quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I know nothing about photography. Just popping in to say you’re gorgeous and amazing.

You should meet her in person. She is all of that and more.

And I got to marry her!

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Originally posted by QuirtEvans:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I know nothing about photography. Just popping in to say you’re gorgeous and amazing.

You should meet her in person. She is all of that and more.

And I got to marry her!

only because I have a complication

I think 12 is my favorite. Approachable, smart, slightly mysterious with all that black. The quality of the photo is great; nice exposure, crisp focus.

Nine is a great picture of you, but more for friends and family. No mystery there. And the focus is a little soft.

When I cropped/edited the first photos, I lost a lot of detail because of the amount of cropping I did.

I could go on and on to tell you why I like or don’t like each of the pictures, but that’s probably TMI! I spend a lot of time taking/looking at/editing photos for my knit product photography, so it’s part of what I do.

Thanks, y'all. I'm really grateful for the kind words and the input on a decision that will have an impact on the next several years of my career. I think you can see by the second set of photos that your input on the first set was really, really helpful.

Here's what I'm thinking at the moment. I'm going to choose a half-dozen photos and send them to my publisher's publicist and some people in marketing. I'll send them to my editor, too. I'll ask them for input on both the photo quality and the poses. My new publisher does things differently, and they may well have a "story" they want to sue for promoting me and my work. (Mysterious, approachable, whatever...)

On Friday, I have the brief photo session with a pro photographer that I mentioned, so I'll probably be back here with proofs taken in a studio setting. If I like working with him, I may book an outdoor session with him since, for whatever reason, I think I look better outdoors and in natural light. And I think I just look happier in nature.

I'll pick my favorites and repost them in a single post so we can see them side-by-side, if y'all don't mind me taking up that much more bandwidth.

I really do appreciate the help with a task that's a bit nervewracking.

(This one needs cropping to be mostly face, and I have it in color around here somewhere.)

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:


I love this, with the red. Just want to take some of the yellow out of the picture.



Too friendly. Need some mystery.



My favorite of the bunch. Kind of glam, kind of sass. You look smart and at ease with yourself.


(This one needs cropping to be mostly face, and I have it in color around here somewhere.)

Too much cleavange, and you look like you’re trying to please. Need more sass.

I don’t love your hair in this one; it’s tall because you’re looking down? Almost ‘80s Long Island Girl.

Just my humble opinion(s)!

I like all of the second set but prefer the color not the black and white.

9 and 12 stood out for me, if we are voting!

3, 7, 10, 12

- Dont much like black and white
- Love your smile
- dont like the ones that make me think - what in tarnation is she looking at?
- some backgrounds distract (the rock wall)
- you look great!

PS: You do look great!

Sometimes I get pretty task-oriented and just go for the info nugget that I want to convey. I should come up for air!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
I know nothing about photography. Just popping in to say you’re gorgeous and amazing.

You should meet her in person. She is all of that and more.

Indeed she is.

jf

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Originally posted by piqué:

I'm going to have to contend with a huge gray streak that wasn't there in 2009.

Very cool. Check out pictures of Bonnie Raitt.

jf

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I don’t love your hair in this one; it’s tall because you’re looking down? Almost ‘80s Long Island Girl.

You can crop the top of the photo so that the hair isn't so tall. this is still my favorite, providing it is cropped so the viewer isn't distracted from your eyes.

Okay, I had the brief appointment with the pro photographer and the pictures were terrible. (As in they looked like me at this moment in time. Unlike these, quite frankly.)

My charming photographer was chatting up a semi-pro photographer in the bar last night who I suspect is more talented than the guy who took yesterday's head shots, but who is too busy raking in the dollars at a private equity firm to go full-time. She showed him my photos. (Egad. It's really not fun to be standing in a bar listening to people discuss your mumblety-something-year-old face.)

He said that they were very nice, but that a pro would have used a light box the size of Mars, because having light come from all directions shines light down into creases and makes them disappear. I said that I wanted to look like myself, and he said that his philosophy was that he wouldn't do things like erase a mole, but he'd take out a blemish in a heartbeat. And he would soften wrinkles and smile lines because people don't notice those in real life the way they do in a still shot.

He seemed to know his stuff and I tried to make an appointment but he's too busy being a capitalist.

Now I'm wondering what, exactly, is the difference between using a light box to erase my flaws and using Photoshop to do it? And also, I'm pretty sure Photoshop can give the illusion of depth of field in the background, which is one of the best things about my current photos.

The minor hurdle is that I don't know how to use Photoshop, but I have never lacked for intellectual arrogance. Maybe I can learn to use it, polish these up, and be done.

However, my publicist thought they were good enough to use and suggested I send them to my publisher's publicity people for feedback.

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Originally posted by piqué:

quote:

I don’t love your hair in this one; it’s tall because you’re looking down? Almost ‘80s Long Island Girl.

You can crop the top of the photo so that the hair isn't so tall. this is still my favorite, providing it is cropped so the viewer isn't distracted from your eyes.

The publicist liked the one with the goofy hair, FWIW. He also liked the one in the black jacket that got a lot of votes.

quote:

my publicist thought they were good enough to use and suggested I send them to my publisher's publicity people for feedback.

This. I think the photos you took in your second shot are really, really great.

Re photoshop, I have found those kinds of programs to be fairly easy to get into. If there's something you want to do but can't just google whatever it is plus "photoshop."