Long Form Sessions, Audacious Self-Love & The Art of Noticing with Rachel Larsen Weaver

Some artists teach by accident. Others teach because they can’t help but pay attention: to connection, to people, and to themselves. Today’s guest, Rachel Larsen Weaver, is absolutely the latter.

Rachel is an artist, educator, and photographer whose work celebrates audacious self-love, body affirmation, and the beauty of everyday life. In this conversation, we explore long form sessions, the power of noticing, how motherhood shapes creativity, and why self-portraiture is often the key to accepting ourselves more fully.

Rachel also shares deeply encouraging insight about self-perception, authenticity, and why your energy and presence matter more than perfection.

If you’ve ever struggled with confidence, boundaries, or believing you belong in your own work, this episode is the gentle, grounding guide you need.

What’s in this episode:

[02:00] Rachel’s journey from writing to photography
[05:00] How teaching helped her reverse-engineer her creative process
[07:00] Personalizing sessions through deeper client connection
[08:00] What long form sessions are (and what makes them so powerful)
[11:00] Why “behind-the-scenes” isn’t always worth the distraction
[16:00] Representation, body diversity, and “finding myself in portraits”
[20:00] Audacious self-love and how our own baggage affects clients
[23:00] Self-portraiture as a pathway to seeing yourself with kindness
[26:00] Motherhood, interruptions, and using life as creative fuel
[29:00] The practice of noticing as a doorway to presence
[34:00] One small detail photographers miss in sessions
[36:00] Using thoughtful questions to shift energy and build trust
[38:00] Why clients want to feel heard, not just photographed

If you’ve ever wrestled with confidence or felt unsure about stepping into your own images, this conversation will show you how self-love and visibility can transform both your art and the way you move through the world.

SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Meet Rachel Larsen Weaver

Rachel Larsen Weaver is an artist-educator and photographer joyfully living on the Maryland beaches of the Chesapeake Bay. A mother to five and creator of moments, her enthusiasm for details and self-love are infectious, infusing creative sessions with a buoyant reverence for the simplest pleasures. Her portfolio and practice is fat-affirming, mindful, and genuine, focusing on the life and light of clients. The original creator of Long Form Sessions and #FindingMyselfInPortraits , Rachel hosts the 4×4 Workshop, teaches a yearly writing class and runs HOW TOO: An Online Photography Class to Explore Your Why and Beyond. Rachel travels the country documenting mothers, bodies, and details.

Connect with Rachel

Visit Rachel’s Website
Join Rachel’s Newsletter
Follow Rachel on Facebook
Follow Rachel on Instagram
Follow Rachel on Pinterest

Did this episode with Rachel inspire you to get out from behind the camera and work on your own self-love? Check out this episode Beyond the Body: Cultivating Self Love in Ourselves & Our Clients with Body Image Activist Teri Hofford

Transcript

Rachel: [00:00:00] did the client actually ask? No, I mean, like, a lot of times we project what we think that they want from us, and so we do these things and we don’t know if they want that or care about that, but maybe one person ever did, and then we’re like, oh, I guess I need to do that for everyone and one of the things I talk about is like, I. Cannot go into a session and worry about their expectations. ’cause I don’t know their expectations. What I have to worry about is am I being true to myself as I have always done? Like, am I gonna make a picture I love because I know what my expectations are. If I don’t listen to those and just do the thing I think they want.

Then I might end up with images that nobody wanted. I didn’t want ’em. They didn’t want ’em. At least if I go with pictures that I know I want, somebody likes ’em and I know what those were, and I know I’ve been really careful in showing those and marketing towards that.

[00:01:00]

Lisa: Hello, my beautiful friends. Welcome back to the show today. I’m super excited to dive into today’s conversation with Rachel Larsen Weaver. Rachel is an artist, educator, and photographer based on the Maryland beaches of the Chesapeake Bay. Woo. That was a tongue twister, a mother of five. She’s the creator of long form sessions and hashtag finding myself in portraits.

And her work celebrates audacious self-love, body affirmation, and the beauty found in every day. Welcome, Rachel.

Rachel: Thanks so much for having me, Lisa.

Lisa: So I’d love it if you would [00:02:00] share a little bit about your journey and how photography found you.

Rachel: My background was in writing. I was an English major and I was a high school English teacher for eight years. And after I had my third child, I, wanted to start a blog because I wanted a space for my writing. And, you know, it was also like. The early OTTs and everybody had a blog.

And, but I was like, oh, well you need a camera. You need to have pictures to go with writing. So I got a camera and started taking pictures because it was supposed to really just supplement the writing. And what I found was one of the things I liked so much about taking pictures, writing is pretty hard to do.

With a lot of kids, it requires quiet and it feels like you’re separating yourself from your life in order to do that. Whereas photography felt like a way I could engage with them and with my life and I could do it in the noise. And so it grew from there and people started to ask me to take their pictures and [00:03:00] then I realized taking pictures of other people is a totally different beast from taking pictures of your own family.

