Editing, expectations and preserving you....

I'm 41, not old by any stretch of the imagination, but not a spring chicken either. My hair has gone a bit grey sparkly, and my skin.. well, it's got a lot of wrinkles character   ♫  insert Popeye song "I yam who I yam and that's all that I yam ♬  

Sure.. I miss the less-wrinklier-face-of-yesterday, the perkier boobs of three kids ago. Would I trade them for the self-respect and confidence that I've gained throughout the years? OH SHIT NO. Neither should you.

I'm still writing and re-writing that about me page, there's a phrase that I've written that's a total keeper but, I feel needs a bit of an explanation...

"I am inspired by beauty. I am driven to create imagery that reveals the beauty of a woman while maintaining the truth of who she is"

And to drive that point home - feedback from recent clients, words from a gentleman who received his wife's portraits in an album for Christmas - "I always thought my wife was a beautiful woman, but Petra took her beauty to a whole other level while preserving her individuality...."

Goosebumps.

My point:  I'm in the business of capturing beauty, your beauty - yet maintaining the truth of who you are.  Do I edit? You betchya :)  The camera can be unkind, it sees detail that the human eye does not... will you drop 40 pounds and 20 years? No and you shouldn't. Your hunka burning love would be disappointed if he received an album full of his wife that was photoshopped to near-unrecognizable.  That's not who he loves, he loves the woman you've become.  My goal in editing is to reduce contrast, coax color and tones to highlight and draw attention to the subject, to soften and romanticize....to maintain your individuality, your truth.

Shiver.