9 unordinary gift ideas for Valentine's Day this year
Why not do something UNORDINARY to celebrate the love for your partner, or for yourself, if you are single this Valentine's Day. (LOVE is love and it all starts with loving yourself first, anyway, right?)
Here are the ideas that got me excited. These are the things that you can do in our beautiful South Florida, or pretty much anywhere else!
Stores and supermarkets are already all dressed in nauseating pinks and reds, and heart-shaped boxes and teddy bears flood the shelves as stores are motivating us to BUY that special some THING for the loved one. What is the holiday really about? Many people, like my husband, for example, consider it a made up commercial holiday that just makes you BUY STUFF. Yet, when we don't celebrate it at all, I get slightly envious seeing all the bouquets/chocolates/dinner dates that someone else got (thank you, social media), and I start whining, "yes, we can celebrate our love ALL YEAR ROUND, but why don't we also do it on THIS DAY when everyone else is doing it?"
Why not do something UNORDINARY to celebrate the love for your partner, or for yourself, if you are single this Valentine's Day. (LOVE is love and it all starts with loving yourself first, anyway, right?)
Here are the ideas that got me excited. These are the things that you can do in our beautiful South Florida, or pretty much anywhere else!
Go to a concert.
Whether you love musicals, ballet, opera, classical music, or comedy, our local centers for the performance arts have so many affordable options that will give you a gift of experiencing something beautiful together. Even if the performance doesn't fall on the actual date of February 14, it is ok. You can gift the tickets to the show on the special day, or spill the beans before if your event takes place before the holiday.
Take a painting class together.
So many studios have sprung up lately that give you an opportunity to tap into your artistic talents while sipping on merlot (or, getting hammered, as I like to call it - I don't drink by the way :)) In addition to feeling like artists, and getting to hang out with other people, you can hang your artwork on the wall and it will ALWAYS remind you of that one very special Valentine's Day that you shared together.
Make "30 reasons why I love you"
pictures on your phone and gift it to your hunny-bunny on Valentine's Day. I started this project to cope with my husband's absence last year while he went on a trip to Europe for two weeks. I created these photos on my phone using WordSwag - an app that allows you to add words to photos (though there are many others apps that do that) and you can find free photos on Pixabay. I would create one reason for every day and would send it to my husband as a text message. If you do it this way, you will have a whole month of love celebration! Or, you can prepare all 30 reasons (10, 12, 100 - you pick your number!) and then print them as a photo book and gift it in a beautiful box. There is something unforgettable in having physical photos that you can hold and touch, don't you think? Can you imagine re-discovering this gift years later in your drawer of special things and remembering that very special Valentine's Day? In addition to that, focusing on your partner's positive characteristics, will very likely deepen your love for her/him.
Experience how other cultures celebrate love on this day.
If you have never been to a Latin night club, or a Russian restaurant with live music, why not try it on this day and see love through other culture's eyes. You get to try authentic food, listen to music, dance, and it will surely stand out in your memory - that Valentine's Day when Russians made you do shots all night (be careful with those guys, and please take Lyft or Uber home!) It might not be as authentic as going to another country, but it may be a pretty insightful approximation.
Hire a photographer to capture your special love in candid shots.
Honestly, I do not have many decent photos of me and my husband, except for the pictures from our wedding day. There may be a few good selfies, but those photos are static, they show us pretty and happy, but they don't really show the interaction, how we are together with each other. These selfies are looking away from each other, and I yearn for photos that have us caught in the moment of how we are, walking hand in hand, or talking about something, or being silly. It is hard to capture those with selfies, you need an artist, a professional photographer to do that. A casual photoshoot on the beach, or in a park, during which the two of you will just be yourselves, walk around and "play" in front of camera, will take no more than an hour, and you can catch a movie or go out to dinner afterwards. If you do the photoshoot well in advance before the holiday, you might have your prints ready on Valentine's Day and the special gift that you BOTH get is a box of beautiful photos that celebrate your love the way you see it.
For those who want to celebrate their love for themselves, the option would be a Goddess Photoshoot or a portrait photography session for men, both of which you can also give as gifts - memorable experiences that might change the way people see themselves.
Go extreme.
You can go as extreme as you are comfortable with or really face your fears and push outside of your comfort zone. Sky diving, zip lining, surfing, or paddle boarding? One of the most memorable gifts I got was sky-diving on my birthday (it wasn't Valentine's Day, but I will surely remember that gift forever). The adrenaline rush of a new activity will heighten the natural high you get from being around your special other, and you can skip the wine that day! :)
This is me skydiving on my 26th birthday.
Now when I think back to that day, I cannot believe I did it!!!
Learn something together.
Always wanted to learn Italian or French? It might take more than one day to learn a skill, but you can present your loved one with a gift-certificate for lessons and then can start planning your second honeymoon vacation to Europe once you become a little conversational in a foreign language.
Go to a couples retreat
(and I don't mean the movie, though it was pretty hilarious :)) Our very own Florida-grown tantra healer Lourdes Starshower has a Valentine's Day retreat coming up soon. I personally have never been to one, but I imagine that attending it would strengthen the connection that the two of you have and launch your sex life into other dimensions.
Switch your favorite activities to learn more about you partner.
For example, I like yoga and my husband loves to play soccer - he usually plays every Monday - and I get my assa to Vinyasa (as yogini Tamara says) whenever I schedule it (planning is everything!) So imagine, my husband will take a yoga class and I will play soccer on a field with my girls. Or, if your boyfriend loves to play poker or golf, and you enjoy tai chi, why not switch for one day, provided you don't do that activity already. It might give you a better understanding of your partner's passion and also give you a new found appreciation for certain characteristics that your partner has that you were never actually aware of.
Get creative!
How you choose to celebrate YOUR relationship and your LOVE is totally up to you - there is no one recipe that fits all. Whatever you choose to do, I hope you really FEEL the love. At the end of the day, it is not THINGS that we long for, but the attention, the connection, the experiences that we live through together.
I hope you share some very memorable experiences this Valentine's Day.
With much LOVE,
Francesca Bliss
a singing yogi
Imagine taking a hot yoga class that makes you feel like you have worked out such DEEP muscles in your body that you didn't even know existed and all the toxins evaporated from your body leaving you light, sweat pouring down your face which you gave up wiping, and you are feeling proud for having shown up.
Imagine taking a hot yoga class that makes you feel like you have worked out such DEEP muscles in your body that you didn't even know existed and all the toxins evaporated from your body leaving you light, sweat pouring down your face which you gave up wiping, and you are feeling proud for having shown up. And when lie there on your back, in a corpse pose, and your mind has left your body, you hear the sound of an accordion that vibrates through your body and the entire room, making you resonate with the bodies of all the other yogis who joined you for this ninety minutes of practice. And in unison with the sweet and grand sounds of accordion you hear an angelic voice singing that sounds like something between Sanskrit and Brazilian Portuguese. That was my experience with Jessica, who teaches yoga at Anuttara Yoga.
It wasn't until later that I discovered that there are yoga lessons with live music, but Jessica gave me a glimpse of it.
We photograph in Sanborn Square in downtown Boca Raton on a Thursday afternoon, and the fruits of our labor can be seen here.
She talks with a sing-songy Brazilian accent and literally FLOWS from one pose to another so fast at times that I ask her to go back to this or that pose so I can take a better shot of her.
When the sun almost gone, we decide to play with a dress or a non-yoga outfit. With the words "I have this sari, you gonna die when you see it", she goes to her card and brings out a huge basket filled with colorful outfits and dresses. When she pulls out this golden five-mile sari, my eyes start gleaming. She wraps herself in this sari and sits next to the fountain while I click away, trying to find THE SHOT. Afterwards Jessica said that her mom almost had a heart attack when she saw this photo:
Then we play with another Sari, a green one, and just as we are both about to leave, she - to catch a movie with her boyfriend and me - back home to my babies, she changes into this simple and elegant outfit of black top with open back and wide flowy blue pants. She looks like a ballerina and she confesses to me that she is also a dancer! I ask her to dance on this huge stage of Sanborn Square. And when she starts jumping up high in the air and leaping in effortless pirouettes, I realize that the next photoshoot we will be doing with this goddess will be a dance shoot!
Get to know this Goddess for yourself - attend one of her classes and see what brilliant light she shares with the world.
my digital art
The kids are asleep, the whole house is quiet and it's time to go sleep. "I'm just going to work on it for ten more minutes and I will go to bed", I say to myself as I play in Photoshop. And it feels like in a blink of an eye forty minutes go by.
How is that even possible?
The kids are asleep, the whole house is quiet and it's time to go sleep. "I'm just going to work on it for ten more minutes and I will go to bed", I say to myself as I play in Photoshop. And it feels like in a blink of an eye forty minutes go by.
