It’s one of her most cherished photos, says Erika Thiele, CPP. It’s Christmas morning and she’s just shy of 2 years old, beaming with delight holding her new toy camera, with her dad grinning in the background. She carried that camera everywhere, she recalls.

“I giggle every time I see [the photo],” she says. “When my uncle sent it to me, he told me it was so obvious that being a photographer was my destiny.”

Throughout her childhood and young adulthood, Thiele was rarely without a camera. Her friends were her perpetual subjects, often joking that her camera was an extension of her body. But through their forbearance, Thiele learned the magic of how a simple photograph could turn an everyday moment into something astounding. Fleeting facial expressions and gestures provide subtle hints of a subject’s true personality, and when frozen at just the right moment, speak volumes about who they are. Realizing the power that a camera could wield was pivotal for Thiele.

In her high school journalism class, Thiele photographed events for the local newspaper. She went on to major in photography in college. “I spent hours in the darkroom,” she says. “Oddly, I actually miss the smell of it.”

Today, Thiele runs Erika Thiele Photography in Kearney, Nebraska, specializing in maternity and newborn photography. She also offers boudoir, senior, and family portraits. Just as she discovered with her tween and teenaged friends, Thiele believes that the unguarded moments she captures tell a deeper story.

“I love my posed photos, but there’s something so much more magical that happens when [the subject doesn’t] look at the camera,” she explains. “When you look—truly look—at your husband or child, that’s where the love comes through. Those are the pictures that last because they’re more meaningful.”

Through her camera lens, Thiele aims to gently disarm her subjects so they feel safe, confident, and comfortable revealing their authentic selves. Capturing kids acting like kids, moms rubbing their bellies or talking to their new babies—those moments are golden.

RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIPS

Aside from the rare person who naturally comes alive in front of the camera, those moments of authenticity typically don’t happen organically. Thiele has learned over the years that a photo session is about reciprocity: Photographers must be authentic for their clients to be the same. That’s why Thiele takes time to build genuine relationships with her subjects by asking the right questions to help make them feel seen. She asks her clients how they want to feel when they look at their images, not just how they want to look. She wants to know what emotional value these images will bear, find out what her clients are self-conscious about, which features they love about themselves, and which they don’t, she says.

“Some people feel invisible or insecure. They don’t always feel safe, seen, heard, or appreciated for who they are,” says Thiele. “As a photographer, you can be that for them. There’s so much that’s fake in the world; people don’t know who to trust. If you can be that safe space, that comfort and security, they’re more likely to come back and have you document their whole lives.”

Knowing their concerns and what they’re hoping to see of themselves provides her a structure from which to build a story, Thiele explains.

“When you’re pregnant, you just don’t feel like yourself, and it can be hard to look at yourself in the mirror,” she says. “You see the big belly, or your hair isn’t the same, and your skin isn’t the same. Maybe they’ve spent the last few months vomiting or every part of their body aches. So, the goal is to sit them down and ask how they want to feel about these photos. I let their vision guide me. And sometimes, they just say they want to feel beautiful. And that’s OK. We can do that.”

To that end, Thiele offers hair and makeup, and a full wardrobe of gowns and children’s clothing so moms can feel pampered. Taking wardrobe and styling off her clients’ plates makes it easier for them to show up calm for the session, ready to enjoy the experience. Even so, Thiele says, some of her subjects still freeze up in front of the camera, if the little insecurities about their bodies or a general feeling of awkwardness creep in. During those moments, Thiele will sometimes offer them a peek at the back of the camera for reassurance.

“I’ve found that if I do that at the beginning of a session, it helps to get them hyped because they can see what I see,” she says. “I always focus on building them up, pointing out their beauty.”

With couples, she finds that one person is typically more comfortable than the other. That’s when she asks if she can help them pose, and then gently guides hands and arms into more comfortable, relaxed positions. She’ll talk about their chemistry, how cute their baby is, or have Dad whisper something into Mom’s ear that might make her blush.

“That’s when they let down their guard and you can create beautiful photos,” she says. “You have to set up a safe environment where they can just relax into themselves.”

MAKING IT EASY

After the session, Thiele continues her client-focused approach by showing them only a carefully curated selection of photos. She’s learned that clients don’t want or need to choose from 500 maternity or family photos. She likens it to standing in front of a giant wall of paint chips, where every possibility is up on that wall and it can be paralyzing and overwhelming to commit to a single hue, let alone a color family.

“As the photographer, you have to have enough security and confidence in your work to say, ‘Let me help you narrow these down,’” she says, adding that she used to offer 170 newborn photos with the same poses duplicated in color and black and white. Her clients didn’t know what to do with so many options. “Now,” she says, “I really pare it down ahead of time and then tell them to focus on what they actually want to see every day. What brings out the most emotion, what makes them feel the most beautiful? It’s about guiding them, but it takes a lot of practice.”

Thiele says confidence and trust are part of every aspect of her business, not just while the subjects are in the studio. Her clients are baring their vulnerabilities, and sometimes their bodies, in front of Thiele’s camera, so it’s important to make sure they always feel supported and cared for, she explains. “If you’re not confident, it bleeds through and your clients won’t have confidence in you either,” she says. “If you’re feeling really insecure, they’ll feel it too. I’m here to make my clients feel calm and beautiful and confident because they feed off of my energy. I try to be that solid rock for them, so they know that everything will be perfect in the end.”

The biggest revelation Thiele has had in running a business is to follow her heart and instincts. Her heart leads her to pursue symbiotic, honest relationships with her clients, and it’s been her instinct to build up their confidence. Her clients, in turn, reward her with candor in front of the camera, so both parties walk away fulfilled.

“I have clients that I’ve been photographing since they were little bitty, and now they’re getting married. That is the most precious part of my job. I absolutely adore being invited back into these people’s lives over and over again to capture all of these events from birth, even into death,” she says, adding that she has photographed some funerals. “That’s the most amazing part of this job, having clients treat you like family. I guess it means I’m doing my job right.” 

Stephanie Boozer is a writer in Charleston, South Carolina.