How to Take a Great Picture

This is a fun episode!

But the truth is, people have a love/hate relationship with having their picture taken. 

What everyone needs to remember is lighting and angles. So much goes into lighting, makeup and positioning for shooting just one person. Professional photographers take hundreds of pictures just to get one usable photo. That’s what the pros go through. So why in the world do we judge ourselves on how we look in pictures?

I’ve had pictures totally ruin my day… thinking”do I look like that?” I would look at a picture of myself, and the first thing I would do is find what’s wrong with it. I would pick out the littlest thing, to the point, that the picture ended up without any redeemable quality to it.

Something interesting happened the last time I had a round of head shots. They were terrible. I mean TERRIBLE. Even my mom said they weren’t good! That says a lot. No one is more supportive and positive than my mother. Here’s the interesting thing. I didn’t react in my usual way. It didn’t matter that I looked terrible. It mattered that there was nothing behind my eyes and smile. There was nothing of me in that photo. I didn’t beat myself up over it. I knew that something between the photographer and me didn’t work. She’s a great gal. There was no blame. It takes both of us to make it work or not work.

I was heading to LA, and my favorite photographer happened to have one opening. I got in, had a blast, and loved my shots (Thank you, Esther!). The reason I loved them changed as well. It wasn’t because I thought I looked good. It was because there was me behind my eyes and smile. There was thought within that photo. I took “how I looked” out of it. Granted, Esther helps keep me out of that part of my head while shooting, but I was part of that. I realized the work I’ve been doing was becoming part of me. My automatic judgement was quieting. My increased level if acceptance for my given situation. Not judging what’s good or bad. Both experiences gave me so much.

I will admit my favorite pictures are the ones that have a crowd of friends, and all our faces are distorted because we’re laughing and smiling so hard. It may not be a “beauty shot” but it is a beautiful shot!