This is a difficult post for me to write, first because it is something personal which I have never been good with sharing details of my life with the general public, and second because it is about something that I am extremely self-conscious about, my shaking hands.
I have a genetic condition called Essential or Familial Tremors (thanks, Dad!) that causes my hands to shake no matter what I am doing. No, I do not have Parkinson's Disease and I am not nervous all of the time (haha you'd be shocked how often I get asked that) but it is something that impacts my daily life and as a photographer makes this passion that I get to call my job even more challenging.
How can I be a photographer with shaky hands you ask? Well, I know my limits with how slow of a shutter speed I can use and I just have to brace my arms against my body more than the average photographer might. Why am I just talking about this now? I realized recently that I never address this when I photograph anyone. Sure, people bring it up ALL the time when I'm shooting and I have no problem talking about it, but because it's something I try to minimize every day, it's something that I forget to just bring up and reassure my clients that it's OK! You'll have sharp, beautiful images and I'm not nervous because this is my first time shooting :)
So when I turn down that martini because I can't drink it without spilling, or I hand your phone or small camera to someone else to take a picture for you it's not because I don't want to, it's just because I don't want to spill something on your shoes or have lots of blurry images on your phone!