PhotoSHOOT of the Week: Mel Headshots

My beautiful friend, Melanie, needed headshots taken to use when she auditions for plays & she asked me if I'd be willing to take them for her. Yes, CPA-Suz has dramatic, creative friends who live in an entirely different world than her. Of course I said "yes." One, because I love taking pictures. Two, because I love Mel.

Mel was so patient with me while I fiddled around with my camera, dragged her all around the grounds of Rashkis Elementary (Matt & I run on a path by the school & I am in love with the bamboo on the trails), & asked her to smile...now be serious...now smile...now look pensive. What can I say? I'm new to this, & haven't really mastered taking care of my job behind the camera & instructing the subject what to do (Not that Mel needed much if any coaching. She is the pro. I am the amateur). Plus, I usually photograph flowers & trees & mountains. They don't need both of their eyes to be in focus.

Mel has gorgeous green eyes, which really worked well with the bamboo/pinetree backdrops. All of the photos on this page are "SOOC" (straight out of the camera), with the exception of the B&W, which I made monotone in desktop Picasa (the color file was a little too warm for my liking). Of course, Photoshop would be helpful to do a little touch up, but sadly, Matt's computer which actually has Photoshop is dead as a doornail. Luckily, Mel's a natural beauty & doesn't need any editing!

Here's my favorite, which actually happened to be one of the first photos I took! Mel's favorite was the bottom row, second from the left in the collage above. Which one do you like best? You should be able to click to enlarge...

Psst... I decided to use my free flickr account for now for photos. I'm still contemplating which "pay for storage" site I want to use to house my photos. Hopefully I don't run out of free flickr space before I make up my mind!