Monday, June 28, 2010

Drama in a Bottle...or a Photo

So, Paul, my brother's partner, is an artist.  Like, an amazing artist.  And he is adventurous.  So, the first time I met him, 4 years ago, he suggested we do some glamour shot type photos, because at the time, I was still trying my hand at dating with little success.  The photo sessions with Paul have since become a theme in our relationship.  He loves that I am a willing subject, I love that he makes me look and feel beautiful.

Our first foray into the shots, we just went with what I was wearing at the time, and my own makeup.  Remember, this was four years and more than a few pounds ago.  Here is one of the shots that resulted from that session.
Yowza right?  Who knew I could look like this?

About a 7 months after that, I went through a really rough relationship and breakup, and I ran to Columbus to clear my head.  Denny, Paul, and I went to a haunted hotel for a night of ghost hunting, and he proposed a photo shoot in a cemetery.  I willingly agreed.  This time, he took care of hair, make up, and costume.  Here are some shots from this session:

Crazy awesome, right?  Well, another year or so later, they came to Pittsburgh to celebrate my 30th birthday with me.  This was right around the time Hubby and I were thinking of starting to date, so I needed an ego boost to prepare myself.  Once again, Paul to the rescue.  We were going for a modern take on a pin up, sort of inspired by Gewn Stefani.  This was the result.
Once again, he did the makeup and hair as well as took the photos.  Who knew I could look like this?

So, as we prepared for our trip to visit Denny and Paul, Paul told me to come ready for some glamour.  I kind of thought my days of glamour were over.  I am just a simple housewife, more than a little pudgy, and my clothes are now for comfort not fashion.  I never should have doubted Paul.

Again, he did my hair and makeup, at one point, while applying eyeliner, he called it Drama in a Bottle.  I decided to be brave, and suggested we do the photos without me knowing what I looked like.  Paul likes to use draggish amounts of make up, so this was a real leap of faith.  I even suggested we end the session in the rain outside.  I thought he was going to wet himself, he was so excited.  It makes me happy that I can bring that much joy to him, simply by letting him use me a play model.  Never did I think that this most recent session was going to have the results that it did.

These are some amazing and artistic shots, with some cool effects I added on some.  Paul even spent some time photoshopping me into cool backgrounds.
Who would have thought this simple housewife could look so lovely.  I seriously think Paul should do more photography, he certainly has a knack for it!  As for me, well, all those Sundays of watching America's Next Top Model clearly were worth it.