I'm going to share a secret with you. I don't like having my photo taken. In fact, I kind of hate it. Even as a child of 8 or 9 I can remember the anxiety of school photos. When they arrived in the mail I'd discreetly grab the package and run to my room tearing it open in private and gaze in horror wondering who the heck the weird looking kid with the stringy long hair and crooked strange half-smile was staring back at me. It couldn't possibly be me. They must have made a mistake and sent me someone else's photos.
As an adult I've never gotten over this phobia. You'll notice that I don't often look at the camera. This is me still trying to get used to my face in a photo. I describe my photo face as the "serious/psycho teacher", very authoritative, disapproving, jaw locked, teeth grinding behind my fake thin lipped "smile-for-the-camera!" look.
I don't think this is all in my head either. When I taught classes before people would often say that I looked like I'd lost about 2o lbs from the photos they'd seen of me. I had one gal tell me out-right that I look so much prettier in person than I do in my photos. It was one of those weird back-handed compliments.
My style blog is a little bit of therapy for me learning to finally relax in front of a camera. As you can see it's a work in progress. I still much prefer any photo of me after I've had a good martini. I need to post some shots of that so you can see the difference.
I rescued these photos from a batch that I felt I really didn't like. They were taken at the end of the day and I can tell I was just a bit fed up and tired. A little bit of Photoshop magic can help when this happens. I can't imagine what I did before Photoshop…oh yeah…I remember…I ran and hid when the camera came out.
I often get mad at my Mom for not having enough photos of me growing up, but I have a feeling I was probably more to blame for that than anyone.
Photos courtesy of Hazel Borg
Starting a fashion blog is a very brave step for someone who is not comfortable in front of the camera.
love the green and blue together! And I hate having my photo taken too… except by my bf who does my blog pics… though Im very critical of how I look, I always delete most of them! People always are amazed when I say I hate having my photo taken… its nice to know other bloggers feel the same!
xxx
http://www.ladyalamode.com
Yeah…either very brave or very stupid! I look at it as on going therapy though.
So funny Caitie that you also dislike having your photo taken. I would have never guessed it because you look so relaxed in your shots. I feel better knowing I’m not the only fashion blogger out there that has this affliction.
This post so struck home with me, I too really hate having my photo taken and I end up so nervous that I just smile very akwardly. (I’m okay when I take photos with a tripod, it takes a lot of tension out of the process and gives me time to figure out what works for me. But I still get so nervous, you can always tell when someone else is taking the photos.) Way to go for having started a style blog to deal with this, but you look quite photogentic to me!
All of that said, I love all of the color in your outfit, it is so bright and fun. (Love blue and green together!) That top is just fantastic looking and looks really amazing on you. 🙂
You are so pretty and you should never hate having your picture taken. My problem is I hate the way I often look in a photo and I get quite critical of my pictures. My husband hates it as he has to take so many for me to be happy with just one! But you look lovely and that top looks so fabulous on you!