How is that even possible?
I love creating various compositions in Photoshop and now have an idea for a series, the model for which will be my patient and beautiful husband who allows me to experiment on him. Most of what I know about Photoshop I learned from an amazing online course by Sebastian Michaels titled Photoshop Artistry: Fine Art Grunge Composition. I highly recommend this and all other courses by Sebastian Michaels - they are outstanding and are worth every penny!
You might also want to treat yourself to the mind-blowing art of other digital artist, students of Sebastian's, to whose level I aspire to belong: http://thephotoartisticlife.com What I create compared to these artists is child's play, but I should refrain from comparing myself to others and focus on learning and bettering myself, since that is the one thing I can control.
I have many favorites in this collection of digital art because I literally birth them. I put so many hours of work into them that when sometimes I ask my husband to guess how many hours I spend on a piece, he is astonished to hear the number!
One of my favorites is this composition with an old woman looking into the mirror and seeing the younger reflection of herself. The idea for this piece belongs to the beautiful Tamara, who, when we were photographing and playing with a mirror, said, "why don't you make one of me old and the other me young". It was such a cool idea and I new it would be a lot of work, but together we did it! I set up the time and came to Tamara's house to photograph her and then spent probably over twenty hours in Photoshop making her age and making the final composition match the vision that I had for it.
"I am a force of nature," said this goddess to me before our photoshoot. As I was editing Jennifer Nicole's pictures I remembered these words and also that she used her healing energy to help people. I started playing around with this one image in which I asked her to pose with her arms extended to her sides and facing upward. I also had another image of her with her hair flying up. I had asked her to flip her hair up - and I had no apparent reason for doing that besides the fact that I thought it would look cool. Except it didn't, but was serendipitous for completion of this composition.
I hope my little creations speak to you and you enjoy them. I would love to hear your feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment!
a Goddess Photoshoot with a creative modern twist
She was a jovial 18-year old with braces and skin that during that most delicate stage of our life presents the most problems. When she contacted me now, years later, about wanted to be photographed, I remembered her beaming face right away.
"How old is she now?" I wondered, "she must be around 25". So much time has passed since we ...
She was a jovial 18-year old with braces and skin that during that most delicate stage of our life presents the most problems. When she contacted me now, years later, about wanted to be photographed, I remembered her beaming face right away.
"How old is she now?" I wondered, "she must be around 25". So much time has passed since we used to see each other every day at the language school where she used to study and I used to work.
Karen was eager to be photographed as soon as possible so we scheduled her photoshoot for the following weekend. I asked Karen if she would be interested in participating in a little experiment in which my dear friend and a talented stylist and fashion blogger Sunnie Bell (check out her amazing work on www.sunniebell.com) would do the makeup and styling for the photoshoot, and I would photograph, of course. Karen agreed to participate in our experiment, which I thought was brave. Having control issues myself (which I am slowly overcoming :)), I think it is very brave to allow someone to dress you and make you up. Of course, Karen and Sunnie talked to each other prior to the shoot, but Karen was just so completely unattached and went along with every idea that we had.
"Would you be interested in doing a Goddess Reading?", I text Karen at 11 pm at night as we try to figure out a theme for her photos.
"Sounds like fun", she replies.
Goddess reading for this photoshoot was provided by Kimberly Moore of http://shaktiwomyn.com. Kimberly offers readings and teaches a variety of courses on spirituality, which makes her a very busy woman, and we were lucky to catch Kimberly for an over the phone goddess reading the following day, which was great because it gave us enough time to plan for the photoshoot which was now days away.
The intuitive goddess reading revealed that Karen's goddess was Saraswati, a Hindu goddess of knowledge and the arts. To become fully aware of her one must go beyond the pleasures of the senses and rejoice in the serenity of the spirit. Schools and libraries are her temples; books, pens, all tools of the artist and musical instruments are the symbols associated with her. Saraswati's colors are white (as a symbol of purity), yellow, and blue (associated with the throat/communication chakra). Saraswati is often portrayed riding a swan and another bird that is associated with her is a peacock. Saraswati is a goddess of wisdom and creativity. Kimberly provided us with a wealth of information on this goddess and Karen diligently studied it. (If you are curious about this and other goddesses, you might want to take a look at the website above as well as www.motherhouseofthegoddess.com)
Look at these loooooong legs!
Since Saraswati is a goddess of wisdom, the first idea that came to mind was to photograph in a library. but then an even more brilliant idea that our three-goddess team approved was to shoot in a very authentic used bookstore called Bookwise. (I also learned that in order to photograph in a library one must apply for a permit with the city, whereas things were much more easily arranged at the bookstore - a sincere heartfelt request and our wish was granted. Thank you, again, to Bookwise for giving us the opportunity to photograph there!)
The second part of the shoot was done near a lake (right next to the Spanish River Library, actually!) Goddess Photoshoots are often done in a nature setting, and, as you will see from the photos, there is something magical that happens when one connects with nature.
The stylist, Sunnie Bell, used the information about the colors and symbols of the goddess to choose the outfits for her. It is important to remember that Sunnie was looking at the goddess through the prism of her art - fashion - and had an objective of putting a modern twist on the goddess outfit. If we had wanted to go with the traditional look, we could have just clad our model in a white dress and be done with it. Just like in some statues Saraswati is portrayed with her breasts bare, which was acceptable for that time, Sunnie Bell wanted to depict the goddess' attire in a modern setting. The styling was inspired by the goddess reading, but by no means prescribed by it.
For the bookstore part of the photoshoot Karen was dressed in blue shorts, white top, fancy green shoes and blue knee-high socks (my favorite! as soon as I work up the nerve to wear knee-high socks, I will do it! I think they look so cool and remind me of my childhood :)) For all the details of Karen's outfit, please check out Sunnie Bell's blog www.sunniebell.com.
When visualizing this part of the shoot, in the bookstore, I was aiming for a fashion photography look so I asked Karen to pose accordingly (as you may notice, it is very different from the usual posing in my Goddess Photoshoots. Karen's super long legs look even longer because of the lens that I used for the shot where she is sitting on the floor, and, perhaps, the fact that the shorts are sitting on her waist visually lengthens her long legs even more. One thing I can swear is that I did not make her legs longer in Photoshop!
To make Karen's hair fly in this shot, Sunnie was waiving a white piece of cardboard to create wind. The way she eagerly jumped at her new role and how rapidly she was doing it, Karen's hair flying all over the place, it made us laugh so hard, I could hardly focus on focusing! We talked about that moment again and again and wished there had been someone else there to take a video of that circus :) Don't miss the video at the end so you can better understand and feel what our photoshoot was like!
Bookwise is the most charming bookstore and we could have photographed there all night. Once we realized that the store had officially closed and the staff was staying just because of us, we promptly collected our things and dashed out. We still had to catch the last rays of light by the lake, to where we headed next.
Sunnie retouched the makeup on Karen, who by then had already changed into a blue dress. Her hair was also put into two thin braids that were tied in the back of her head and adorned with two peacock feathers, the symbols of the goddess. Sunnie created a necklace out of a yellow leather cord and a round medallion with a tree on it (both purchased at Hobby Lobby prior to the shoot). Sunnie said chokers were in vogue again and that she saw at a couture show how the ends were not tied. We believed her and obediently went along with this improvised choker. It had a double symbolism for me since this Goddess is associated with the throat chakra, and the medallion on the choker had a tree on it, a symbol of growth. (And I think I will try out this type of necklace for myself, since it is so effortless to make and looks so cool.)
This photo was taken in the parking lot, before we "officially" started photographing at our second location.
"What is that moving in the water? Do they have alligators here?" Karen asked as we were photographing near the lake.
"Nooooo. There are no alligators here", I pacified her. "Why don't you swing your arms wide and twirl, as if you are dancing", I suggested quickly to switch her attention.
We played by the lake, Karen danced, and when we were about to leave, there was a giant pink cloud in the sky, reflecting the light of the setting sun.
"That's a wrap", I said, as I had seen it done on TV.
"We didn't have a chance to do the photos of my back", Karen reminded me politely.
The photo of the tattoo on her back was one of the important shots that I definitely wanted to take - I even sent Karen a photo, an idea of how I envisioned it when she revealed to me that she had gotten a tattoo a week prior to talking about the photoshoot.
"I am so glad you reminded me!", I exclaimed, slightly embarrassed but thankful that she brought it up. Because if she hadn't, and I remembered about it when I got home, I would have kicked myself. We ran to the car, changed in two seconds and ran back to the lake. There was a strong pull to get back home to our babies (after two hours of being away from them, both Sunnie and I start missing them like crazy) and to husbands, who were left on Daddy duty, and to whom it was promised that we would be back in a couple of hours (yeah, right!) But the artistic drive was strong and the goddess was waiting for us, so we had to work super fast.
