Fashion Photo Shoot
While browsing Instagram I saw an ad from a local photographer, Simon Diez. He was seeking women over 40 years of age to do a photo shoot for an exhibition in the spring called 40 over 40. He explained that he wanted older women to feel beautiful and get the same experience as a model doing a shoot for a magazine. He would supply most of the clothing and someone to do hair and makeup. I was intrigued and filled out his application. We set up a time to do the photo shoot that following Saturday.
I had brought a pair of jeans, a white blouse, a black tee and a long, black lace gown to supplement what he was providing.
The first 45 minutes was spent on my hair and makeup. The designer’s name was Walace (with one L) and he had once done Katy Perry’s makeup when she was in Seattle. Besides hair and makeup, Walace also designs clothing and has quite the eye for it!
My first outfit was the jeans and black tee I brought. Simon handed me a black leather jacket and some biker boots to make me look really bad ass. He was so good at telling me how to pose as he arranged me on some wooden boxes. There was also a lot of joking going on between the three of us, which made me quite relaxed (I was a bit nervous at first).
Keeping on the jeans and boots, I switched to my white blouse and a blue denim jacket that Simon supplied. He had me sit on a stool for this one. After a few photos, I switched to a red jack and was asked to make funny faces.
I then switched to a brown cowl-neck sweater that he supplied and sat behind a desk. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I detest cowl-necks. The setting also made me feel like a school teacher. While this was one of my least favorite photos, it’s been a favorite of a lot of family members.
I put on the black lace gown I had brought. I had originally bought it for Haylee’s wedding in Australia, but thought it might be too fancy for it. It still had tags on it and was a couple of sizes too big. The gown looked lovely, but I just didn’t like how I was posed in it when I eventually saw the photos.
The next clothing change was a blue strapless gown from the studio. It was a size 14 and really tight, but I was pleased I could actually get it zipped up. I also did this shoot in bare feet. I felt like a star in this gown, which was unlike anything I’ve ever worn and the photo I selected wearing it was my favorite of the whole set.
After the blue gown, I found a cream-colored gown I wanted to try. It was a tad too small and I had to have it clipped in the back so the shoulders and bodice didn’t flop. No worries…Simon is an expert at removing unwanted items from using Photoshop!
For both the gown shoots, I opted to not wear my glasses, which I’m so glad I did. After all, I may be getting cataract surgery in the new year and not need glasses for distance anymore
When I was tired and ready to stop having photos taken, Simon pulled up a large screen to view the 60+ photos he had taken. My job was to narrow it down to seven photos.
Below are my picks in the order of my preference. Click on an image to see a larger view.
The whole experience was super fun and I felt really special. It’s also great for anyone to treat themselves to something different and feel really good about it!
