Smile Pretty For The Camera
When someone points a camera at me and tells me to “look natural”, looking natural is the hardest thing to do. My husband decided that it would be a good idea to put a picture of me on top of the cover letters I send out to various publishers. I thought this was a good idea too, until I realized that it meant that I would have to pose for pictures.
The first photo shoot was done outside of our apartments and featured lots of pictures of me squinting, and even more pictures of me looking annoyed. After a quick review, I decided that the A & W Root Beer T-shirt I was wearing didn’t give me the scholarly image I was going for.
For the second photo shoot, I wore a much more intelligent looking black V-neck T-shirt. My husband decided that black and white photos would help me look even more like a serious author. I agreed, since I think I need all the help I can get to look like a serious anything. I posed behind a white picket fence with a palm tree and a building that resembled a house in the background. I thought the background looked very small town USA. I looked thoughtfully off into the distance for each photo. These were good pictures. I knew it. I could feel it. Until we put them into the computer. At full size they looked more like crazy town USA. In some of the pictures only the whites of my eyes were visible.
Our final shoot was in the park. I kept the black T-shirt because I had decided it was a good look. The more you get your picture taken the easier it gets. Before I knew it, I had become a super model working the camera. I knew the best angles. I could look passionate or pensive or posh for the camera. I’m sure the people who passed us in the park were wondering what magazine we were shooting pictures for. Luckily, they were all too nervous to ask me for my autograph during the shoot. I’m gracious to my fans. If they had asked, I just would have given it to them with no complaints. I wasn’t “looking natural” but I was looking good.
In reality, I continued to look as awkward as before, but through sheer volume we managed to get a couple of good pictures.
