Nearly every person who books a session says the same sentence in the first five minutes: I am terrible in photos. It is almost never true — it is usually just unfamiliarity.
I start by walking. Movement gives your hands something to do and your mind something else to think about, and it quietly removes the pressure of standing still while being looked at.
You will not be asked to hold a pose for long. Instead I work in small prompts: turn, look back, take a breath, keep walking. The photographs happen between the instructions.
Bringing someone you are comfortable with helps enormously. So does music, so does laughing at how odd the whole thing feels at first.
By the middle of the session, most people forget the camera is there. That is the part of the session the best portraits come from.