"Why did you get a tattoo of a lotus?" I asked Karen before the photoshoot, when we were waiting for Sunnie to start doing her makeup.
"Because it symbolizes enlightenment", she explained.
Then we started talking about our spiritual journeys and she told to me that she was going to an ashram one week and one day after our Goddess Photoshoot. I envied her and was so happy for her at the same time. My first encounter with the word and concept of ashram was in the book "Eat. Pray. Love", and I had always wanted to go to one. Or at least to a silent retreat. Karen was the youngest person I met who was on her path to enlightenment so early in life. Good for her!
The sun was long gone and the sky was dark as we ran back to the lake to take that last photograph. Sunnie held the flash with a FlashBender (I LOVE their products!), I took a few shots and one of our most favorite images was from this part of the shoot.
"I have a confession to make", I said nervously looking at the water, when I saw that the girls had already left the grassy area by the water and were stepping onto the paved walkway. "There ARE alligators here. I have seen one and I have a story about it."
"I can't believe you didn't tell us there were alligators here!" they shrieked and kind of reprimanded me.
If I had told them there were alligators there, Karen wouldn't have been able to relax. In addition to that, I had seen it with my eyes before and it was small and the people who work in the library had explained that these alligators don't go around attacking people. And I was watching the water the entire time. I told the girls about it and the begged, "Tell us the story!"
"Ok, one time I had a dream... I saw my mom through a sliding glass door as she was sitting outside near water with one of my daughters, while the second one was also supposedly outside. Then I suddenly saw an alligator in the water and I screamed for my mom to get the girls back inside as soon as possible. When I woke up, I was under the impression of that dream for quite some time, as you can imagine. That same day, my youngest daughter and I went to the doctor and on the way back I decided to give us a treat and take us for a stroll, right here, where our family liked to walk. I park the car, put her in the stroller, start walking. As I daydream, I see a neon green lizard rush to the grass near the lake (you can always see animals that you don't see often; once I saw an otter here and twice a snake) I remember about my dream. As I wonder if it was one of those dreams predicting something, I see a sign that was not there before: "Warning! Alligators may be present." Can you imagine? Needless to say, I jogged to my car, my heart racing, promising to find another place for our strolls."
Our goddess party adjourned that night, tired but with a great sense of accomplishment. All three of us (plus my oldest daughter) met again exactly one week later at a Starbucks for the presentation of the final prints and digital photos. All excited about the job well done we high fived each other. I was concerned that the staff of the coffee shop would ask us to leave because we were talking so loudly and excitedly, interjecting our conversation with a lot of "oh my god!", and "I love this one!" as we were going through the pictures and remembered all the funny moments.
And while looking at the prints for the second or third time, Karen laughed,
"Look at these photos. It is not me in these photos, it's the Goddess. She definitely manifested herself."
You definitely want to check out the video below, it contains some of our behind the scenes silliness. And though the video itself might not be perfect, I will try to do a little better next time - videography is new to me and I am learning :)
Curious about what it would be like to have your own Goddess Photoshoot? Send me a message and let's talk about what kind of photos we can create for you.
personal branding photoshoot for a new yoga teacher
"Please don't mention anything to them about our photographing in the gardens", I caution my model and client, Denise, before we enter Morikami Museum and Gardens.
"Of course", she nods in agreement as we open the heavy doors.
"We are just ordinary park visitors going for a stroll", I mumble to myself as we approach the cashier, an elderly gentleman named Joe.
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
"Please don't mention anything to them about our photographing in the gardens", I caution my model and client, Denise, before we enter Morikami Museum and Gardens.
"Of course", she nods in agreement as we open the heavy doors.
"We are just ordinary park visitors going for a stroll", I mumble to myself as we approach the cashier, an elderly gentleman named Joe.
"That will be $15 per person and you cannot bring a bag of clothes with you into the park, ma'am, though your camera bag is ok," as he sternly gives me a look over.
"How did he know?" we both laugh as we head back out for Denise to change in the car. "I thought we were so discreet about it! These guys are experts at spotting photographers." My camera bag, by the way, doesn't look like a traditional camera bag. Once, when attending a photography workshop, as several of us, students, were going down in a elevator together, one lady pointed at my hot pink Cheeky Lime camera bag and asked, "Is that your lunch bag?" How dare she? I LOVE my camera bag for its extra-ordinarity. Anyway, thankfully, we were granted the permission to photograph in the park and we decided to do outfit changes in the car.
One of our most favorite images from the photoshoot is the one above. When I saw it through the viewfinder as I was taking it, I knew it would be one of the best shots. She is such a Goddess!
Even though the gardens had just opened, the serene place was already full of people being photographed and photographing. The heat index was rising so we got to business right away, deciding to play by the water first.
"Do you want me to splash the water around?"
"Great idea!" I say, and as she starts splashing the water toward me, we both giggle, but I am afraid to get water on my camera, so I suggest she try throwing the water towards the sky. This is what came out of it:
It is worth mentioning that Denise first contacted me when I was on vacation in Turkey. Even though she was eager to get her photographs taken right away, when I told her that I would be back in two weeks, she agreed to wait for me. And once I came back and we talked on the phone about her photoshoot,
I found out that Denise loves to travel and the country that she is especially drawn to is Italy. I had an obsession with Italy myself so I can completely understand why.
She also told me about how her fledgling yoga business is geared more toward children, and when I met her in person she struck me as a kid herself. This woman with a successful corporate career where she gets to travel worldwide has a contagious laughter and playful attitude of a cheerful kid!
During our photoshoot, whenever I asked Denise to give me a non-smiling expression, she would comply for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. After a few more tries I realized that it was her personality and after having taken a couple shots with a contemplative, introspective expression on her face, I decided not to persist anymore and just photographer this goddess the way she was naturally, smiling, bursting with joy, and happiness.
A contemplative expression on her face…
Until she burst into laughter seconds later!
"Look up! What is that? Is that an eagle?" she points to the top of a pine tree towering over us.
"It is!", I say as I continue to photograph her. In addition to the eagle, we also encountered a bright green lizard that I made friends with while I was waiting for Denise to change in her car. We also saw one of those long-necked black birds that spread their wings to soak up the sun. And lots of humans, of course, with many of whom Denise would casually start chatting and laughing.
We played by the water, on a giant rock, and Denise danced between tall trees. We didn't explore the entire park and I wanted to keep photographing, but we were both exhausted from the heat AND working (modeling is serious business, ask anyone who was photographed for two hours!) I think it just means that there will be a sequel to this photoshoot :)
This picture above sums up Denise's essence and personality :)
As Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don't bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man.”
I would definitely want this gentle and lighthearted woman to teach yoga to my daughters.
Another absolute favorite of both Denise and mine.
Want to join the Goddess party? Call/text me to 561-465-4857 or send me an email and let's talk about making YOUR Goddess Photoshoot a reality!
artistic yoga photography on the beach
Sharp rocks,
slippery rocks;
waves crashing on the huge rocks and sprinkling us with salt water;
Sharp rocks,
slippery rocks;
waves crashing on the huge rocks and sprinkling us with salt water;
fishermen.
We are intruding on their space,
the spot that had been theirs since before we got there.
And after we stay there a little, it becomes our space too and we feel at home there.
As if the rays of the still barely visible sun are warming up the cold fishermen, they smile to us and are ready to let us use their rocks, and even offer to move out of the way for the perfect shot.
Now as we leave this beach and give way to the new people who are coming to sing glory to the new day, they feel like they are stepping onto our territory because everything in our look and our stance says that this is our beach and our sea.
The city is waking up. People are walking, jogging, bulldozering around.
The sun just appeared above the horizon and the day barely began, but both my model Tamara and I feel like we did something HUGE that day. Three days before my departure for a vacation, Tamara and I put this photoshoot together in a matter of a few hours' worth of text messages (we had worked before) and the result of our collaboration you can see here.
My favorite images from our photoshoot are the ones with the city of Boca Raton in the background, the open bridge and boats going about their business. Most yoga photographs are taken in the nature setting, and they are beautiful, but my dream is to create a series of yoga photographs in the city, as much city as we can get in this part of South Florida, anyway.
A note for non-yogis out there:
Supposedly, you should not say that someone is good at yoga, but you can say that someone has a beautiful [yoga] practice. I overheard an instructor say that to one of the students after a class. :)
So, Tamara has a beautiful yoga practice. There are a lot of wonderful yoga teachers out there, but you know how it is, right? Once you make a connection and like someone's teaching style, you prefer to practice yoga with that person because you now have a relationship. It is like that for me with Tamara.
