on the "sparkle"

Recently, I was attending a talk by my friend Brené Brown. Brené’s talks are always riveting, but about halfway in, she said something that really resonated with me: she said that all humans are “hardwired for connection.” Amen, I say. This statement, in fact, is actually why I first became interested in photography. The truth is, I love faces: I sincerely believe that every single one of them is beautiful – and photography gives me the tools to communicate the beauty I see to everyone who looks at my photographs. In taking photographs, I want to create images that allow the subjects , through their uncommon beauty, to connect with the viewers. Needless to say, this isn’t always easy. See, the thing is, this is more than just photographing a pretty face. In fact, I believe judging a face as “beautiful” or “ugly” by the standards established by corporations who make these sorts of decisions to sell products avoids the profundity by which the human face is capable of expressing beauty. In my opinion, commercial beauty is superficial. True beauty, however, goes beyond the surface. True beauty is an attribute that stirs at the soul level. And so, it’s for this reason that when I photograph someone, I’m never really looking at the physical. I'm more looking for the sparkle -- the little glimpse of spirit that a subject will allow me to see. Because that spirit? That spirit is the source of indescribable beauty. It doesn't always happen immediately: the person is a bit nervous at first, or hasn't quite gotten to the point where they trust me, and so I find myself tending to talk constantly while I'm shooting, because I'm trying to get the person to let down their guard for an instant, and let me see that sparkle. And generally, when the sparkle happens (and often only happens for an instant, so I have to be quick), that's when the resulting photograph is of a really beautiful person, and the physical just absolutely falls away, becomes secondary. So if you’re new to photography, and you’re as drawn to faces as I am, I encourage you to look for the sparkle. And for inspiration, be sure to check out the work of these amazing photographers: Alison Joshua Justin and, of course, Maile. See? It’s all about the sparkle. Karen Walrond is a writer and photographer in Houston, Texas. Her book, The Beauty of Different, is available from Bright Sky Press and Amazon.com. Read and see more of her life at Chookooloonks.com and click here to see how The Beauty of Different is for and about you.

Behind the Scenes: Promise Tangeman

A little back story can be found here. Basically I wanted to re-do our website. But when it comes to design I'm your grandma who's compelled to tell you how to drive despite never having gotten a license. Did you know you can turn right on red? Slow down, here comes the stop sign. Do you think that ampersand needs to be nudged a little to the left? No right. Maybe left. This obviously translates into designers wanting to  A. slit their wrist, or B. slit mine. And since most days I enjoy my life and want it to continue living it, I knew I had to hire someone who I was not only in love with, but in awe of.

So I searched until one day the sea parted and I ended up in a magical land of rainbows, which turned out to be the website of Promise Tangeman.

Cue the doves and the gospel choir. 

There was nothing on her site I wasn't 100% in love with. So much so that (the next sentence will make my husband pass out) I gave up complete control. Even happily.

I told her I wanted to photograph the bags with real photographers from all over the world, and that I wanted a retro-Hawaii vibe with an emphasis on fashion and travel. And then I didn't see one thing until it was FINISHED. And it was exactly what I wanted. Except for even better because she executed it in a way I could have never conceptualized.

The other thing that rocked was how well she organized me. For as much as we love prettiness, there's also a lot of info that has to go into a retail site. Stuff that was even confusing me, she wrapped into a pretty little box of chocolates. With simple-to-follow diagrams of each flavor so you're sure not to choose the kind with that gross cherry stuff in the middle. She is awesome like that.

On top of it, she agreed to be our little hottie patottie boho chic model in the desert! Here are some of the shots that weren't included in the look book. How much did she rock this shoot? 

Lordy girl.

Sorry about the size differences, I stole these from the other blog post I wrote about this day.

One of the other highlights of the trip was getting to meet Melissa Jill. She has a popular blog and I've been following her for years. Here she is rocking her Ginger. Work it gurrrl.

I was especially grateful to have her there because she showed me how to use the video feature on my camera. Which on one hand is great, on the other was just enabling my bad habit of learning the least I can to get by. Especially when it comes to technical stuff, because "it always works out". Then again, it always kind of does. 

Melissa took this of me shooting...

this shot on the right.

She also took this killer shot of Kim, who is Promise's amazing hair stylist. 

 Promise had the best team of people with her, including Alex of Ave Styles who writes a super inspiring fashion blog and also offers a variety of styling services. 

What what.

 

I wrote more about everyone here. 

Basically it was just a great day with fantastic people. I came away super inspired (minus a minor man-ssage incident).

And I'm so grateful to Promise for all the work she did to create the site of my dreams. I should also mention that she worked with Showit to make it. I've used them before and wrote about how much I love them. They have great customer service. And there's simply nothing else out there that offers so many options, and so much flexibility.