Seeing You Through My Eyes

March 09, 2012  •  1 Comment

A client once told me that the photos I took of her changed the way she sees herself.

She called me specifically to tell me that. Apparently, after looking at the photos over and over, she was inspired, for the first time in her life (in her late thirties), to put together a portfolio! She said, "I like the way YOU see me! And, I am starting to see me through your eyes!" That made me cry. As you can imagine, now, each time I drive to a photo shoot, that statement often pops into my head. I like the way it feels inside my brain. It inspires the work that I'm about to do. I took the photos my client was referring to a few years ago, and, I often go back to look at them and muse to myself, "I wonder how she DID see herself before?"  To me, she was always stunning. And I love that capturing that for her changed her self-image. That's also why I don't heavily manipulate and edit photos.

My clients can look at a photograph and tell whether what I see in them is something that's really there or something I imagined. I sort of base my business principles around that. There's a time and place for 'artistic impression', and I understand the conecpt behind heavy editing, I even do that to some photos, for the "art" of it...... but to make someone look false, to me, is a dis-service to everyone.

Being a mother to an almost-11-yr.-old daughter, I truly get what it means to have a healthy self-image. And I can't very well teach my daughter that she is beautiful just the way God made her, if I constantly manipulate God's work. So, when I'm often asked what I use to edit photos, if I could answer honestly, without someone thinking I'm being a smarty-pants, I would say, "beautiful, glowing sunlight". And maybe a little color-correction, put a little frame around the edge and the Strawberry logo, and voila'!  

I'm not speaking down on anyone who chooses to do their photography differently. Truthfully, I know I would end up losing business because of the fact that I don't like to heavily edit. That's okay, because there's enough business for us all. I just remember the feeling I got from that phone call. And how I know that those photos wouldn't have changed the way she sees herself if I had taken off 30 pounds and removed all her smile lines. Because, at least to her, all I would have done is made her look like something she never sees in the mirror.

While my photography technique has changed and improved since these photos, they're still some of my favorites. And still, three or so years later, these photos still get mentioned to me by new clients. They can see the genuine quality and they love it!

For now, this is where my blog will live. Nothing fancy. I have ALMOST started a blog at least a dozen times and when I get into the "fancy" of it, it makes me get behind in other things I want to get done. So, for now, simple it is. Stay tuned for more. I'm thinking I need to share some tips I have learned in my experience, about making sure you look radiant in your wedding photos. There are things to do and NOT do that make a huge difference in how your wedding photos turn out.

So, make sure to visit back. 

 


Comments

Rose Lack Chaney(non-registered)
This is good work!
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I think the question I am most often asked is in regards to the name of my business...When I was a young girl, kids always teased me about the color of my hair, which has always been some shade of red. Both of my parents were brunette. And there was really no sign of red hair anywhere in my family. Then....my brother was born...three years younger than me.....again, red hair. I still wasn't fond of my hair color, but at least now I had a crony. I remember many times adults telling me how beautiful my hair was....especially older gentlemen, for some reason, to which I'd smile and politely thank them, only to turn my back and roll my eyes. I was far from convinced.
As I grew into my adolescent years, the only thing I was certain about was that I looked much better with mascara than without.
Over the years, I have had a wave of different experiences directly related to the color of my hair. It has only been in the last few years that I have really grown to love it::::for several reasons:
For it's amazing properties as a conversation piece:
It is easily a topic, especially considering that fact that both my parents are brunettes.
For its descriptive properties: It has always made me easy to describe.
"You know.....that red-headed girl!"
No need to be tall or short....or fat or skinny...red-headed was usually enough....which leads me to my final reason:
For its uniqueness....
did you know that of ALL the minority categories a person can fall into...including everything from skin color to left-handedness....that redheads are the most 'minor' of all minorities..only somewhere between 1-2% of the world population is redheaded....most every famous redhead you can name, including, but not limited to, Lucille Ball, Julia Roberts and Debra Messing have dyed their hair red.

It is in fact this love of my once-dreaded hair color that gives me the occasional opportunity to tell a beautiful child in the grocery line how gorgeous their hair
is...many times a curly-locks in a flaming shade of scarlet....
It is so fun to watch their eyes widen as if to figure out whether I'm telling them the truth or not. It is then that I touch my own hair and announce that, It is, indeed, the best color of hair to have!....
It is through my own eyes, as an adult, that I can look back at my own childhood and realize how beautiful my hair color was.
It is that same keen eye for seeing the most beautiful parts of a person, sometimes the parts that that person never gets the chance to see honestly in the mirror. Because it's in a quirky smile....or a way they hold their mouth, maybe one eyebrow slightly more arched than the other when they grin, that all their friends and family know and love....
Many times it takes a person a few times of looking back through their pictures before they will agree with their family on which photos are the best, and that's because of exactly what I just said......what other people see in you that makes you unique and beautiful and who you are.....the things that are usually only reflected back for us to enjoy when looking at a photograph.
Some of my favorite experiences include phone calls from someone's grandma telling me how the recent photos I took of their grandson look EXACTLY like him. You might think that's odd, considering the fact that a photograph SHOULD look exactly like the subject, but, to me, the 'art' part of photography ends with phone calls like these. A photograph is always a likeness.....but when you're able to capture a little piece of someone's spirit and put it on paper for them, that's amazing!
And, that's why I chose the name "Strawberry Blonde Photography"

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