Undaunted Joy #131
The Joy of a Photoshoot
When you are a person who sits behind a computer all day, typing out little stories of the tender moments that often go missed, surprisingly a few people want to see what you look like. Editors will ask you for a high-resolution mug shot…I mean head shot. You quickly learn that the selfie you took for your husband with your iPhone when you got your new haircut when he was stuck out of the country for a month because of a positive Covid test, is not one publishers want to use on the back of your new BOOK COVER!
So your friend, Sara, says she will come out of photography retirement and take a new head shot of you with her fancy camera, because she is a good friend and wants to celebrate you finally publishing a book at FIFTY. This is when you will learn about your friend in a new way.
Do any of you have friends that you have a feeling they have a particular set of skills? Like perhaps they have a past in the CIA or the mob, but you politely never speak of it? Well, I don’t think Sara has ever been in Afghanistan or knows how to launder money easily, but I was surprised to watch her pose me as if I was in an episode of America’s Next Top Model.
Sara gave me directions that seemed straight out of the Twister game session in your friend’s basement in 1987. She kept telling me to bend my left elbow and put my right hand on my left knee, lean forward and twist. Despite never really learning my right from my left, I managed to follow the directions and get twisted into all sorts of fun pretzel twists.
When she gave me emotion cues like “Think of something yummy” (Ok that was mine not hers) all I could do was think of that scene from Napoleon Dynamite.
Most of the takes are of me laughing and I realized, I cannot make a serious face to save my life anymore. But Sara, not only knows how to take photos and make them lovely, even if they are of me and in my ghetto neighborhood, she has the patience of a saint…which of course she is.
I’d recommend her to you but she doesn’t take photos anymore. She just does a million other amazing things that I can’t tell you about (or I might have to off you…as they say in the old movies)
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I am off to vacation in France! So my next post will be from my phone and all in French. Just kidding. I only have 331 days straight on Duolingo so I can barely order my own food. But I am certain I will find something Joyful to share with you these next few weeks, including gorgeous photos.
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This week I was able to write about Emmanuel, God with us, for Ignatian Spirituality. Read it here.
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I am booking writing assignments and speaking engagements for 2025. If you’d like to book me, hit reply and send me an email.
The pics look fantastic
Croissants, start with croissants. And then the wine. Pretty sure you'll find joy there. 😉 Safe travels!