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Monday, October 15, 2012

A Smile...

A smile is a wordless communication.  We smile at kittens, tiny babies, and yummy deserts.  We smile when we're happy, when we are in love and sometimes even when we are sad. We smile at irony, at brilliance and at moments of reflection.

Others see our smile and say that we are beautiful. Sadly, we never see it that way ourselves. When we gaze in the mirror at our smile, we see our face in reverse and we are accustomed to it's curves. So when we look at that same smile in a photograph, we are dismayed, disappointed and not entirely objective.  It looks weird to us, that curly upper lip...those little teeth...are my gums really that big?

In all the years that I have seen my reflection in the mirror, I have rarely liked any photos taken of my smile. I try to tweak my lips so that it doesn't look lopsided, or keep my lips closed, hiding my teeth...in short, I rarely like my pictures.


See what I mean....of course the hair treatments were a little shaky back then. Now you may be thinking "cute", but all I see is weird.

I had a portrait taken when I was a corporate officer and probably more than any other photo, I thought I looked pretty...but that crooked mile? It's mine forever...


My family genes are powerful. My sister and both look like our Mom.  My neice could be my daughter. And my daughter also has a few of my facial characteristics, as does her daughter. But even though I can see some tiny traces of myself in my granddaughter, hers is a smile to "launch a thousand ships", so to speak.This past weekend I got to photograph her for her Senior portrait.  These days, the senior picture is more casual and many of the kids opt for outdoor poses.

In the 127 frames I took, there is not one..not one...weird or crooked smile...perfect teeth, perfect gums, pretty lips, beautiful eyes, etc. etc. Yes...you're right...I sound a little nauseating going on and on, but the truth is, she was easy to photograph. Naturally beautiful. Confident. Assured.





And even though it's blurry and it will never be the one she chooses for her official portrait, this is my favorite...



Oh, that killer smile...hearts will be breaking tonight!
 
Laurel.  5 more granddaughters..maybe five more portraits? I'll need a tripod:)
 

Photobucket

6 comments:

  1. I hated my smile growing up, had a gap in the middle big enough to shove two quarters through at the same time, and a dreadful lisp. My parents thought it was cute but one of the first things I did when I was on my own was to get my teeth fixed. I'm glad I did.

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  3. so adorable!

    i really enjoyed these photos.

    yep, a killer smile!

    happy weekend!

    xx

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  4. Killer indeed!! Beautiful shots, I loved your portrait shots too :)
    Have a happy weekend :)

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  5. I think we are all so critical of ourselves in so many ways. Not until I reached my 50s did I let go of alot of those insecurities. You are a lovely woman and I love your smile. :)

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  6. Beautiful. ..you...and your grandmother. ..keep smiling friend

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Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate all those who share and leave their comments very much. Laurel

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