And so yeah, it, that’s how it’s.

there was just a flow And so how long have you been in the industry?

10 years.

Yeah.

I, the blogging started after my 12-year-old was born, and then after my fourth child was born, that’s when I kind of started the business. And so she and the business are both 10 year, yeah.

Lisa: Oh wow. You’re busy.

Rachel: Yeah.

Lisa: I love it. So you describe yourself as both an artist and an educator. So how do those two identities weave together in your work?

Rachel: I mean, one thing is I don’t know if you were the same way because I feel like podcasting has that kind of teaching element too, that like you get excited about the things you’re learning, you really wanna share them. And as a kid, my favorite game to play was school. If I learned a thing, I was constantly trying to like, make my little sister sit down so I could boss teach them.

Be part of it [00:04:00] is like the enthusiasm for it. You’re like, I found another way, or have you thought of this? And that kind of excitement as I learn it. I’m excited to talk about it and share it. And I also feel like, goes back into the work too, then these conversations that I’m having with other artists and some of it took some reverse engineering the first time I ever ran a workshop and you have people doing a session with you and then you’re like, wait a second, what is it that I do exactly here?

Like, you know what I mean? You’ve just been doing it and it feels natural, and then all of a sudden you’re like, how do I tell them to do? Do the things. And so I became aware of things that might have been happening naturally so that I could, and then I love that though because now I know how to do ’em on purpose and to make sure that I do it each time that or more times, you

know?

Lisa: That’s so interesting because that’s so true. When you do it so long, it starts to come become easy, but then when you go to teach it, you’re like, I just do that. That’s just a thing that is just in my brain and how I see [00:05:00] things. So I love that because reverse engineering to teach someone really is so essential for them to get the full experience.

Rachel: Yeah, and it was things like I didn’t realize. I rely on a lot of questions when I’m in the session. , I’m engaging them and asking folks a lot of things about themselves because I want them to kind of feel like not only are they being seen, they’re being heard and understood, and it feels like it makes it feel less transactional, To me, I thought that was like a thing that like everybody did, and I think lots of people do it, but I think that there are some people that’s not their natural inclination than just thinking like, oh. I could just have some like questions in my back pocket when I’m stalling and dunno how to pose them next, I can give myself a moment by asking a question and that then gives my brain a moment to be like, okay, now what are we gonna do?

Lisa: What I found recently is. You know how we like usually send like forms to our clients before, so we just kinda get to know them all the basic details. Well, recently I made my form a lot more [00:06:00] extensive where I was finding more about, you know, who might not be excited about the session or like, tell me about your kids.

Tell me like all the details, what are their favorite things? , And so when I found out more about them, I was able to really customize that session. To really personalize it. Like even like things like what’s your kid’s favorite song? Making sure I had a little like little portable speaker and playing a few of those during the session.

we always think that questionnaire is so like tedious for them to fill out and we’re almost afraid of making it too long. And I was like, okay, but what if we change our thinking about that and it’s about making our sessions better

instead of right.

Rachel: and , it’s also a way of them getting to think about and share their family. How often do people,

I don’t know, we often wanna talk about our kids and say like, oh, when this one’s like this and this one’s like that, I think you’re giving them an opportunity and you could probably show up without them having done it.

And you’re gonna still deliver beautiful [00:07:00] pictures and it’s still gonna work out and you’re gonna but they’re not gonna get their favorite song on the speaker. Like, do you know what?

Lisa: go a little bit and the kids remember you, right? Like they had so much fun. And then next time it’s like we need to book family photos. Oh, we wanna go see Lisa. Perfect. That’s my job’s done. Right?

Rachel: yeah, exactly. Let them be your little brand ambassadors when you can get the kids and the dads, you know, you’ve done something.

Lisa: I thought about keeping beer in my, my,

my vehicle. Honestly, I was like, that might work right now. I love that you coined the term long form sessions. Can you explain what they are and how they differ from traditional photography sessions?

Rachel: Long form sessions are usually about 24 hours long. I stay with families. I eat all of their meals with them, like we spend a day together and sometimes it’s even longer because I. Travel for them. So oftentimes, I might have flown in the night before and we hang out and then I sleep at their house and we shoot the next [00:08:00] day and sometimes I stay again or I leave.

Anyhow, so the length of them obviously changes it, but it’s not, I feel like 10 ish years ago when I first started day in the life sessions were kind of more popular. And I still think those, like in documentary family photography circles, those are still. an

offering but long form sessions aren’t exactly that because I also don’t consider myself a documentary photographer.

It isn’t about like, okay, first I’m gonna get the picture of you brushing your teeth and eating your breakfast and like that. I’m not trying to be there to. Every moment of your day. What I want is that we have this really big, spacious container that then we can co-create, that we move in and out of creating in a way that feels like natural and that there’s flow.

So maybe we wake up in the morning and you’re like, there’s such great light in my bedroom. The kids usually will come in on Saturday morning. Now granted maybe we’re doing it a little later ’cause that’s when the light is better and they would’ve done it in the dark. I don’t feel [00:09:00] like. The truth, which I’m putting in air quotes, if you’re watching like, isn’t a concern to me in that way.

