You know those days when as a mother & wife you throw your hair in a ponytail and run around proudly doting on everyone else or as a career woman you are stressed out from handling all things for everyone...and not giving yourself a second thought...then you look in the mirror after all of that and know that your beautiful, just as beautiful as those women in the magazines and in the movies...but that is not what you see in the mirror at that moment. All you see is the frazzled woman... The only reason I know this is because I do it too! But, I have a photograph that I look at that brings me back to that feeling I had on the day I took it where I FELT beautiful!
I have been a photographer (professionally) for 3 years now and a little over a year ago, I was introduced to a beautiful soul and Australian Glamour Portrait photographer named Sue Bryce (whom I now claim as one of my mentors and inspirations in this industry). Now, before I go into why I love what I do more today than ever before, I have to explain a little bit. I grew up with a mother that was a makeup artist and a father that was strongly driven to succeed to provide for his family. So, my love of beauty and business, I believe, came from them! I went to school for cosmetology and knew that I loved making women feel beautiful! I have always enjoyed photographs because they are a moment in time - a tangible record of a life - to pass on to generations after as part of history. I then completed a degree in Business Management and my worlds all collided! I merged all three of my loves into one career - beauty, photography & business!
Now back to Sue Bryce. When I first saw Sue, it was in a workshop on CreativeLive.com...she spoke to me as if I was looking in a mirror...she spoke of photographing women the way they dream of being photographed. She spoke of business and realizing your worth...she spoke of fear and what it can do to you as a business owner and person. All of this, I already knew...but never heard it from someone with that much passion related to photography. It was as if the doors of heaven opened up and the angels started singing to me...I saw the light and knew at that moment that this was the direction I wanted to take my business. Now, don't get me wrong, when she first called what she did "Glamour," my first thoughts went to the 1980's when it was big hair, boas and popped collars photographed with a hazy filter...to me that was not the way I wanted to be photographed (even back then), so I knew that there had to be more to it than just calling it Glamour. Her inspiration, like mine, comes from our women's magazines like Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Vanity Fair, In Style, and Harpers Bazaar. I love these magazines! I dream of being photographed to look like these models in the magazines! I was sure that there had to be others out there that feel the same way. Women (speaking from experience) want to feel beautiful & sexy (yes, sexy. Victoria's Secret could not have built an empire on sexy if women didn't want to feel this way!) We like to look thinner than how we think that we look (yes, we want this. Just think of how huge the diet industry is). We want to wear the beautiful clothes and shoes and jewelry (shopping centers and malls are 90% geared toward women). Glamour photographs capture all of this. Knowing how to photograph a woman to make her feel this way makes my heart smile! I am not talking about photoshopping someone to a thinner (not recognizable) them or taking a mature woman and photoshopping her to look 19...I am talking about knowing how to photograph a woman to make her look and feel her best.
I am not going to lie, I am not a writer...I don't hide that fact. This first blog post is probably going to go down in history as one of the worst first blogs ever written from a writer's standpoint...but, I am a photographer...a photographer with a passion for making women feel beautiful and showing them through photographs just how beautiful they are. Whether that is with a Glamour session, on a Wedding day or photographing headshots for a Pageant, this is what I LOVE! My "Living the dream!" You can pull the photographs out on those ponytail, no makeup, stressed out & frazzled days and they willl be a constant reminder of how beautiful you are! You DESERVE to experience this! YOU ARE WORTH IT! You should be looking in the mirror and saying "HELLO BEAUTIFUL" every day!
Here is an example of my modern Glamour! This is the lovely Ashley Gaa or Ashley's Makeup Artistry (I like to call her MY makeup artist). She is phenomenal!! Check her out on Facebook www.facebook.com/AshleysMakeupArtistry
For more information on Sue Bryce, visit www.suebryce.com
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