A photo shoot experience: portray the real you in photos.
Portraying the real You in your photos
I’m learning to be comfortable with capturing the real me in a photo. So, when I started this website journey, I thought I might need some photos. This was a first for me; other than the famous Glamour Shots in the early ‘90s. I will tell ya, I am not as comfortable as I want to be with having my photo taken. I guess I will just have to keep taking them until I am comfortable. Part of that is allowing myself to be me, learning to enjoy myself, and find my inspiration in this wonderful life I am living.
Being Yourself
Authenticity is key. I am sure, I am not the only one who has had an issue with this. Without being yourself, I believe you will never be able to portray the real you in a photo. It will always feel unnatural and fake.
Something I have learned, though, is “Who you are is enough!”. We have the ability to be anything in this life that our little hearts desire. Think about that for a moment.
We spend so much time trying to be what we are not. Tying to emulate what others are doing.
I have read several different articles listing ways of “revealing” who one really is. Most use the same methods and most we are familiar with. We have heard of them time and time again. Some of these are our values, interests, temperaments, and strengths. All of these, I believe, are shaped by the experiences we have throughout our lives.
No two are alike. Your strengths are different from mine, and my strengths are different from yours. You know what, that is okay.
After being pushed, I finally learned to let go of the way things “ought to be”. I learned to listen to me, that little voice that speaks softly in the silence and found myself.
Accepting yourself
Well, in being pushed, I decided to take back my life; my decisions, my actions, my peace of mind. What I found was truly amazing. Courage and strength beyond measure. Confidence and peace that floods my soul.
Free to believe in myself, to hold tight to what I find important, and trust myself. FREE TO BE ME. Strength and confidence have always been there, but I only allowed them to be present in certain situations.
Do you know how much weight is lifted off the shoulders when you finally accept yourself? Accept your strengths and your failures. Then determine your direction.
Accepting your failures does not mean that you can’t be successful in life. It just means you are no longer in denial. You can not accomplish anything if you are in a constant state of denial. You have the ability to work at improving your failures or realizing that there are some things that are just not for you, and again I will say, that is okay.
Finally comfortable with who you are
When we are comfortable we have the ability to think clearly. We are not overwhelmed with anxiety or fear. In being comfortable with who I am, I began to feel empowered, confident, and strong. This allowed me to take chances and try something new.
I remember it was late 2013, I had been through rehab several times after my motorcycle wreck, and finally accepted who I was post-wreck. In accepting the changes that had and were taking place in my life brought comfort beyond anything I had ever experienced. It freed me to be me!
Enjoying Yourself
Give yourself permission to be happy! This is one of the hardest concepts I learned. Who was I to be happy? I am supposed to suffer and be humble, be in a constant state of enlightenment. Hmmm, yeah...what was I thinking?
I completely understand that there are going to be times that I am just not happy, but that will be situational and I will do my very best to not let the situation have control over me. A technique I also learned in neuro rehab...lol.
Embrace yourself
Now that you have come to terms with who you are and how you want to live your best life. It is time to embrace it. Time to do the unexpected and reach for the stars.
I have spent many years wanting to write to encourage confidence and inspiration in the lives of others. I now that I am actually better with writing down my thought versus public speaking, I find this method comfortable for me. While I am not completely uncomfortable with public speaking, I must have a heads-up and be extremely prepared. Presentations are usually short and on point.
I will surely get better with practice, but as of now this is me, and I am okay with that. I love that I have tenacity beyond measure and I do not fear life. That I am optimistic and I am not overwhelmed with anxiety and the thought of not being enough or not having enough. I embrace who I am and love who I am.
Trying something new
In the name of trying something new, I started riding my own motorcycle. I started this blog as a way to provide confidence, motivation, inspiration, and share the stories of my journey as a new motorcycle rider, marketer, and event planner, an overcomer. The things I have learned, the life I now love.
By no means am I perfect at any of this...Those who personally know me, know I have walked a path that has given me a treasure-trove of experience at overcoming challenges and difficult situations. I am learning everything motorcycle, I constantly study marketing and event planning, and my way of motivating and inspiring will not be for everybody. That makes me, me.
Finding Your Muse
I have never considered myself photogenic at all, so, me portraying myself in photos is hard. I have always struggled with being comfortable in front of a camera. In a world of selfies, I have only in the last few years began taking them. I also have a phone full of “practice” photos. A photo shoot was completely new territory for me.
I have a friend that is a photographer by trade, Mrs. Kayla Denniston of Kayla Denniston Photography. You can click on the link to check out her awesome work. I contacted Kayla to take some photos for the website. Needed something that branded Ros Alainn. Motorcycle-related, a headshot or two, and spoke of my personal journey. Well, she made that happen. She is certainly better at this than I am.
We had a consultation to discuss the vision and to go put a plan together. Had several different ideas and then settled on the things that made me who I am. Crazy Cora would be in the photos, for sure, but on top of that, I am a blogger, a marketer, coffee lover, an Irish girl who loves her Jameson, a runner, and confident women.
We started bright and early, around 6:30 a.m. We both had other engagements that afternoon and evening and I was trying to meet a deadline for launch. I would personally suggest having an afternoon shoot only because, if you are having an outdoor shoot you will not have to worry about the dew making everything wet and getting up so early.
Location
We had two different locations. We used a field at a local park for the spontaneous free-flowing dress, for the workout session, and just casual laid back, coffee drinking, blogging and celebrating the accomplishment of starting on a new journey with a little Jamison. The second location was at my dear friend's motorcycle shop, the Scooter Shed. They are the ones helping me with rebuilding Crazy Cora and giving her a facelift. These shots were the most fun for me. It was easier for me to get into “character”. This is where the tools, a little grease, sunglasses, and motorcycles came into play.
Wardrobe
Deciding on wardrobe would take a little contemplating. You always want to create a feel and vision for your photographs, or at least I do. There would be several outfit changes. We had a set of mechanic coveralls, a free-flowing dress, a set of workout clothes, and a set of normal everyday wear, and all the accessories. I brought a few different pairs of shoes but chose to be barefoot with a few outfits.
Props
As I said, we had Crazy Cora, my ‘lil toolset, a blanket, laptop, phone, my favorite coffee cup, my Bluetooth headphones, and a bottle of Jameson. All of these props were used in the photos somewhere.
We tried to capture different emotions and most of all have fun with it.
I will say that I will certainly be doing this again. I will know more next time. What to expect, what I have control over, what the photographer is in charge of, and how better to prepare. Overall I was extremely satisfied with the work Mrs. Kayla did. The next shoot will probably have a completely different set of props, except for Cora, she will probably always be there.
The process really makes me think about who I am and what I wanted to portray to my friends, family, and tribe. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and there are ideas on what I can do in the future to improve my part in the process.
Being Inspired
Inspiration comes in all forms. I encourage you to find what inspires you and moves you to face your fears and push you to try something new. You never know, you just might do great things and you don’t want the only thing stopping you, to be you.
I hope in your next photo, whether it is a photoshoot by a professional or a simple selfie, you let the real you shine.
Just for you, I have put together a free worksheet to help you reflect and take inventory of what makes you, you. Free download below.
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