago | jeremy bircher, photo and cinema | http://www.3line9.com | http://blog.3line9.com | twitter: @3line9 | facebook: http://www.facebook.com/3line9

            Glenview, Illinois | Bauerschmidt Portraits | Lauren Bauerschmidt | web: http://www.bauerschmidtportraits.com | fb: https://www.facebook.com/bauerschmidtportraits | 847.687.380

            Chicago | Malia Rae Photography | http://www.maliaraephoto.com | 773.209.6614 | http://www.facebook.com/pages/Malia-Rae-Photography

            Chicago, IL | dorothy perry photography | http://www.dorothyperryphotography.com | blog: http://dorothyperryphotography.wordpress.com/ | 773.847.0896

            chicagoland area | hullabaloo photo | http://www.hullabaloophoto.com | blog: http://www.hullabaloophotoblog.com | 847.494.1436 | twitter: annabonick

            don’t know any of them. But check them out 🙂

  7. Brooke, these are awesome!! The difference between the first and the others are just amazing. I so want to do more beloved shoots after seeing it first hand…awesome! Amazing job!!

  8. Wow, what a difference. I’m loving this Beloved movement. I’d love to hire a Beloved photographer to shoot me and my husband. Any chance you know of any in the Boston area? I admire your work so much. I have my eye on a class as soon as back to school time comes and I have some free time again. Be well!

    1. Thanks Meredith! Beloved is amazing 🙂 I’ll ask about Boston Beloved Photographers on a forum today and see if I get a response 🙂

          1. Thank you so much for the Boston photographers, Brooke. I really appreciate it. I’ll check them out! Be well.

  9. wow-these photos seem so much more warm and authentic. You’ve really piqued my interest in “Beloved”-now I need to learn more!

  10. Wow! I had never heard of this, but you inspired me to check out more, and now I’m really interested. I definitely need to learn more. I was planning on spending my next chunk of photo investment on the Nik Software suite, but the Beloved seminar may have been pushed to the top of the list instead.

  11. These are so deeply beautiful and moving – I hadn’t heard of the Beloved movement but definitely intend to learn more about it! Fantastic images Brooke (as always)!

  12. I just need to tell you that I look forward to every single one of your blog posts so much. You really do feel like a kindred spirit to me when it comes to photography. I hadn’t heard of this movement before, but this is exactly the type of photography that just makes my heart sing. Consider me very interested if you were to offer a Beloved class!

  13. Love this Brooke! I’ve been looking forward to you posting about beloved. The more I learn and use beloved invites, the more I realize that I am forever changed as a photographer. I’m really looking forward to the workshop in LA.

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