To learn more about the many talents that this woman has and a bit about how we got to know each other, please read the Goddess Interview with Tamara, in which she also shares some advice to those who are just beginning their yoga journey. Check out the video below to hear Tamara's words on what yoga means to her and what advice she gives her students.
When I was editing these photos while on vacation in Turkey, I resolved to myself to attend at least two yoga classes a week. I want to be strong and balanced, physically and emotionally, and doing yoga at home is not the best option for me because I tend to push myself more when I am in a class setting with others (not to mention actually doing yoga, when you commit to a date and time and having to go to a class to a yoga place, as opposed to saying to yourself that sometime today you are going to practice).
So I am putting yoga on my family calendar so that my husband can watch the kids and I can take care of myself so I can be the best Mommy and wife that I can be for them. And because I'm a Goddess :)
powerful and gentle (Goddess Photoshoot report)
This Goddess did not need a confirmation that she was a Goddess and gently opted out of the goddess reading. (A goddess reading, which is included with the Goddess Photoshoot, suggests which goddess' energy you embody and is typically done over the phone by an intuitive goddess-friend of mine). I had met Jennifer Nicole at an event the year before, when hungry for artistic work, I volunteered to photograph a Marry Yourself Ceremony (by Lourdes Starshower).
This Goddess did not need a confirmation that she was a Goddess and gently opted out of the goddess reading. (A goddess reading, which is included with the Goddess Photoshoot, suggests which goddess' energy you embody and is typically done over the phone by an intuitive goddess-friend of mine). I had met Jennifer Nicole at an event the year before, when hungry for artistic work, I volunteered to photograph a Marry Yourself Ceremony (by Lourdes Starshower). The idea of Marry Yourself Ceremony was to vow to love and cherish that wonderful, most important person in YOUR life - YOU. Aside from being a photographer at that event (and I don't ever photograph events - not my cup of coffee!), I was supposed to give vows and marry myself too, but I got cold feet... Jennifer Nicole was gorgeous at that wedding - wearing a cream-color dress and a tiara and she immediately struck me as a Queen. Gentle and feminine, but at the same time knowing what she wants and very powerful.
When she finally decided to splurge on a Goddess Photoshoot, before I even read the results of her Design my Goddess Photoshoot, I had a vision of her with very bright, vibrant colors, in a dark, about-to-swallow-you, fairy-tale-like forest. My goddess then confirmed to me that to match her spirit we would photograph in a woodsy area that also had access to the water so we chose to do it in the Spanish River Park in Boca.
Jennifer Nicole chose three outfits for the shoot - a long purple gown, a mystical black hooded dress, and a flowery short dress, that, unfortunately, never made it into the photos because we got so caught up in photographing the first two. My model also picked out lots of jewelry, including her crown.
The first part of the shoot we experimented in the woods - first on a giant fallen log and then on a path in the forest.
A little photographer's trick:
If you are not an experienced model, it is always easier to pose when you have a prop. When you have something in your hands that you need to interact with, you are more natural, because you are not thinking about the camera and posing. So we found this enormous green leaf, that took part in our shoot. The images from the leaf series are my favorite, including the million dollar shot (can you guess which one it is?).
On the technical side of things, for my photographer friends who might be reading this, the lens that I used for these images was Lensbaby Spark. ("Baby, I love Lensbaby", I said to my husband) This very inexpensive lens that looks more like a toy gives your images one in-focus sweet spot while the rest of the image is soft and blurry. This year I am on the path of experimenting with photography and getting away from the prescriptive rigidity of what I was taught (how can you prescribe ART?) by taking a bunch of out of focus pictures. The slogan on the Lensbaby gave me goose bumps when I first read it:
"Discover how the aim of photography isn't precision or perfection. It's wonder."
So wonder we created and the images came out wonder-ful :)
Then we decided to take some photos on the path in the woods. After giving my model some general posing guidance, I captured these images below. "I was channeling a Disney princess", she said with a huge smile.
She even sang for me and the birds chirping in the tress, just like the real Snow White! And I got it on camera, in one of these behind-the-scenes shots:
For the second part of the shoot, to translate the vibrant, abundant, gentle, loving and fun-loving spirit that I saw in Jennifer Nicole, I though a sea of flowers would help. (Well, a sea I did not quite muster, but a pond it was. We will try the sea version next time:)) We scouted a patch of green grass, further away from the action of beach-goers, who were washing sand off their happy and tired canine babies on the way back to their cars. My goddess sat on the bright green grass, surrounded by white, pink and purple-hued flowers that matched her dress, behind her ... a parking lot.
"Are you sure the parking lot will not show?", she looked around.
"Trust me, I am an engineer", I thought, and reassured her, "No, it won't, don't worry".
The flower shots came out beautifully, showing off her gentleness, femininity and symbolizing her being a beautiful blooming flower herself and her abundance and bright outlook on life.
"Red roses are my favorite", she says, when I pull out a giant red rose that I envisioned as a prop for the black dress and the third, final part of our session. Though my vision for that dress was to be photographed on the beach, Jennifer Nicole convinced me that it would look better in the woods, since it had a more magical feel to it. By then it was twilight, and the photos came out capturing that mystical spirit of the Goddess.
"What time is it?" I wondered, when I realized that we were the only ones left in the park. (Because I totally lose track of time when I photograph, that day, I had prepared a watch to put on before the shoot, but forgot it anyway.) When I looked at the time, it was 7:45 pm - we photographed for close to three hours! That moment, when I get yanked out of my fantasy world and back to reality, I start panicking that my baby might have gone through all the pumped milk and may be hungry (which is rarely the case), and we throw everything back into the car and head out, back to the real world. But this fantasy-like evening in the forest and the reminder of her divinity will stay forever, in beautiful photos.
I delivered the final photos to Jennifer Nicole in person. We met at a Dunkin Donuts, where I presented her with the beautiful black box with the photos inside. I loved the photos we created together and was curious to know her opinion about them. "You will be blown away by how beautiful you are", is my promise for the Goddess Photoshoot experience. "Will she be blown away?" I wondered as I was opening the door for the giant jogging stroller in which my daughter accompanied me.
"Guess what the client said about the photos?" I ask my husband (the game that he is thrown into playing whether he likes it or not :))
"She loved them"
"Yes, she loved them! She was totally blown away!", I exclaim joyfully and braggingly.
Her exact words after seeing the photos were "I am so happy right now!" and that is the best praise I can get. She also added, "This is the best work you've ever done and I've seen your work. And I have to say I have the best and I love them!"
Those words gave me a high that lasted the whole day, and then some. That must have been one of the few times when I did not seek validation on Facebook as I often do.
After posting a photo or a piece of digital art that I am proud of and then not getting as many likes as some perceived notion of how many likes it deserves, I would then get depressed over not getting that validation. And that day I did not need any validation because I KNEW the photos WE created together were AWESOME. I couldn't care less about social media, because I saw the value that this woman placed on these photos, and I myself felt the value of what I produced for her, and for myself. And then coincidentally (yeah, right. No, seriously, however you want to interpret it), I came across this article about photographers seeking validation on social media.
Back to the main point now.
Loving yourself because you look amazing is superficial, some might say, but that love for self must start somewhere. Focusing on the positive, noticing the beautiful, and praising yourself for the good qualities you posses will surely raise your vibration and take you on a path to loving yourself more. I hope this Goddess now falls MADLY IN LOVE with herself because she looks magnificent!
P.S. The cool thing was that I captured Jennifer Nicole's healing energy on camera :)
“I recommend Francesca Bliss because she is amazing at capturing the essence of a woman, the soul of who you are and the power you represent in a way no other photographer can. Before hiring her, or any photographer for that matter, my biggest fear was that I would not look good in the pictures. In the final photos I looked amazing and I appreciated myself more when I saw how beautiful I looked and how it made me feel special about myself. My favorite part of the photo shoot was being on site where I loved the scenery and was able to wear what I wanted and to be free, to be who I am. Francesca Bliss captures the magic in people and there’s no other art like that. ”
Curious about what it would be like to have your own Goddess Photoshoot? Send me a message and let's talk about what kind of photos you desire.
photographing this south florida dancer and performer made my head spin!
Immersed into setting up my flash while mumbling out loud about what I am doing, as I often do before and during photoshoots, I get slowly pulled back into this world by a sweet aroma of some essential oil. I glance over at my model, an exotic looking slender Gita, whom I met through an acquaintance, and I see her rubbing the shiny oil onto her legs. "I have a bunch of good luck rituals," she says with a huge grin.
“You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.”
Immersed into setting up my flash while mumbling out loud about what I am doing, as I often do before and during photoshoots, I get slowly pulled back into this world by a sweet aroma of some essential oil. I glance over at my model, an exotic looking slender Gita, whom I met through an acquaintance, and I see her rubbing the shiny oil onto her legs. "I have a bunch of good luck rituals," she says with a huge grin.
