Lizzie Borden took an axe…or my hate-affair with the camera.
Blame it on Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books. She wrote a post about legitimate authors having legitimate photos, or head shots.
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Back to our regular program…so, thanks to Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books, I decided I needed to legitimize myself by getting head shots taken. I suck in pictures. Seriously, I flat out break the camera. As my famous Wine Country photographer friend said upon seeing a photo of me - “Jesus freakin’ Christ! You look like an axe murder!” Can’t say I didn’t warn her.
My sister and I talk all time about how gawd-awful we look in pictures, like, we somehow distort the camera until all you can see when the photo is developed is the giant pimple on our chin, or the wrinkle in our forehead, or whatever flaw happens to be the most prevalent on any given day.
So anyway, my famous Wine Country photographer friend took me out into her vineyards where we shot 400 hundred photos because, as she said, “Maybe we’ll get a dozen or so we can use.” The truth is, I was a mess for the first 100 shots - so tense that you would think I was standing in front of a firing squad. Then I got it…then it clicked, and we had a blast! After we finished, she uploaded them to her computer and we picked out our favorites. Much to my surprise and shock, I looked pretty in some - my friend said to me - and I love her for this - “This is how I see you. This is how you really look, oh, and always turn your right side just slightly to the camera and tilt your chin down.”
Words to live by…right side to the camera, chin down. Got it. So as soon as I get the photos, I will legitimize myself and my work as an author. Hey Rebecca - your advice may have been generic, but I took it to heart!