That I think that there can be dogma around

documentary work where I’m like, yeah, you do cuddle your family. We can do it when the light is better and it’s still like , a real beautiful moment. And you know, then we’ll move in and out of it. Then maybe we’re eating and yeah, I might snap a couple of pictures at the breakfast table, but that’s not.

The point but then they might take me on an adventure and they’re like, oh, this is the lake we love to, or this is where, let’s put the baby pool out in the backyard, or we’re gonna go to our favorite cafe. Or now we play with a different set of pictures and then maybe we come back and they’ve put the kids down for a nap and we are just sort of chilling and talking, and then we make a plan for golden light and we’ll go out.

You know what I mean? It’s kind of like we’ll be doing a few things, but it’s supposed to move at a really easy speed and not if a kid’s having a temper tantrum, I have time. It’s like, hey, they [00:10:00] can go eat lunch, they can go take a nap. so I think some people are like, oh my gosh, what is that?

Like? There’s gonna be some lady with a camera and it’s, that’s gonna be long. In part, I also shoot exclusively on film,

Lisa: Oh,

Rachel: So I feel like that changes it too. I a not every situation is photographable really on film. Like it’s a light hungry medium and it costs me money every time I click that shutter.

So like, I’m not gonna keep the camera in my face and in your face. I’m gonna, I’m gonna be, you know, I’m gonna come in and out of it with hopefully some ease and some grace that it feels like a flow to it.

Lisa: I love that. Do you shoot video at all too during it?

Rachel: I don’t, I’ve sort of have tried a little to, I usually have two cameras. I have a 35 millimeter and a medium format film camera, and that’s a, when I’ve tried to throw a third thing into the,

Lisa: Yeah. It becomes a lot.

Rachel: it’s just

Lisa: Yeah, I agree. It’s funny because it. with Instagram and social media. You hear from all the [00:11:00] experts. We’ve gotta do the behind the scenes. We’ve gotta get like all those clips and it takes me out of the moment of being with my clients and in it. So sometimes I’m just like, you know what?

Screw it. I’m not doing any behind the scenes. I’m gonna just be a hundred percent present and just really give my all to the session. And I really notice that those are the sessions I love. the ones when I can feel so connected to.

Rachel: And I think that they feel that too. It’s a slippery slope, right? We don’t want our clients to feel like they are our content creation machines We are coming there to do a thing that they have paid us, hopefully good money for and they deserve that to be our primary focus and not thinking, how do I get.

The next session from this session.

Lisa: Exactly.

Rachel: And sometimes it naturally happens. Like, I mean, one thing is because I’m not really a gearhead, I have a light meter and I’ve kind of stopped using it and I have a light meter app on my phone. And so [00:12:00] sometimes I’m like pulling that out and sometimes because it’s there then I’ll remember.

But it’s, but often I’ll do a long form session that was, 24 hours long and I’ll be like, oh, I snapped three pictures on my phone. Like, it’s not usually very much that it.

Lisa: yeah. I recently got a drone to like do some behind the scenes and actually that’s fun. And I, at first I was like a little bit intimidated and worried about using it with children because usually I’ll go out to a field and like obviously not by an airport. And . It lands on my hand and so it follows me around and just kind of shows everything and does these amazing circles.

It’s so cool and kids actually love it. They think it’s the coolest thing, and that’s been the only thing that I’ve really added that

might work

Rachel: I mean, I have questions and we don’t have to, but does it so you don’t have to like,

Lisa: No, I, it’s

operated from my phone. It is called the DJI Nero, and it was like only 300 bucks, and it is like hand activated, so it [00:13:00] focuses on my face and then it just goes in the air and it all around. I have all these different things that it can do. I can. Tell it with voice activation how far I want it away from me or like, come closer.

And then it just comes back and it lands in my hand and like the videos of that are really neat.

But it’s so cool. And the video footage is amazing.

Rachel: yeah. No, that sounds really cool. I went up,

Lisa: Yeah. But pretty fun. So that’s my new, that’s my two toy. ’cause I am a little bit of gearhead.

Rachel: I feel bad because people will, like, I was on a podcast a couple of months ago and. They were asking me about the cameras, and I was so like which lens do I use? And then, but it was interesting ’cause somebody dmd me to be like, that was such a relief to me because I’m not either.

And like, you know, and there’s so many different ways we can come at this and, if that new lens is inspiring you and made you excited and it’s like sparking your creativity, go for it. And if it feels like, I hate trying to make decisions. Maybe because I am a Libra and [00:14:00] I’m not, you know, so I’m like, I try to narrow it down to be like, oh, so that I, that’s not a part of my thought process.

Lisa: yeah. I love that. I love that. So with long form sessions, how are you finding clients? How are you booking them? Is it a lot of word of mouth? How do you, how do you do that?