As she confessed to me later, even the day of the week that we chose for our photo session, a Tuesday, was no coincidence.
She says Tuesdays are her lucky days.
The word "auspicious" comes to mind, which immediately makes me think of Eat, Pray, Love. - the book in which Liz, the heroine, raised money for a construction of a house for a family, which then kept putting off building the house for a ridiculous period of time because they were waiting for the "auspicious moment". English not being my native language, after reading that book the definition of this word was forever ingrained in my lexicon.
And speaking of raising money for a cause, when Gita and I were exchanging text messages over a span of few days in preparation for the shoot, she told me that she would like to do a photoshoot while also raising money for a charity close to her heart - Food for Life Global. As I read that message, I thought to myself, "crazy lady. How can you model and raise money at the same time?" I am glad we talked about it and both agreed that we might join forces to raise money for this charity on a different occasion.
Photographing Gita was effortless and joyful. Watching her spin in her 23-meter-of-fabric Flamenco skirt in front of a green live wall on Worth Avenue or watching her wave a soft delicate scarf against the backdrop of the bluest sky in South Florida (while also balancing and trying not to fall into the fountain in the center of Mizner Park) was like having a private show just for myself. Those passing by must have also felt the same way because they stopped and stared. And smiled. (Some took pictures with their phones, and one guy insisted we take a picture and send it to his friend Larry Jones in Beverly Hills). Random people told her how beautiful she was.
And everyone who laid eyes on her walked away with more sparkle in their eye, taking with them a tiny bit of her brilliant smile and radiant joy.
Her name is Devi, which in Sanskrit means "goddess", another auspicious coincidence, since photographing goddesses is one of my passions.
Her passion is, clearly, dancing.
As the epigraph to this article so accurately remarks, there is noting there for the ego to display once the dance is over (ok, you can record a video and can show THAT off), as opposed to my craft, in which I get to brag about the beautiful images I create (which leads me to this ongoing debate as to whether I am feeding my EGO or my SOUL by doing this, which brings me oh so much joy, my photography) I came across this quote, which, I suppose, is what dancers must feel:
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful... This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.”
As I was editing pictures from my very first photoshoot with Gita, and the first photoshoot of this year, in the very last picture from our session (when I saw a "are you coming soon?" from my husband and told Gita that I had to run back home to my babies, and when she threw her hair up into a high pony tail which gave her a playful look), I noticed a small rooster, perched on a single tile above the passage where we shot. And just before I started editing, when I was frantically searching for a New Year's card to post on my Facebook profile (which I didn't do anyway) did I find out that this year 2017 is the year of the rooster according to Chinese horoscope. I believe in signs. And I took this rooster as a sign that it will bring me good luck this year.
Later I found out that Gita was born in the year of a rooster, which means I have a double rooster in this photo, in the very beginning of the year of the rooster!!!
This is as auspicious as it gets.
artistic nude photography
"In this country people equate nudity with sexuality",
said Adam, one of the volunteers for my most recent art project. Adam is a member of a Florida Young Naturists group, a community of nudists 18 - 35 years of age. The nearest to Boca Raton nude beach is in Aventura, just north of Miami, in Haulover Beach, where the sand is white and ...
"In this country people equate nudity with sexuality",
said Adam, one of the volunteers for my most recent art project. Adam is a member of a Florida Young Naturists group, a community of nudists 18 - 35 years of age. The nearest to Boca Raton nude beach is in Aventura, just north of Miami, in Haulover Beach, where the sand is white and the atmosphere is serene, according to my model. I take my chances and photograph Adam on the public beach in Boca at 6 am in the morning, before the world awakens and anyone can get offended by a nude man ashore. We start working and I lose track of time, of course. The sun is barely above the horizon, Adam is sitting on the wet sand facing the water, small waves washing over his legs from time to time. An early riser and exerciser, a woman in her 60s, walks by (I was so immersed in work that I did not notice her and did not give Adam heads up to cover himself up) and says grumpily, "this is not a nude beach, we have children here!"
"There is nobody here, ma'am", I reply, "it is not even 7 o'clock in the morning." She walks on, continuing to curse and mumble something under her breath. To be honest, she looked more upset and angry with me, than with the actual nude man, most of whose buttocks were now buried in the wet sand any way. It makes me think of this quote:
Doing nude photoshoots is what I set my artistic vision at from the beginning of 2016. My goal is to have an art exhibit of nude photography by the end of the year (or January of 2017, at the very latest - so please hold me accountable!) and so far I have photographed a beautiful spiritual singer, a courageous 19-year old who followed her love to California, a youthful life coach, a super tall tech guy, and young and open to experimentation Adam, whom you met. I'm currently looking for more volunteers to participate in this project as I'm really planning to plunge into work between September 20 and November 1. You see, my mom is coming to visit and will help me with my seventeen-months old daughter and the beginning of November is when I am going to give birth to my second daughter...
For those CURIOUS about the project, but APPREHENSIVE about being recognized or compromised for appearing nude, there are many ways to DISGUISE someone's face (with hair, mask, fabric, leaves, etc.), or have the model twisted into a shape (or simply posed away from the camera) where the face will remain invisible. In addition to that the final photo can be composed in such a way that it leaves the face completely out of it. But it will, most likely, be a very liberating and unforgettable experience, so if you are curious, but hesitant, I invite you to discuss it :)
My reasons for doing this art project are multiple:
· to appreciate and admire human form as it is (I intend to use very little post-production editing to retouch the skin or alter the shape of the body);
· to become more accepting of my own body - to love it for its functionality and for the mere but grand task of housing my soul, as opposed to despising it for some perceived imperfections as compared to some beauty ideals that have been instilled in my mind since early age;
· to provide a liberating experience for other people (women, especially) and show them how beautiful they are. Being able to participate in a project like this takes guts. Even if in the final images the person's face is disguised in some way, such as covered by hair or a mask, or cropped out completely, it takes a lot of courage to strip away your clothes and appear just as you are, one-on-one with the camera - vulnerable and raw. I like what Padma Lakshmi, and Indian-born American author and model, said on this subject:
And the rawness and discomfort of the experience and overcoming that feeling is what makes it so liberating and rewarding in the end;
· to grow as an artist. To accentuate the form and shape of the human body I will need to experiment with various lighting techniques. Also, posing a nude model is not the same as posing someone who is wearing clothes. Overall, photographing nudes is a whole different world which will bring me more experience and improve my skill;
· to show the diversity of human form, how we are all the same, but at the same time oh so different;
· to push outside of my comfort zone, to help others push outside of theirs;
· to help people become more accepting of their bodies and not be afraid of nudity. Another one of our contemporaries, Emily Browning, an Australian actress, said:
When staring with this project, I did some research and came across some wonderful artists whose work truly inspires me. Here is the list of photographers and digital artists I have encountered so far, and if you know any other artists who specialize in or have a passion for nude photo art, I would love to get acquainted with their work, so please share their names with me.
Andreas Bitesnich - an Austrian photographer and musician; specializes in nude and portrait photography, whose work has been published in a gazillion publications: http://www.bitesnich.com/portfolio/nudes
Jade Beall - an American photographer and author who lives in Arizona; specializes in truthful images of women, inspiring women to love and accept their bodies as they are, promoting self-love through un-retouched photographs: http://www.jadebeall.com
Thomas Holm - a Danish photographer who shoots artful nudes:
http://www.commandoart.com
Model Society - a creative online community of photographers, models, and artists, commited to celebrating the beauty and art of human form:
http://modelsociety.com
Take a look at their beautiful free digital magazines (also available for purchase in print form): http://modelsocietymagazine.com
Steve Richard - a Canadian fine art photographer who spends most of his time shooting dance, bodies in motion and teaching the art of light, language and line: http://www.steverichard.com
Daria Endresen - a Norwegian photographer and digital artist who creates surreal dream scapes laden with pain and mystery: http://dariaendresen.com/gallery/digital
Thank you for taking the time to read about my latest art experiment and we shall be in touch soon. In the meantime, love and admire your physical bodies and let me know if you would like to have them photographed. Nude, of course, because as Nick Offerman said, "the ultimate disguise is nothing. Nudity."
the twirling leaf, or creative photography for a spiritual entrepreneur
Dry leaves are rustling under my feet as I make my way deeper off the paved path, where sunlight does not reach the ground because of the thick foliage above. It looks like someone spilled a giant bucket of sepia to cover this part of the park canvas, with the exception of a few resilient greens that are making their way to the skies. A good way to ensure not getting a spider web on your face is to extend your arm in front of you and wave it in the direction in which you are going ...
