Photo Shoot

I wish I had some pictures to post along with this blog entry.....Yesterday I was able to take part in a photo shoot for a well known bank at their downtown office building. I was sooo nervous like I was going to a job interview. I thought the entire morning that I needed to back out of it. I should stay home and just stay with Aidan and keep to my regular routine. Sometimes it's hard to break out of the same day to day things we do. As everyone knows, I'm somewhat of a planner, so the fact that I didn't get information about the shoot until 5:30 the night before made me crazy. Especially the wardrobe details. I'm a stay at home mom, why would I have anything that resembles business clothes? The details were vague on what they wanted us to wear.."bank clothes, business attire, bright colors/dark colors" were the exact words. Wait, I need details. Did I need to wear a jacket? A skirt or pants? I think I tried on clothes for about an hour. After stressing out, I just decided to go with what I had. (Because I did contemplate a trip to the mall). I wore a semi-bright colored coral button up, collared shirt, with a half sleeve black cardigan over the top of it. I wore a supe cute black belt as an accessory at my waist over the cardigan. I also wore a black pinstripe pencil skirt with some 3 inch patent leather, pointed toe heels. You can't go wrong in a skirt, right? I was also lucky to have my hair appointment the morning of, and so that helped me not to have to worry about fussing over my hair. I also have to mention that my makeup artist skills were in full effect. I know the tricks of makeup and a good photo shoot. The key is wearing more, a little contouring, and a little more than I normally wear. My darling neighbor agreed to take Aidan for me and I was on my way. The whole way there I thought what in the world am I doing? Well, I arrived at the location, and when I walked toward the crew, feeling pretty confidant I might add, I realized that I was over-dressed, and the only girl with make-up on (there were four of us). What? After so many years I'm still amazed that girls don't love wearing make-up as much as I do..ha ha. Well, I was also the only one in a skirt. I brought my pants along with me, just in case. I felt panic and the need to go change quickly. I asked the girl in charge if I needed to change, and she said "No, you look perfect" Really, because I wanted to go and hide actually. One girl had on a long sleeved light blue button up shirt with black pants, the other a long sleeved white button up shirt with black pants, and the older lady did have a jacket over her long sleeved button up white shirt. And I also realized as I looked around the room, it was also not about "the cute people in business". Ha ha ha! Well, the photo shoot had barely just begun, and it was 4 women, and two men. Or I should say an Asian male, a caucasian male, an "older" woman, an African American woman, another caucasian female, and me..representing the "hispanic women in business" (that's what they said later in the photo shoot). Funny, seeing that I'm not at all in business, and actually quite far from it. Well, they called my name, and off I went. I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do. The first little session was myself acting as the interviewee, being interviewd my the woman in her 50's at a desk. "Just talk to eachother" the photographer said. I'm like, okay I don't know you, and this is weird. But it got more comfortable and more fun. "Emmy, you're doing great", and "we need Emmy". Wow, talk about a self esteem booster. They kept wanting me front and center. Mind you I had to stand there smiling, pretending to be super confidant, in front of a crew of about 20 people just staring right back at me. The next session was the three women behind me at the desk conversing as if in a meeting, and me actually standing in front, posing at the camera. I actually, at times felt like bursting out into the giggles. I had to try to mentally remind myself to try and act professional..ha ha. After this session, the photographer had me in two photo sessions by myself. One where I was at "my" desk staring off into nothingness, pretending like I had just had the best idea. The camera just kept clicking like crazy, and the photographer said "Emmy you're doing great, "that's great".."when you hear the camera click this much it means you look good" Ahhhhh..I was just dying inside my head. It felt surreal. At one point I realized that they kept switching the way we were sitting, and kept putting me front and center. I was rather embarrassed after awhile, hoping they would leave me out of a few of the shoots. They did, and I was grateful for that. I wouldn't make a very good "real" model because all the attention would be quite uncomfortable for me.
Another photo shoot included myself and another lady sitting in chairs, in conversation, but we had to be using our hands. The photographer told me to relax, and said I was acting too much "Wow, I can act?" Hee hee. This was probably the most awkward photo shoot. One more shoot that I have to mention was myself and another person walking up and down the stairs, which we did like 2o times, I guess just to get the right shot.
After 2 hours, I had to leave the photo shoot early to go pick the kids up from school. They all thanked me quite graciously, and as I found myslef waiting for the elevator I ran into the manager. Before I go on, I need to mention that we all got paid at the beginning of the photo shoot..a big $50. Hey it was better than nothin'. So, she thanked me for coming and said "We wanted to give you this (handing me another $50), we all agreed that you did such a great job and we just wanted to let you know" Wow, what? I was like no, it's no big deal this was so fun. But she insisted and I was happily on my way. What a great compliment! And there you have it. It was really so much fun. And who knows where these pictures will end up, or if I will ever see them. I was told that they may be used for brochures, or maybe even a billboard...ahh, please let it just be for a small brochure.