Fall 2022 Photoshoot

A photoshoot of Pants and Jay by Eugene photographer, Ali Selman!

So... Funny story. This year I started seeing a meme pop up on Facebook and Twitter. The meme basically said "You know the marriage is falling apart when they do a Fall themed Photoshoot!". This meme popped up about a month after I'd scheduled a mini-photoshoot session with the wonderfully talented Ali Selman of Tough & Tender Photography. Because of course.

But it had been near a decade since my nesting partner and spouse Jay and I had gotten professional photos taken (last time was on our wedding day) and damn it, we wanted some updated photos! We'd both gone through significant changes in the past 8 years together and felt like it was time we had photos to reflect that. We kept our appointment... memes be dammed!

Most of my old professionally taken photos were before my transition. I had long hair, dressed decidedly more feminine, and was still using she/her pronouns at the time. Whenever I look at those photos, I always struggle a little. I want to feel happy but all I can remember feeling at the time was happy to be married, but so out of place with my body and my presentation. I still feel that way when I look at them today. With these new photos, it feels a lot more like the Pants that I am today. Rockin' the buzzcut, gender neutral clothing, and a fun dorky straw hat that screams "farmer!" even though I hate getting my hands dirty in the garden.

For Jay (he/she/they pronouns, btw!), his experience and changes are decidedly different than my own. I'll let them explain: "I'm goth now, and less femme. I look a lot different than I did in my old wedding photos and I want to celebrate all phases of my life."

Getting the new photos taken was a lot of fun. It was a mini-session which meant it only lasted about 30 minutes (which was perfect for Jay and my ADHD that started groaning at around the 29 minute mark). Ali was great about guiding us through what poses looked fun, and was also very mindful of when we weren't sure what to do or didn't feel right in a specific pose. The session was quick, fun, and the results turned out lovely. I'm so glad we made the decision to do these and I can't wait to get some of them printed out.