Dry leaves are rustling under my feet as I make my way deeper off the paved path, where sunlight does not reach the ground because of the thick foliage above. It looks like someone spilled a giant bucket of sepia to cover this part of the park canvas, with the exception of a few resilient greens that are making their way to the skies. A good way to ensure not getting a spider web on your face is to extend your arm in front of you and wave it in the direction in which you are going, and that is precisely what I am doing.
"Why don't you sit right over here?" I suggest, pointing to a spot in the middle of dry leaves and branches. Marcelo trustingly follows my instructions and sits cross legged on a dry branch that cracks under his weight. He puts his right palm facing up and notices a bright green leaf dotted with yellow hanging on a thread of spider web. The leaf had caught my eye and I instinctively guided Marcelo to it so that it can become an element of our photo shoot. As Marcelo sits there, just focused on that leaf, it starts spinning, faster and faster, unwinding the problems and worries from our minds. And as it twirls and twirls, my shutter clicks and clicks, and both Marcelo and I are silent. He is meditating on the leaf and I am holding my breath to capture this intimate moment.
This little meditation sets our photoshoot to a great start. We squeeze ourselves from the murk under the banyan tree that had originally lured us into that section of the park with its intricately intertwining long slender roots.
Meet Marcelo. a kind soul from Peru, a yogi, a tree whisperer, a Thai massage expert, an advocate of yoga as a way to quiet your mind and find inner peace.
I lead Marcelo to another tree with which I became acquainted on my previous photoshoot in this park. "How would you feel about climbing this tree?" I ask, and in two seconds Marcelo is already up on the tree, beaming with a smile of a mischievous kid. I take several photos of him up in the tree, while he gets to indulge the little boy in him, climbing the giant branch higher and higher. And then the wise Marcelo returns - he closes his eyes in a pensive embrace of the thick branch.
After the tree climbing we find another leaf that begs to be a part of Marcelo's photos. This one is a huge round one, more wide than it is long, almost heart shaped, bright orange and red. It looks a little bit like a heart and has an outline of a beautiful tree.
We conclude our photoshoot on the beach where Marcelo works his Thai massage magic on a futon and with assistance of his friend Tasia who volunteered to help. It was a wonderful session, peaceful, infused with good energy.
The images I love the most are of Marcelo meditating in a tree, and the one with the twirling leaf. And when my mind starts doing just that - twirling - I will take myself back to the peacefulness of that afternoon.
To get to know Marcelo even better, connect with him on Facebook and visit one of his yoga on the beach classes.
Goddess Photoshoot with Nora + behind the scenes magic
"You will recognize me by a green top and I will probably have my nose in the book" - these were my cues for identifying Nora whom I was about to meet for a pre-photoshooot consultation at my favorite French bakery.
Nora's Goddess is Brigid, the patroness of poetry and inspiration, the ruler of creativity and ...
"You will recognize me by a green top and I will probably have my nose in the book" - these were my cues for identifying Nora whom I was about to meet for a pre-photoshooot consultation at my favorite French bakery.
Nora's Goddess is Brigid, the patroness of poetry and inspiration, the ruler of creativity and healing, whose symbol is fire and whose color is green. In preparation for the shoot Nora found a green velvet cloak, and I bought a green satin gown that had been calling to me at the local thrift store (and which I snatched for 10 bucks!) The morning of the photoshoot I pull up to the parking lot of where we were to photograph and Nora waives to me from her slightly beat-up Ford, the color of which is .... GREEN! It truly is her color!
Since Brigid is the guardian of poets and bards, we decided to incorporate books into several shots. "I always have anywhere from dozen to twenty books in my car", Nora says. The morning of the photoshoot she pulls out these two out of her trunk: one titled "Beauty" and the other one "Feminism and the Mastery of Nature". Then she took out this necklace with rhinestones that she put over her head and immediately transformed herself into royalty. I got goosebumps...
The photos came out aaa-mazing - there is so much power in Her, yet at the same time so much tenderness, so much beauty and peace. I came across this poem when I was researching Brigid once the photos were ready, and I felt compelled to share it with you:
The Charge of the Goddess Brigit
I call to you my children, my sisters and brothers to hear my charge
I, who am Brigit, Brid, Brigantia, Braga, Branganca, Fraid and many other names,
Do charge you to find the fires of life within your soul
And forge yourself to be strong, sharp and powerful.
Pull the elements of the earth into your being;
Breathe the inspiration of poetry, song, and art into your soul;
Be heated by the flames of the fire and ember;
Be tempered and soothed by the cool waters from my sacred well;
And be shaped and fused into magic at my hearth
Come to my wells for healing and wishes
Be nourished and soothed by the waters
Tie your wishes to the branches of my trees
And know that wishes spoken
Become the magic of the world
Become your wishes, the magic at my well.
Sing the inspiration of the mystery with your voice
Inspire yourself with joy and love
Delight in the blessings of creation
Become the Art you were meant to be.
And here is the promised sneak peek from behind the scenes!
Curious about what it would be like to have your own Goddess Photoshoot? Send me a message and let's talk about what kind of photos we can create for you.
mother and daughter photoshoot
As if it was yesterday, you remember the day your precious little girl was born. It seems not so long ago you cuddled her in your arms and now she is five years old. And now she is a teenager. And in another blink of an eye you are wiping a tear from your eye the day of her wedding. Where did the time go
As if it was yesterday, you remember the day your precious little girl was born. It seems not so long ago you cuddled her in your arms and now she is five years old. And now she is a teenager. And in another blink of an eye you are wiping a tear from your eye the day of her wedding. Where did the time go?
My daughter is five months old now and I cannot believe how quickly the time passed since this tiny human, with whom I am deeply and madly in love, entered this world.
You can't stop time, but you can freeze precious moments in photos.
Most of the photos that I have of my beautiful daughter are on my cell phone, just of her, though we do manage to get some good selfies of both of us from time to time :)
What a timeless gift is photos of mother and daughter! The beautiful connection of the two souls, the love for one another, the physical resemblance, and the precious memories of being together - photographs capturing all these things will grow to be cherished even more with passing of time.
The photos of my dear Emily and her at the time five-year-old daughter Grace were taken on the beach. We actually got rained on in the beginning, and I got some playful shots of Grace playing with rain drops. It was fun photographing the connection that mom and daughter had, though, I must admit, working with young kids can be challenging at times. To capture the beauty of this strong and beautiful woman who helps transform the lives of many young women through the work that she does in the community, I took several pictures of Emily alone. My favorite shot is the portrait above in which her beautiful blue eyes match the blue of the ocean and the clouds in the background!
It's been a year since I saw Emily and we are meeting up for coffee this week - I can only imagine how much her daughter has grown and changed since then!
One day they will be able to sit down together and remember these playful days of Grace's childhood. I am glad to have been there to record a fleeting glimpse of it...
Japanese-inspired photoshoot
It all started with an idea to just get out and do a little photo shoot. Where? Morikami Park, since I had never been there. The ambiance should have been enough of a theme in itself, but developing the idea further, the model who volunteered for the project - Nelly Iskhakova (one of my favorites!) - happened to have a Japanese-looking top, so it was decided to compliment it with geisha-inspired makeup with a modern twist to it. The images below are what we came up with!
It all started with an idea to just get out and do a little photo shoot. Where? Morikami Park, since I had never been there. The ambiance should have been enough of a theme in itself, but developing the idea further, the model who volunteered for the project - Nelly Iskhakova (one of my favorites!) - happened to have a Japanese-looking top, so it was decided to compliment it with geisha-inspired makeup with a modern twist to it. The images below are what we came up with!
We purchased a handheld fan at the gift store upon arrival at Morikami Park, and when the model put it up to shield her eyes against the sun, I was mesmerized with the shadow pattern that it cast on her face. After a few minor adjustments to ensure the shadow covered her entire face, this final photo was taken. Used natural light and a neutral density filter to allow for a wider aperture.
artistic self-portrait
After I created this self-portrait I realized that the inspiration for the idea came from my daughter! On the conscious level I was experiencing what I call artistic hunger - not having an outlet for my creativity due to not having shot in over a month. My husband had given me a dozen red roses for our fourth-year anniversary and I made up my mind to photograph them. Since I am not as keen on photographing objects as opposed to people, it struck me as a brilliant idea to do a self-portrait. No makeup, but luckily, freshly washed hair, a nursing bra stained with breastmilk, I set up a tripod while my daughter was napping in a swing. I threw
My eight-week-old daughter has a pacifier with a pink flower on it. When I look at her angelic face as she sleeps peacefully with this flowered pacifier in her mouth, the whole world stops.