Rachel: Almost no word of mouth, that’s funny. That feels like my, I do long form sessions and I also do. Somewhat long family sessions that are two hour long, full sessions. Those tend to be more word of mouth locally, where the long form sessions, I mean, by and large, there are other photographers and creative folks who who are like, really invest, you know, it is it’s a lot to ask to have a stranger come into your home.

It’s a lot, you know, it’s a significant price tag. those are people who really like, want. The thing. And so often for years that was primarily coming through Instagram when I would like teach at conferences and things, and then other photographers, [00:15:00] I’m also gonna put a plug, like I’ve booked two long forms through Pinterest this year.

You know what I mean? It’s like the forgotten app that’s like making a comeback,

I think as people are getting kind of tired of Instagram, I think. Because Pinterest isn’t actually like social in the same way. You don’t have to like communicate with people. You get to. Anyhow, Pinterest has brought me a ton of other types of work too this year, so

don’t sleep on it.

And I’m like real sloppy on Pinterest. And the other thing, oh, I should say though, because it is this. You really have to be willing to let me in, and that takes a certain vulnerability. I have a weekly newsletter and I think that that’s been a huge part of the success of my long form sessions. I might not know the people I’m photographing, but they know me because I’ve shared a lot of myself and I’ve come into their inboxes over and over again, and I think that that has been a huge, almost everybody like these two Pinterest sessions were kind of [00:16:00] anomalies.

Because they weren’t people who had been following along. Because most of the people I think, who hire me, it’s been something they’ve been wanting for a long time. They’ve been kind of along for the journey for a while.

Lisa: So tell me about the hashtag, finding myself in Portraits Project and what it’s taught you about self-perception.

Rachel: one of the things I realized years ago when I. Was starting out. I am a, if you’re not watching this, I am a larger bodied woman and I have been all my life and it felt like, you’re looking at the average portfolio and there’s a certain body type, a certain look that feels like it’s really prioritized in those images.

And I think that there’s a lot of complicated reasons for that, but I also think that a lot of times larger bodied people they don’t hire people to take their pictures because they’re worried that they’re not gonna let, that they’re having a hard time and they don’t necessarily want to see their own self.

They don’t think that they’re worthy of being in the picture and that there’s, there’s just [00:17:00] layers of complication there. And I was like, if I want fat women bigger to come and hire me. I need to go first. I need to be like, here I am, at least there’s gonna be one big lady on this feed and it’s gonna be me and if I show you that, I’m willing to go first.

Maybe that opens it up to you. So that was a large part of it. To be like, if I can’t yet find them and let them know that this is like a place where they can feel safe and comfortable, then how?

Can I create that? And One of the things about my work that I’m really like proud of, I do have people of all body types hire me and They don’t ask me to. There’s none of those jokes that I think lots of people get. Like, make sure you get rid of my double chin, get, make me look 15 years younger. Like they kind of know that’s not

Lisa: That’s not your, that’s not your

Rachel: style. And so I I don’t know. That’s like a nice. That’s a nice perk to it.[00:18:00]

Lisa: Yeah, I love that. I think that it’s nail on the head and I think that it’s a really underrepresented group really in the photography industry because you’re right, it’s like white blonde women in boho hats and fields, right?

Rachel: Yeah. so, the people who aren’t, that don’t know if they belong.

One of the things I’ve really tried to do is to show enough difference in people that I don’t need to pinpoint every single kind of difference, because that’s impossible, right? It’s like I don’t know that there are any people that are physically disabled and you would be able to tell that in any of my pictures, but what I’m hoping is you’ve seen that there are people of.

Ages of different body types of different ethnicities represented here of different sexualities, gender orientations that you’re like, I think she can handle difference. You know what I mean? And so even if they haven’t seen themselves that they feel like there has been an openness that I can find a place in here.[00:19:00]

Lisa: I love that. I, I think having that diversity in our portfolios of showing all those things, I think is so, so important because you’re absolutely right. it’s really important for people to see people that look like them, or even children who look like them,

Rachel: Yeah, because it feels like, oh, that’s for somebody else, that you want them to be able to visualize themselves, which doesn’t mean, I mean. Like as an educator, I also feel like one of the things you’re talking about is you do wanna think about who your ideal client is. You do wanna think about what are visual consistencies.

Diversity doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of consistency in your images. There’s still certain things stylistically that I’m gonna be more drawn to, and you’re gonna see that. But for me, that just doesn’t have to do, it’s not like a body type or a hair color or a kind of dress that they wear, but you know.

Lisa: I love that.

Rachel: I don’t know if that distinction was worth making, but it feels like it doesn’t just mean, oh, it’s all gonna be a mess at [00:20:00] every, like, you know that, I still think you can see a picture and be like, oh, that’s a Rachel Larson Weaver picture. Because the style has something about it.

Lisa: Yeah, I love that. Now you have spoken about audacious self love. Do you find that that’s shaped you and both your art?

Rachel: Absolutely. But one of the things that I think is like the audacious self-love, the coming in and being like, I am going to model what it feels like to love yourself.

