Author portrait photograph
assignment was to create compelling images for a middle age author of Young Adult fiction. Prospective readers want to believe that they share some of the same sensibilities as the author so that they trust she has tapped into their interests, the challenge was to convey that visually. Her image should incorporate some of the fashions and look of her targeted readers but avoiding the pitfall that it is not appropriate for her. Adhering to the stereotype of a writer, our author was shy and did not want to draw attention to her amazing features like her gorgeous hair and exquisite features but with gentle persuasion we highlighted her assets. We think we did an amazing job.
Her book info can be found at Broken Worlds website
Compare to her previous author pic (below) that in our opinion was not adding any value to her work.
Thoroughly enjoyed Anitha’s down to earth personality and respected her wishes for a natural looking portrait in terms of makeup. I gave her a gentle tutorial about the how the camera “reads” the makeup and it would not look as “shocking” once the image was captured. Alexis directed her gently and showed her a shot or two to ease her unfounded worries. The shots were already looking quite amazing, with many angles, poses, smiles and backgrounds to choose from. There was no shortage of beautiful nooks to photograph in her humble country home with a field for her horses.
Somewhere in the middle of the shoot, she realized that she was actually having fun and could visualize a wonderful outcome. So she fully relaxed and enjoyed the process and our company of three professionals…the artistic photographer Alexis, wonderful curl taming hairstylist Tatiana…we talked her out of the straight hair look to take advantage of her curls that served to frame her petite face very beautifully.
I shared a few makeup tips specific to her needs. I played with fuschia lips for some looks, and creamy mocha for another type of look.. I mixed two foundations and then created a salmon coloured base for under her eyes that took care of darker areas. This can be done two ways…I decided to mix a Lise Watier palette wheel of concealers in rose beige and peach beige with one of the foundations from smashbox for under eyes and blended out with two other shades seamlessly. Some looks had her in purple shades on the eyes, and towards the end, we shifted the colours to café browns on the eyes with the mocha lips when we moved to the outdoor “ruins” on her property. It is great to share with people who are not accustomed to makeup what can work for them. I love how the photos turned out. There is a lot of sweetness, mystery and depth to her images.