After I created this self-portrait I realized that the inspiration for the idea came from my daughter! On the conscious level I was experiencing what I call artistic hunger - not having an outlet for my creativity due to not having shot in over a month. My husband had given me a dozen red roses for our fourth-year anniversary and I made up my mind to photograph them. Since I am not as keen on photographing objects as opposed to people, it struck me as a brilliant idea to do a self-portrait. No makeup, but luckily, freshly washed hair, a nursing bra stained with breastmilk, I set up a tripod while my daughter was napping in a swing. I threw wide open the blinds of the window and set up the camera to shoot in natural light as the sun was slowly making its way toward the horizon. To be honest, I hate doing self-portraits because a). it is hard to be the model and photographer at the same time; b). modeling is really hard despite all the confident posing instructions I give when shooting; c). my face is extremely asymmetrical and even though I find its reflection in the mirror to be pleasing, I become highly aware of this asymmetry when looking at photos of myself. Despite all of these obstacles, I was resolute on getting a shot with which I could further play around in post-editing and create into something magical. That was the goal. I used a 50 mm lens, my go-to lens for portraiture. Taking a self-portrait is hard not only in terms of getting the right expression on your face since you cannot see yourself (some recommend using a mirror for that), but also from the technical standpoint - getting a sharp, focused image. I set up the chair on which I would be sitting, placed a floor lamp at the level and distance from the camera where my face would be, auto focused on it and then switched to manual focus. Despite the fact that I did not have a lot of natural light available, in order to make my face and the rose look in focus, I had to use a higher depth of field, so I set my aperture at f7.1, and to compensate for small aperture I set my shutter speed at 1/40 and ISO at 1600. It took a lot of running back and forth from my "stage" to the camera and minor adjustments in where I sat to get a clear focused shot. After experimenting with different positions of the rose (the original idea was to have two roses instead of the eyes) and adjustments in the camera, I came up with this shot. Then some Photoshop magic and, voila, here you have it.
The more I look at my portrait, the more I like it. First of all, I like it because I look good :) Though I am not perfect: the asymmetry of my face is quite evident in this photograph (even though I made my left eye longer (l ♥ Photoshop), it is still shorter than the right one); the crease on my right eyelid is the result of sleep deprivation (how much sleep can you get with a new baby?); and my nose is not symmetrical either but the rose partially hides it. Someone told me once that when a person dies, his face becomes completely symmetrical. I don't even know if it true, but if it is, I have a very long life ahead of me! In any case, I did not make my face look perfect in Photoshop because I don't believe in making people look like perfect dolls, but prefer to preserve the natural imperfections that make each and every one of us unique.
Now, the coolest part about this self-portrait is how meaningful it is to me. First, it was inspired by those I love deeply and my love for them defines, in part, who I am. A vibrant red rose in place of my mouth symbolizes communicating not by means of words, but by means of imagery. My eyes closed yet I can see - I am witness to a beautiful dream that I myself create. No makeup, no fancy hair or clothes - simplicity - just the essential. And like my daughter, sucking on her pacifier for the calming and soothing it provides, I am tranquil and at peace with all. This is who I am. This is MY dream. My life is a DREAM...
Originally published on June 4, 2015
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tough stuff
"Give me some time to get into better shape and we will do a photoshoot", were his words before I left for a long vacation spanning two countries. Having come back hungry for work (photographing places and things does not give me the same high as a photo session with a person, a photo session with objectives to capture a certain mood, or something special about that person), so I was very psyched to have an opportunity to photograph Kerem.
"Give me some time to get into better shape and we will do a photoshoot", were his words before I left for a long vacation spanning two countries. Having come back hungry for work (photographing places and things does not give me the same high as a photo session with a person, a photo session with objectives to capture a certain mood, or something special about that person), so I was very psyched to have an opportunity to photograph Kerem.
It was an indoor photo session with one light, tons of coconut oil (to enhance form and give the skin a glistening look), and lots of fun, as always. As many other clients that I work with, Kerem was concerned about how to pose himself in front of the camera for a natural look. To alleviate this anxiety for him, I suggested some poses which he openly tried and we also improvised a little.
Side by side comparison of the photo straight out of camera and the final edit. As you can see, the abs are really his :)
Originally I had planned Kerem's final photos as high contrast black and white images, but when I started editing them, I decided to try a brownish/golden tonality and am very pleased with the results. As you can see from the side by side comparison of the two photos below, the only things that I changed in Photoshop were color and contrast and no alterations were made to the actual body of the model. By the way, the response to my request to provide some insight on how to get a body like that was simple: work out and watch what you eat, especially eliminate carbs. Sounds easy enough, right? ;)
These are the final images from our photo session. Hope you enjoy them!
the gift of Yemaya (Goddess Photoshoot essay)
Yemaya has been there all along - watching, waiting for us to notice, but we get so wrapped up in ourselves, in our daily routines, in our personal hopes and dreams, that we miss out on the obvious: The ocean of joy, the ocean of timelessness, the blue-green sparkling jewels cast upon our shores every day.
Yemaya has been there all along - watching, waiting for us to notice, but we get so wrapped up in ourselves, in our daily routines, in our personal hopes and dreams, that we miss out on the obvious: The ocean of joy, the ocean of timelessness, the blue-green sparkling jewels cast upon our shores every day.
Maybe Yemaya will forgive us for arriving today empty-handed - no sparkling copper pennies, not even a bit of watermelon - because she knows how we have given all that we can, that we’re running on empty. Our throats are parched, our eyes are too dry to cry and our smiles too forced to laugh freely.
That’s why I’m here today to offer myself to Yemaya and to become one with her. That’s why she takes me into her cradling arms and wraps me in the mantle of phosphorescent waves and puts her sea treasures into my hands to hold and to cherish. For one day, Yemaya and I will be fused in the embodiment of the ocean dominion so that I can see clearly how the earth world of great plans and great deeds must all ultimately be washed away by the strength and power of the seas.
Even beginning with last night’s plans for our goddess photo shoot, Yemaya has been toying with us, standoffish and coy. Perhaps the weather would be good for a photo shoot, and perhaps not. Perhaps she would sap our strength and stamina to the point that we would sleep past sunrise. Perhaps she would send out distractions in all sorts of forms to deter us from our quest. Perhaps she just wanted to know we were sincere in our desire to pay homage.
Here is the gift that Yemaya offered upon our arrival to the appointed meeting place: first, a heart formed from shells and sand, secondly, a graceful blue heron to accompany us on our photo journey, and, finally, a powerful current with splashing waves to shake us out of the torpor of our acquiescence, our yielding to a world not of our making, and not of our liking. We accepted the risk - of lost treasures - our cameras, our unique shells, our balance!!!
Is it possible to change the world with a smile, or with laughter? Can our joy wipe out the drone of cars, bulldozers, motors on the land, in the sky and in the sea? Do we have enough hands to pick up all the garbage left behind by those that have long since retreated to their manmade prisons? Is it too late to find a balance between the world that our race was born into and the world that we have created to satisfy our egos?
Come to the sea and find the answers to your questions. Yemaya is waiting for you.
Written by Chris Card Fuller, story-teller, language enthusiast, teacher, friend, Goddess.
how I became Francesca Bliss
My parents named me Masha, or Maria, which are the same name in Russian. My given name was something that I lived with for many years, never hating or loving my name, just being ok with it, I suppose. I was also ok with who I was, but not in total acceptance of myself and full of fears and limitations. One day, when I was working at a language school where I got to meet a lot of people from different countries, I met a young woman from Argentina. She came in with her boyfriend ...
My parents named me Masha, or Maria, which are the same name in Russian. My given name was something that I lived with for many years, never hating or loving my name, just being ok with it, I suppose. I was also ok with who I was, but not in total acceptance of myself and full of fears and limitations. One day, when I was working at a language school where I got to meet a lot of people from different countries, I met a young woman from Argentina. She came in with her boyfriend to inquire about learning English and getting a student visa as a way to stay in the country. The woman must have been in her early thirties - tall, well-built, thin, long thick black hair, and an aquiline nose which did not spoil her looks, but, on the contrary, gave her that je ne sais quoi. She was impeccably dressed, simple yet tasteful jewelry adorning her fingers and wrists. I was fascinated by how she looked. I was fascinated with how she spoke - not rushed, taking her time, confidently, basking in her glory with each word she uttered. When she was impressed or surprised by something, she would say "increíble", in a sing-songy way (mind you, the entire conversation was in English, and "increíble" means incredible in Spanish). I wanted to be this woman. I wanted to be as confident as she, I wanted to take my time when expressing my thoughts and have the whole roomful of people looking at my mouth waiting to catch the next word. This woman's name was Francesca, and that day I decided that my alter ego would be named Francesca and that I would be just like her. Limitless, confident, extraordinary.
Several years had passed before I remembered about my Francesca. Then one day, when looking for inspiration about what to write for my Spanish classes, I started writing about her in my not yet perfect Spanish. My wonderful teacher Rosario would painstakingly correct my mistakes and encourage me to continue writing as Francesca's story and adventures seemed to amuse her. I kept writing and as stories emerged, Francesca became more real to me, even though she was just a personage in my homework assignments.
