Harvest Birthdays, Human Connections and Author Photo Shoots

I was in Shoprite the other day ordering lunchmeat and cheese from the deli when all of the sudden I had an epiphany which ultimately led to a minor break down.  It was like my stomach churned into a battlefield of emotions; future fighting the past as the past cried, “FREEEEEDOM,” from its bellowing bliss of eternal memories which never fade away.

 

This all happened within the blink of a second.  As I went to reach for my pocket and pull out my cell phone, a heavy cloud of burden formed on top of my shoulders.  I felt defeated, like social media had won the battle.  I knew the reasons why I was pulling out my cell phone while standing at the deli in Shoprite but the past was crying, “Please, no more.”

Usually, when I am ordering lunchmeat and cheese, it takes about five to ten minutes, depending on what digit you pull out of the lucky number disposer.  During this time, I fumble to get as many tweets and Facebook shares out, read emails at three separate accounts, or catch up with a few blog buddies. 

This time, however, was extremely different.   My heart was as a tug of war with my mind saying, “Not this time, girlie.  Now go and talk to the deli people, strike up a conversation, and smile at the people behind the counter.  Get off of your cell phone.  You are always tweeting and emailing.  Go and have a…. wait for it… wait for it…"

A HUMAN CONNECTION!

 

 

 

And that it exactly what this gal did.  I put my cellphone away and it felt great!  I was smiling at the people behind the counter and guess what?  A couple of them actually smiled back at me.  I continued to keep the phone buried away in my pocket.  When I made it to the cashier line, instead of pulling it out, I continued to strike up conversations which ultimately led me to gain some awesome advice about an upcoming trip the dear and I are taking to Costa Rica. 

We also had my "Harvest Birthday Bash" over the weekend.  I'm officially 34 years old and don't feel a day over 24.  I was desperate to make some amazing new memories and human connections with my loved ones so I made everyone put away their cell phones.  The only time someone was aloud to take out their phone was to take a picture.  Other than that, we ate tons of sushi, steak, shrimp, pasta and cheese, shared lots of laughs, and created long lasting memories together.  Here are some pictures from the big day! 



The dear is behind me, my sister and niece are on my right, and we are surrounded by friends I've had for years

The dear is lighting the candles on my birthday cake and we are laughing about something

This is my youngest and very talented sister, Cheri.  She took the photos for my photo shoot which I will be sharing and also illustrated my children's book.

My niece, me and the dear

The cheese spread:  Brie, Bleu cheese, and Manchego cheese

The sushi, shrimp and steak platters with tasty Halloween treats

Pesto Pasta, YUM

We decorated our bookshelf.  I collect witches and this one is my favorites.

My gorgeous niece and sister

A couple of my other witches

The beautiful flowers and balloons the dear bought for me

And now my author photo shoot!  I'm sharing the "Do's and Do Not's" when being professionally photographed.

 

The morning after my birthday, my sister Cheri, who is also a photographer, helped me with an author photo shoot.  It was very windy so she literally took about 300 pictures of me.  She also created my new banner which you see at the top of my blog.  Yes, that is me in the photo=)  Here are some other examples of banners she created for me. 

 

 



Although I really liked this banner, I wanted to have my entire body in the picture, not just my boots

I really loved this photo, especially because of the colors.  It was a hard decision (my sister sent me six banners) but I went with the one currently at the header of my blog.  Do you think I made the right decision?

 

 

It took us about an hour and half to do the entire photo shoot.  All of the pictures you see are in the backyard of my complex.  We live in the mountains where lush colors of green, red, orange and yellow reflect off of the decadence of the woods and spirit of the land.  Here are some photos of me sitting on top of the rocks nestled against the enchanted woods of our complex.

 

 

 



 

As you can see from the photos above, there are many different positions and poses you can engage with in your photos.  At times, I felt like I was forcing my poses.  This is why it is very important for your photographer to take tons of pictures.  When I had my children's book author photo shoot, the photographer at the time shot around 200 pictures.  Again, my sister took around 300 because not only was she taking my author photo, but she was creating my banner for my website and blog.

Here, you can see there is an abundance of light, a bit too much light.  Photos like this are nice but the lighting makes them look awkward.  You want to choose a photo which has perfect lighting against your face.

I chose this photo to be my new author profile photo because I think it looks very natural and I'm smiling.  Always try to look as natural and comfortable as possible.  You don't want to scare off your readers and fellow authors.  You want your profile picture to be warm and welcoming.

I thought this one was pretty because of the background.  Behind me, there are more hills and mountainous land which eventually lead into the skyline of New York City.  I didn't choose this photo, though, because the lighting was a bit shaded over my face.

Here, I am looking back toward my sister.  Instead of walking toward her, she asked me to walk ahead and turn back several times.  I might use some of these pictures for a different project.

I've always loved side shots.  My sister took about 10 of these but here, I'm sharing one so you get the idea of all of the different views you can have in your photos.  I'm also squinting in this picture.  Try not to squint in your photos because squinting is unbecoming and doesn't do justice for the art of the picture.

 

Next, I'm going to share the pictures of me walking up hills and through parts of the woods.  My sister took tons of shots of me walking so she could create the perfect border for me.  Here are some other examples she could have used but decided to go with the one above.

 

 



 

It really depends on what you want to portray as the soul of your blog and zest of your art.  I love walking and hiking around my area so I wanted to incorporate the beauty of my complex within the heart of my blog.  I wake up every morning around 5am and have the most amazing views which inspire a lot of my stories.

 

 

Lastly, I'm sharing one fun photo.  Although I am not going to be using this in any of my author profiles, I love laughing and goofing off.  

 

Do you ever break down over social media or the growing need for technology?  Have you had an author photo shoot before?  Do you have any advice for other writers and authors when taking professional photos of themselves?