To be comfortable in a body, and especially because it’s not a body that is as like seen in places and socially acceptable and you, you know what I mean?

If anybody who grew up in the nineties like, you know what I mean? And so

it kind, it

Lisa: we’re broken.

Rachel: yeah. it’s. Faster for people to be like, oh, if she’s coming in and she clearly loves herself that that she’s comfortable in her own skin, it models to them and gives them permission to be able to do it

in front of me.

And [00:21:00] I think one of the things that people kind of forget as photographers or one of the things like we’re not talking about enough, is your baggage is coming with you. And they’re seeing it, they’re feeling it. They might not even be aware of it, but if you are uncomfortable in your own skin and you are really struggling to accept yourself, and they feel that on the other side of the camera, that energy has been introduced to the session and you, and it’s like important work to be engaged in.

And I know so many photographers that say things like, I’m just far more comfortable behind the lens. Yeah, we all are. But like, that’s not the energy to lead with I know we do it in an effort to be relatable, but it’s also makes it seem like, oh, well that’s the better pla we’d all be embarrassed to want to be in front of the lens.

And so I don’t want people to feel like embarrassed or shamed around like wanting to be seen.

Lisa: I love that. And . Authentically, I think. I think that’s the biggest thing is like [00:22:00] it’s hard to be vulnerable. It’s hard to be authentic because you know what is authenticity? ’cause you’re different with every different person you are with. I’m different with my husband, I’m different with my children, with my clients, my business partner.

Like everybody gets a different version of me. And I think that’s so interesting is sort of just you do have to. Look at yourself and what you are bringing to the session. are you booking clients that are wanting the ones where they’re getting the pointers of like, extend your chin, da da, da.

Like, do all the things right? Or is this just like, I’m happy with myself and this is, this is who I am and this is amazing.

Rachel: yeah.

Lisa: So I was gonna ask is like, so those that do struggle with that self love and that self, I don’t know what the word is. I guess self-love really. What advice do you have or any resources that you would say, like, look into so they’re not bringing that baggage so we can be a little bit more aware of how we’re showing up in our sessions.

Rachel: I mean, one thing, so. I kind of [00:23:00] didn’t mention this part of the finding myself in portraits. I had also created a self-portrait guide that I call it finding myself in Portraits, A Self-love guide disguised as a self-portrait primer. And it’s really not about the self-portraits, it’s about like, one of the things I love about self-portraiture is it starts you in on actually seeing yourself and getting used to yourself.

Sometimes the first times you were taking pictures of yourself, you’re like, Ooh, that’s how I look. Like I thought I was a little like. 10% better or whatever. I thought I looked a little younger, but as you do it more and more, you just kind of get used to yourself like, which is like a first step.

That’s really important. there’s something we do when we look in the mirror and we can change and adjust and see it, but the staticness of a picture and then coming into accepting relationship of like, oh yeah, I have a dimple there. That’s okay. Or. That sags or that’s got a stretch mark, it stops to be shocking, which is like a great first [00:24:00] step.

I also feel like you have to work on how you are talking to yourself. And one of the things I feel like you can’t just be like, go from, I’m looking in the mirror and I’m having a hard time with myself and I. Like, you look old, you look very, you used to, to like, no, you’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.

That feels like insincere to me. And one of the things I had to really use as a starting point was like, questions to be like, if you looked younger, would that lead you to your goals? Would you be a better artist? Would you be a better mother? Would that make you a better friend?

Would people think you were funnier? Would you be wiser because you look younger? Like how would being thinner actually. Impact any of the things you actually care about. And when I could ask myself those questions and be able to truthfully say like, oh yeah, none of the things I care about that is going to impact.

so when I feel those like mean thoughts, try [00:25:00] to, and I can just kinda have a conversation with them and be like, yeah, you’re here, but . Those are somebody else’s standards. Those aren’t mine. And so, but I think a lot of times people either just try to, the mean thought comes and they just try to shove it down, or they try to just say the opposite thing.

But when we let ourselves kind of have a conversation with ourselves about like, where’s this coming from? For me, that’s helped like put some of them to bed.

Lisa: Yeah. I love that. I love that managing your mind is such

Rachel: it’s the work of adulthood, isn’t

Lisa: Seriously and working with a therapist. And you know, I was chatting with her and she said, you need to ask yourself, is this mine? Is this thought mine? Right? Who is this? Like, where did I get this?

Rachel: Yeah.

Lisa: this really mine?

Is it true?

Rachel: because how often is, yeah, the thoughts aren’t,

they aren’t ours. Somebody else told us to think it. To feel it.

Lisa: Exactly. And then we spend our whole life believing something that may not be [00:26:00] accurate. Right? It’s just someone’s opinion, right? Like if someone wrote their opinion on one of my photos on Instagram and they said it was awful and they didn’t like it, I actually wouldn’t care because their, their opinion doesn’t matter.

Right? The haters don’t matter.

Rachel: yeah. And so what things did we. Take on that we’re not our ever take on.