When I delved into photography and a couple of years later was faced with a question of choosing a name for my photography business, I did not want it to be my given name because it seemed too prosaic. So I came up with a whole list of names such as soulful photography, eye of the beholder, soul reflections, inner light photography, etc. I wanted the name to reflect that my photography went beyond the skin-deep, but glimpsed at the subject's soul and revealed her or his essence (and mine, essentially). After googling all the names that I came up with, it turned that all of them already belonged to some other photographer and it left me no other choice but to continue searching for THE name.
After a photoshoot with Paul Anthony II, a South Florida reggae artist, we sat down in a Starbucks and I asked for his ideas for my photography business name. I told him about Francesca, and he suggested that I name my business Francesca Something, so it would be a name, a pseudonym. Then a few weeks later I was visiting my beautiful friend Victoria aka Tara White - an artist, a loving soul, and a dear friend. I told her the story and added that I want the word "bliss" to be a part of the name because bliss is what I felt when I was doing photography. "Francesca Bliss", she said. "The name it Francesca Bliss. YOU ARE Francesca Bliss".
I was blown away. That was it! That was THE NAME, though it would take some getting used to the idea of having a pseudonym, and practice telling people that my artistic name was Francesca Bliss, and not worry that they would think I was crazy. Some still do, but it all comes from within. And I stand firm in my truth that I am an artist and my name is Francesca Bliss.
more about my photography journey and life:
from the goddess store:
Marny as goddess Isis (Goddess Photoshoot report)
Had an amazing photoshoot with Marny just a few weeks ago. Marny took such great care in preparing for the shoot by finding the perfect dresses and accessories. (Properly selected outfits are one of the steps that ensure a successful photoshoot!) Marny embodies the energy of Isis, the Egyptian Goddess of magic, motherhood, healing and rebirth.
Had an amazing photoshoot with Marny just a few weeks ago. Marny took such great care in preparing for the shoot by finding the perfect dresses and accessories. (Properly selected outfits are one of the steps that ensure a successful photoshoot!) Marny embodies the energy of Isis, the Egyptian Goddess of magic, motherhood, healing and rebirth.
I have put together this artwork for Marny to celebrate her devoting to the art of healing:
Curious about what it would be like to have your own Goddess Photoshoot? Send me a message and let's talk about what kind of photos we can create for you.
fun couple shoot
Always experimenting and pushing outside of your comfort zone is a great way to stay inspired and to grow as an artist. I was fortunate enough to come across a couple who was willing to be experimented upon and trusted me in choice of poses for them. While doing my research in preparation for their session, I came across photos of Adam Levine and his Russian supermodel girlfriend Anna Vyalitsina for a recent issue of Vogue. Kerem and Elia, my models, ...
Always experimenting and pushing outside of your comfort zone is a great way to stay inspired and to grow as an artist. I was fortunate enough to come across a couple who was willing to be experimented upon and trusted me in choice of poses for them. While doing my research in preparation for their session, I came across photos of Adam Levine and his Russian supermodel girlfriend Anna Vyalitsina for a recent issue of Vogue. Kerem and Elia, my models, recreated two of the poses, the side by side comparison of which is presented here. I know, I know, my angles are wrong, and I didn't edit the cropped backdrop, and my models are not ten feet tall, but, nevertheless, it was so much, and next time I will do better. We must try and fail many times before we perfection is born, and I will not relent :)
My angle is not as low as in the Vogue photo, (don't even get me started about my backdrop), and the pose might not be exactly like the celebrity couple's, but it's close enough and it was so much fun to create!
And this is my favorite shot of Elia from our session:
one woman's story - why I chose to do a Goddess Photoshoot
My recent Goddess Photoshoot with Francesca Bliss was the culmination of several important themes in my life. For many years, I’ve studied Women’s Spirituality and Goddess Archetypes as a way to access the innate divinity in myself and other women. I believe that what you worship and what you defile say a lot about a person. For instance, in Western culture, why is God a man, and woman his submissive? This dynamic shapes not only religion, but the relationship between the sexes, and ...
“You were wild once. Don’t let them tame you.”
“There is a goddess in every woman.”
My recent Goddess Photoshoot with Francesca Bliss was the culmination of several important themes in my life. For many years, I’ve studied Women’s Spirituality and Goddess Archetypes as a way to access the innate divinity in myself and other women. I believe that what you worship and what you defile say a lot about a person. For instance, in Western culture, why is God a man, and woman his submissive? This dynamic shapes not only religion, but the relationship between the sexes, and the relationship between humans and the earth. Both the earth and women are currently seen as expendable resources, and thus, often used and defiled. But what if we changed this paradigm—if we started seeing women (ourselves!) as sacred? Earth based religions see men AND women as divine, and the earth itself as a Goddess. Mother Earth, or Gaia, nourishes all of us, and must be treated gently.
Secondly, a big part of my journey towards accessing my inner goddess has been intertwined with my relationship with my body and sexuality. I have always been a curvy girl—ever since middle school, I had wide hips and generous breasts. Even at my smallest and most fit, I was a size 6. My hips and breasts just naturally wouldn’t get any smaller. When I was 15, I began to gain weight. I struggled with my weight and body image constantly since puberty, in a world that defined thinness as beautiful. In college, I started to see myself as beautiful again, but was the victim of sexual assault that taught me that my body was an object and was dirty and shameful. I spent much of the next decade trying to find value by making myself beautiful enough, sexy enough to please men.
During my pregnancy and postpartum, I gained a lot of weight. I was in an abusive relationship and suffered severe postpartum depression. When my daughter was 2, I decided that I hated myself because I was fat, and embarked on a year and a half weight loss journey. Yet I was more miserable than ever. And along the way—somewhere in the midst of obsessive diet and exercise—I developed an eating disorder. Since my desire to lose weight was motivated by self-hatred, I quickly became addicted to the attention I got when I became smaller and smaller. I was so addicted to the love of others that I found myself starving, spending hours at the gym, and engaged in multiple affairs. I couldn’t get enough of anything. I was empty inside.
Thankfully my family, therapist, and friends recognized that I was in pain and rallied to support me. I spent the next year trying to get back to some sense of self. Naturally, once I stopped starving myself and compulsively exercising, I gained some weight back. This made me feel unworthy. But I was determined to approach self-love a new way. I decided to be kind to my heart and my body. This meant regular exercise, but this time long walks outside, yoga, meditation and dancing. Self-love also meant eating clean, but also allowing myself chocolate and the occasional splurge. I committed to only positive self talk and to loving myself no matter my size. For truly—whose body is static? Our bodies ebb and flow with the seasons, and women in particular, flow with the moon, with the rise and fall of pregnancy, motherhood, menstruation and menopause. It’s okay to take up space and to be dynamic.
I met Francesca Bliss at a new moon women’s circle at our local Red Tent. I was entranced by her sparkle—her inner glow. We connected over goddesses and the importance of women’s empowerment. We want our daughters to love themselves and we know that work begins with us. Thus, the idea for the inner goddess photoshoot was born. We decided we wanted to do a Wild Woman/Nature Goddess photoshoot, centered around the Goddess Diana, who is the patron Goddess of wild women everywhere. Diana/Artemis runs freely through the forest, bow and arrow slung over her shoulder. She dances under the full moon and muses and bleeds under the new moon.
Reclaiming my wild goddess self through photography was a scary but important step for me. I knew that I had done a lot of “inner” goddess work—but in truth, I was still struggling to love my curvy, dimpled, size 14 frame. I wanted to embrace not just my soul, but also my flesh. I debated—maybe I should lose more weight—do I really want people to see me like this (I hadn’t posted many full body shots since I went into eating disorder recovery)? I didn’t like my short hair. Maybe I should wait to grow it out? No! I decided that THIS was exactly what it was about—loving myself right here, right now, short hair, size 14, blemishes and all!
Francesca Bliss was a dream to work with. She understood my vision and helped me see myself as a goddess every step of the way. Some of the most powerful shots from the session were very different—a soft, romantic shot with flowers in my hair (more like the goddess Venus/Aphrodite), and one with a powerful look on my face as I stare into the camera with a crown of twigs in my hair. I learned from this experience that I am a goddess in all my forms—soft, sensual, strong, playful, powerful. I represent many Goddesses—the goddess Diana of the wild, Venus of the magic of desire, and even the power of the dark goddesses.
Written by Mary Reid Bogue (mrboguewrites@gmail.com, Mary Reid Bogue on Facebook)
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Curious about what it would be like to have your own Goddess Photoshoot? Send me a message and let's talk about what kind of photos we can create for you.