Picture Day

I was blessed with many gifts in this life like a warm smile and a ready wit, very many blessings that I try to acknowledge with gratitude whenever possible.  We all have gifts but life always finds a balance, so each blessing comes with a dark side.  That ready wit doesn't always find welcoming ears and it gets me into a bit of trouble from time to time.

That smile has a dark side too, one that I have to face today.  But this is part of my journey and the time has come for me to walk down that road.  This all sounds really ominous, doesn't it?

WELL, IT IS!

I need photos of myself in order to promote The Last Prospector and it's illustrious author properly.  The problem is that I am not photogenic, not in the least.  My expressive features do not lend themselves well to still photography and that beaming smile takes over so all most people see is teeth.

I have a round face with two big apple cheeks and a head full of thick curly hair, photos of me look like cartoon characters.  Especially if I'm wearing my Mr. Magoo glasses that block my small eyes that get even tinier when I smile and my fat cheeks swallow up my tiny eyes.

Now, please don't think I'm getting down on myself.  I don't think that I am unsightly, but I know my weaknesses.  Tyra Banks would say it has something to do with the geometry of my face that doesn't work for still photography and I can live with that, we all know higher math isn't for Cairn.

My husband's niece is the exact opposite, she can't take a bad picture.  Even blurry pictures of her are very pretty, she could have been a model if she was a foot taller, maybe foot and a half.

But my many years of watching and re-watching cycles of America's Next Top Model has taught me there are ways to combat bad photos.  Mr. Jay says to get in front of that mirror to find your angles, and I have, there aren't many good ones though.  Actually there are only three, but three is a good number and I only need one picture, so I like those odds.

Lighting is important too, Clyde is on that detail since he's the photographer and it will probably take all day just to get that right.  We'll get it done though, so that leaves make-up, ugh.  Mr. Jay isn't here to help me with that, so it will be minimal - I have tried a few make-up tutorials on line, not a pretty picture.

I guess it's a really good thing that modeling was never one of my life's goals.