Lisa: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Love it. So as a mother of five, how has motherhood influenced the way you create and notice details in your sessions?

Rachel: I mean, I think one of the big things is motherhood feels like it is just an act of being constantly interrupted

and that can feel so frustrating. But when I have thought about, how those interruptions are actually an asset to me creatively. How that interruption takes me from like maybe the train of thought, the direction I was going, I mean a little bit like when you have to question to be like, [00:27:00] where did that thought come from?

The interruption in some ways is doing that for us. It’s like short circuiting something that you’re like, oh wait, and so I feel like. If I am just rushing from one place to the other without those guys interrupting me and having their childlike wonder, I will notice less. And when I allow it to be like, oh, I can’t work all day, because they’re gonna lose their minds.

So that interruption of taking them outside or doing something. I try to find ways to not be resentful of the life that I have chosen to be like, how do I see this as an asset and what can I get from this and how is this serving me and not like a deterrent. And so that feels like a big part of it.

Lisa: Yeah. and I love that you get Unre resentful and because a lot of the times the thing , we’re frustrated with or resentful about is something that we have created ourself,

Rachel: Yeah. It’s Like

they [00:28:00] didn’t ask to be here.

Lisa: Why am I editing at night? This should be during business hours when kids are not around.

Husband wants to spend time with me, he wants to watch Netflix. That’s his time. It’s not business time.

Rachel: so many of us went into entrepreneurship because we wanted to have some control and then we forget to have some control.

Lisa: Yeah. We give, we give it to our clients. Really.

Rachel: and I’m not even sure that did the client actually ask? No, I mean, like, a lot of times we project what we think that they want from us, and so we do these things and we don’t know if they want that or care about that, but maybe one person ever did, and then we’re like, oh, I guess I need to do that for everyone and one of the things I talk about is like, I. Cannot go into a session and worry about their expectations. ’cause I don’t know their expectations. What I have to worry about is am I being true to myself as I have always done? Like, am I gonna make a picture I love because I know what my [00:29:00] expectations are. If I don’t listen to those and just do the thing I think they want.

At least I know somebody’s happy with my business and like then I just have to clearly communicate that to be like, this is how long your pictures are gonna take. These are the kinds of pictures, all of those things. We get to be in control and there’s a space for all of us.

Lisa: It’s so true. I love that. I So can you talk a little bit more about the practice of noticing.

Rachel: I mean a little bit like the interruptions piece, like how it kind of stops our just being in the routine, being so like focused on whatever it is for [00:30:00] me, noticing I we’re all talking about presence all the time and we want to be present, right? But what does that mean? And I need like a thing I can do.

Maybe that’s antithetical to the whole thing, but I’m like, if I want to feel present, for me, noticing is a way to stay present. So if that’s what I’m seeking, then it’s like, what do I see right now? Where’s the light hitting things? What am I hearing? And I try to think about the layers of sound.

And to me. That feels like gratitude. If somebody has made you a meal, you can say, oh, this is great. Thank you so much. But what feels like even more appreciative, right, is if you’re like, oh, you peeled the mushrooms. Like, do you know what I mean? Or like these things that when you notice the things that they did, when you notice like, oh, is there fennel in this?

Like that feels like a different level of appreciation And so I want to do that with the whole world. Like I want to be like, this is a [00:31:00] beautiful gift that I’m in, and if I’m not paying attention to it, that feels really ungracious.

Lisa: That made me think of, I’m a new baker a little bit. I’ve been dabbling in sourdough, and so if I give anyone a loaf, I’m like. Yeah, this was made with like 15 hours of time and so much love,

Rachel: Yeah,

it’s, yeah. and there are some people you probably will want to give another loaf to and other people you’re like, you just didn’t get it. You did not realize, like, that was like the most loving, beautiful thing I gave you.

Lisa: Love in a loaf

Rachel: loaf. Yeah, no, a hundred percent.

Lisa: Like how much are you baby Your starter every day and you get excited that it bubbles and Yeah. Right. This is like a child now.

Rachel: I just bought the book, like a sourdough book.

It’s my journey for the fall winter. I’ve been traveling too much, but I’m like, I couldn’t get the starter ’cause I couldn’t commit to it, you know? But now

Lisa: Oh,

Rachel: Lisa. I’m gonna do it

Lisa: It’s so good. I’ll send you a recipe for bagels ’cause they are

meow. Yeah.

it’s my favorite. I love [00:32:00] it. So has there been a session or personal project that profoundly shifted the way you approach your art?

Rachel: Ooh. there’s so many different ways you could kind of answer it, right. Years ago though, I think one of the things that kind of helped develop long form sessions is I had a friend who came and stayed the weekend with me and we were making pictures.

We do a little here, a little there, and like it was this fun, very like creative act with her. And I think that was one of the building blocks of. Long form sessions because I wanted it to feel less like a photo session and more like your friend was coming to spend the weekend and it’s just kind of like your artsy friend who has a bunch of film cameras and it’s gonna be a social thing that we make pictures through so that the pictures have that like resonance that I think we want, or I think that that’s what people are hiring me for this offer. We also want other pictures sometimes too, but like this is about having somebody who has an artful eye who’s going to kind of see what it [00:33:00] is that you’re doing and play with that. And so that was a big piece of like, how do I recreate this so that other people can have it?

