#21 [I am]

This week we received an email requesting our updated profile for career path, adding our CV and we were also requested to add a picture of ourselves. Business and color. Errr… I was looking into our collection of 26.000 images and I couldn’t find one single image of myself that would be business acceptable. On all of my pictures I had a glass on one hand, or horns put by someone else, or drunk, or walking on Tuscany, or half-naked on a beach but no, no business pictures.

At this point I had two options: go to a professional photograph that was going to laminate my face to get rid of my skin imperfections OR win my own feeling against photographing myself. As I feel not very comfortable in front of a camera and I also need to master some portraiture skills, I opted for the last. Just to challenge myself.

After laminating myself with a good MAC foundation and curving the eyelashes, that is the final result. No… it was not easy. I took 150 pictures and in the end I had four that were really worth. I don’t have a very good self-image and this reflects on the photographs. I was trying to pose but I felt ridiculous all the time. In the end, as Smallson started to scream for his promised spaghetti, I decided to really think about something funny and finish with that uncomfortable session.

So I thought about my friend Bison flying on the living room. Man, how I giggle when I remember that, and finally I’ve got something presentable.

Purposefully, no big retouches were made. Contrast and sharpness have been decreased a bit. I am accepting myself as I am, 44 years old, and this is not a glamour photograph. This is how I look: the real me. And as I have learned today with this video, I am perfect!

PS: I like the B&W version, but it’s not something I can use at my work!




PS2, added after publication: sometimes I need time to absorb and digest a picture. This is the case with this one and here come the remarks:
1) Watch out for the power and direction of the flash that is supposed to illuminate only the background... in the case of this photo, it is casting horrible shadows on the chin. By one side it helps by making the double chin smaller (lol) but it also drags a bit your eye to it. Light on that flash is to harsh and must be softened OR snooted to the wall behind to not cast over the face.


2) For some very strange reason, there is an horrible shadow on my right eye. May be I should put some cucumber before shooting next time or maybe I should take care for some fill light coming from the right side as well.