Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Selfies, or I Need an Updated Photo

My Photo
Taken October 2011
"Selfies" made it recently as a word to be added to the dictionary. In this age when nearly everyone is carrying a phone that also is a camera, selfies have become a popular item of exchange through the electronic media.

August 2014

I am one of the few people I know whose phone does not take photos. However, three years ago I used my ordinary camera to take some selfies, one of which I have used for my blog and Facebook.



November 2014
In trying to take selfies, I learned that it's not so easy! If the camera is tipped a little one way or another, you end up with an oddly distorted face. It is also very easy to get the aim wrong and to end up with part of your face cut off. I have an additional problem in that I wear glasses with differing nearsighted prescriptions for each eye. This has the effect of making one eye appear smaller than the other.


I finally got a photo I liked and I've used that one for three years now.

Unfortunately, that photo is no longer very accurate. Three years have added age to my features. I also had a very fattening winter last year and am still wearing those extra pounds. (I'm working on that but it is slow going. Now that I'm in cardiac rehab, I hope that may help.)

November 2014
So, in the interest in truth, I tried to take an updated photo of myself. OK, so I don't want to be so truthful that I use the very worst photos--i.e., every wrinkle, sag, or flaw emphasized. I hoped to get one that looked like I look now without making me cringe by its overemphasis on said flaws! (Maybe even de-emphasize them a little?!) When it comes to photos, honesty is all well and good, but let's not overdo it!

Most of the selfies I took that weren't blurry, partially cut off, or just plain spooky, are still not loved by me. But I can't go on using only old photos.

So, I have sprinkled some of the most recent selfies through this blog. I hope they don't frighten any small children!

Maybe I need to get another photographer.