And you know, and there’s been different sessions along the way. In some ways, I feel like Sessions impact my personal life even more than where you’ll be like, man, the way these people parent their kids, or the way these kids are, or the way this house, the energy in this house.

And there’s little things where I’ll be like, well, we’re buying that new candle when I get home, or I’m trying that recipe, or, oh, they do their chores in that way. And so I just am constantly just like stealing ideas from people’s homes.

Lisa: Because in people’s homes it shows their quirks.

Right? Like we’re all a little quirky.

Rachel: Yeah. And I get to like just pick and choose the best of the pieces and I feel like it has made my life parenting home style all of it better, because I just am like, oh, I see what you’re doing there. I’m stealing that one.

Lisa: I love [00:34:00] that. Now, if you could encourage photographers to pay attention to one small detail in their session that often gets overlooked, what would it be?

Rachel: Ooh. I think one of the things for me, I feel like is just trying to. get the people in the moment to take the deep breath and to have their own connect to body, connect to the moment, moment. And that like it does not have to feel like so zen like, like a yoga experience to do that. But if at just some point you try to like. Get them to sink into that. And that can happen in a 15 minute mini session.

It can happen in a 24 hour, but like let there be that one drop in moment in there to see how that feels. That feels really

important. it’s hard to stay dropped in the whole time, but like, make sure you invite it.

Lisa: [00:35:00] One thing well, I mean I’m sure every photographer can see that is the moment where your client’s confident and then all of a sudden something switches and that confidence goes away. They have a thought or something, something. How do you handle.

Rachel: Well, , there are lots of things I am trying to do in a session to make it feel like. Intimate. And personal. And personal and not like a transaction sort of thing. And so I’m hoping that when they have that, again, it feels like it’s too jarring to be like, you know, you’re really beautiful.

Right. Or like, do you know what I

Lisa: yeah, yeah. yeah. You look amazing. You’re amazing. Oh, so great. Right, right.

Rachel: And I also think when our compliments can be specific and they are true, that’s when they feel good. Just like a general thing.

Do you know what I mean? And so I think sometimes like just like going to hype girl mode isn’t gonna do it, but

to me that’s when I just love questions and how they can help shift something.

So if you’ve seen that that’s [00:36:00] happened, you don’t wanna ask the direct question like, are you okay? Did something happen? Like, but like how can you move the conversation towards something that could make them feel brighter, fuller, more into themselves, how can you draw towards that? So I think it’s kind of in my natural inclination to start to like, how do I pull the next question, the next question till I have changed the emotional tenor back to a place that I can create from.

Lisa: Can you give any examples of questions you might have?

Rachel: I mean, and sometimes I feel like you have to start ’cause you don’t wanna like go real deep at first. Lots of people I feel like talk smack about small talk and I’m like, small talk is how you prove to somebody that you deserve big talk. So sometimes if I’ve seen that’s happen, like is there a distraction?

Can I ask the couple? So how did you two meet? Like somewhere, you know, that’s like kind of a basic. Sort of question, and then you hear what they’re saying and then you can tell [00:37:00] where their excitement shows up in the story. And to ask that follow up question I mean, that’s like one of the more like standard questions.

I’ll also, start, one of the things I always like to ask people, like, what’s your perfect day look like? Like if you could design a perfect day, what kinds of things? And I feel like it brings out an excitement of like, oh. this would happen in these pieces. I’ll ask people things like if you could move to any place, where would you want to?

Like, what’s the place that kind of feels the most, like it’s calling you as a home? those are ones that I’m like going through the mind Rolodex. I’m like, I ask those a lot in different ways and it sorts of draws people towards the dreamy, the aspirational self, the thing. Some people I can tell want to go more like aspirational, dreamy goal, and some people are more nostalgic oriented.

So asking a question like , how did you guys meet, is gonna feel like sweeter and bring out, the most excited answers.

Lisa: totally. And it’s the opportunity to really get to know your client, like to really [00:38:00] listen right? And like remember the details of their lives, because that’s important, right?

Clients need to know we care.

Rachel: Yeah, it’s vulnerable and you’ve come to see them, but they wanna feel heard too. Like they don’t want to just feel like they’re, being used as mannequins to,

Lisa: I’m a model.

Rachel: Correct.

Lisa: Love it. Alright, well I’m gonna switch gears a little bit. We’re gonna head into our lightning round. So what is bringing you joy right now? Big or small?

Rachel: I mean, a little like you, I’ve been in this cooking baking phase, and so a snack cake and having a dinner party, those are the things that I’m like real

Lisa: Yeah.

Rachel: about these day.

