So the General asked if she could take some pictures of me for her website. I was like, “WHAAAA?! Me?!?!” No one has ever wanted to take pictures of me before (with my clothes on – kidding). I was deeply honored and flattered that anyone would want to take my picture. Not to mention putting it on a website for the whole world to see. The General would like the pictures to look like the ones from the Ballerina Project. For those of you who are not familiar, here is a link to their website. http://ballerinaproject.com/ The pictures are beautiful and display ballerinas posing in obscure places. Some of these pics are truly breathtaking and I was so excited to try to look like one of these women…GULP.
We had a dry run on Sunday. We started late (overestimated the amount of light available) and we were not exactly organized. We had street clothes, dress clothes, tutus and leotards. The General had ideas of where to take the pictures, but not exactly any idea how we should pose in them or what we should wear. We ran around the fire station and my small town square frantically trying to be inventive and beautiful and we fell a little short. I took a look at the pictures we took and out of all of the shots, we had 4 decent ones. Not bad, really. Especially for a first try. But I know we can do better. After much discussion, this is what we concluded: (1) The General needs to direct and help us pose and we need someone else to take the pictures. It was too much for her to do both. [Note: We are still on the hunt for a photographer. Anyone interested?!] (2) We need to start earlier in the evening so we are not rushing. We started at 7:30 pm on Sunday and that was NOT enough time. (3) We need to organize and coordinate costumes, location and poses. After the General and I reviewed everything, we agreed that we need to stick to leotards, tutus and plain dresses. Our legs need to be the feature and we need the ability to freely move in our clothes so we can pose. We have the potential locations, but we don’t know what poses we should do. If we practice our poses and coordinate our costumes in advance, we should be able to execute these pictures more smoothly.
Did I mention that General is also taking pictures of her daughter? I will call her “Shelby”. We are polar opposites when it comes to looks – I have very long dark brown (almost black) hair and am kind of short in stature (5’3). Shelby is tall, blonde, thin and beautiful. She is young and I am “mature”. And apparently, I also look significantly more muscular than she does on camera. When they say that a camera adds ten pounds, they are not kidding. However, all my weight goes right to my biceps and chest muscles! HA! I am thin, but I am strong. The General and I are thinking that I have to camouflage them somehow – by way of sleeves or arm positioning. Either way, I do not want to look like She-Ra on her website. (“She-Ra! Princess of Power!!”)
Then there is my FACE. Ok – I am no dog. I know this, but I have never felt that comfortable on camera. My husband says that I have “natural beauty” and should not stress about being photographed, but I can’t help it! Plus, I am not supposed to smile in these photos, but if I am not smiling, I look mean! I really need to practice my non-smiling face. What did Tyra Banks say to the contestants on America’s Next Top Model? “You need to smile with your eyes?” Ug – I feel silly. Shelby looks fine when she is not smiling. My question is how did those ladies in the Ballerina Project look so graceful while conveying an emotion with their faces and body? Maybe they are actually feeling something when these photos are taken…I need to work on this. I need to practice a pose (which I printed out a ton from the website), wearing my costume and while attempting to project some kind of emotion on my face and body. I need to do all of this before Wednesday, because that is when we are re-convening for our second attempt at these pictures.
Wow, this is harder than I thought. Who new modeling was so intense? Wish me luck.
The Legal Ballerina 