Lisa: I had a charcuterie board almost every night for dinner this summer, every night. That was like my go-to dinner and like I found some amazing cheeses, like

Rachel: Yeah. I

feel like you

Lisa: still bring me joy,

Rachel: Yeah. You, you did the right thing. That was the right thing for summer.

Lisa: right?

Rachel: Yeah.[00:39:00]

Lisa: Coffee or tea and what’s your go-to order?

Rachel: Coffee, when I’m at home, it’s a French press with a splash of whole milk and I like maple syrup as my sweetener ‘ if I’m out it’s probably gonna be oat milk latte.

Lisa: Nice. Well, as a Canadian, I really like that

Rachel: The maple syrup. Yeah. Somebody taught me that on a camping trip years ago, and I’m like, why have we been using stupid old sugar that doesn’t have, it’s, that’s sweet. But it doesn’t have like, the depth of flavor, the maple syrup.

It’s

Lisa: love it. What song have you had on repeat lately?

Rachel: I guess I’m gonna go with Sierra Farrell years. it’s a random one. She’s like kind of, you know like a Americana country Western singer. Yeah, indie country Western. Yeah. I just, I saw her on Sunday night, so like, it’s definitely in my head right now.

Lisa: Do you have a favorite spot at home or near the Chesapeake Bay where you go to recharge?

Rachel: I mean, my house is like a half a block away from the beach, so That’s like. I don’t [00:40:00] wanna touch grass, I want to touch sand and so I’m gonna like go and ground and put my feet in the water almost all year round and like just be like, alright, I’m here now.

Lisa: What is one thing most people would be surprised about you?

Rachel: You know, I talk so much on the internet in different places. I feel like I’ve told all of my secrets. Like, I’m like, is there anything? And the things I haven’t said, I don’t know if I’m saying them, Lisa, they’re staying secret. I’m like,

there’s

a few

Lisa: will go in my biography when I’m 80.

Rachel: it, yeah. I don’t know.

Lisa: Know if you guys wanna hear

Rachel: Wanna hear? Yeah. I’m like, I’m not comfortable with the ones but as a person who does a lot of talking or a lot of writing, you’re like, aren’t you guys sick of my stories

Lisa: Oh, that’s hilarious. Well, it’s funny ’cause we all, we end up starting, we just tell the same stories over and over and over especially like, I’ve been married almost 25 years and my, his husband has the same stories and I used to get annoyed and now I’m just like, I just let ’em Go. And like, I’ve heard it before that, that’s fine if that’s the story we were telling today. That’s

cool.

Rachel: I know there’s like a tunnel. We [00:41:00] live near Baltimore when we’re going through the Baltimore tunnel. He always has to say, I love that font. And so at a certain point now the kids are like, we’re getting near the tunnel. And they’re like, dad loves the font. We already know it.

Like it’s the only time I’ve ever heard Tom comment on a font ever. So like it’s, but you know, there’s like a gas station. He’ll be like. That was the last time I ever talked the dog on a road trip. We stopped at that Wawa, and you’re like, why do you have to say that every time?

Lisa: So.

Rachel: Like,

Lisa: Brains are hilarious. They’re just So, you’re just looping thoughts,

Rachel: Thoughts. Yeah. So, but I’m no different. I’m like, if it got a laugh one time, I’m definitely gonna say it another

Lisa: That’s in the roster.

Rachel: Yeah.

Lisa: So where can our listeners learn more from you?

Rachel: I mean, as always, the website is a great place to start. RachelLarsenWeaver.com. It’ll also my weekly newsletter I send out every Monday at eight 30. And so that’s, always gonna have, like, what’s going on in it, it’ll pop you up in there. we’re all using Instagram still and Pinterest, but one day I am gonna leave these places.

Lisa: Yep.[00:42:00]

Rachel: I don’t know when, but a girl

Lisa: I know.

Rachel: Yeah. So get on that newsletter.

Lisa: I know. Seriously. Build your

Rachel: Yeah.

Lisa: Alright, so I love to end my interviews just with this last question and it is, what are you currently curious about or artistically curious about?

Rachel: Woo. In some ways am I allowed to say sourdough? Like I really do. Like, I think that’s like the next project I’m feeling. ’cause I have been on this cooking baking thing and it has been interesting how that’s influenced how I wanna photograph people. Like family dinners have felt more important to me to want to capture and like what the gathering has been.

So I’ve noticed that has shown up in. The work I’m excited about making, and I think that there’s something about sourdough feeling kind of complicated and feeling very analog and feeling very process oriented. That feels like a natural progression of those things feels meditative. that feels like next on the bucket

Lisa: yeah. It’s awesome. You’ll, you’ll love it. My biggest advice is get one of those scales that you can zero. It [00:43:00] measuring grams, not cups. Like that was my biggest learning,

Rachel: yeah. I can do this.

Lisa: Well, Rachel, thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been a pleasure.

Rachel: This was really wonderful. Thanks for having me, Lisa.

Lisa: Oh, my. Beautiful friends. I hope you have loved this conversation just as much as I have. I am sending you so much of my light and my love every single day. We’ll see you next time.