Through fresh eyes

It's no secret that I've been losing weight.
I still have trouble seeing it sometimes, though. I mean, I feel my pants getting looser, I SEE the size 12 on the tag instead of the 16.
But I don't necessarily see the changes when I look in the mirror.
I know that I'm wearing clothes that didn't fit, or didn't look as good on me a few months ago.
But I still don't always see it.
Sometimes, you need to look at things from a different perspective.

My friend Ava, from Zemya Photography, has pretty much been our go-to photographer for a couple of years. She's done our family portraits and my original blog headshots.
When she put out a call for “models” on Facebook, I mentioned that I was interested. I knew I had this blog redesign coming up, and was hoping to get a new profile pic out of the deal, maybe.

She wanted to test out a new location and some poses that she'd read about, so I was going to be her guinea pig for an afternoon, while she worked out the kinks and made a decision about the location.

“I can do that,” I thought.

My only wardrobe requirements were “more form-fitting than loose” and “nothing red” Easy. I put on my size 12 jeans, and my new size medium t-shirt, and headed out to meet her.

We did a fun little shoot, in the lobby of building, of all places.

And a few days later she sent me the images.

I flipped through them, and then again.

And suddenly, I saw what the world sees.

So thank you, Ava, for allowing me to see myself through fresh eyes.

If you're in the Bay Area and are looking for a photographer, I can't recommend Ava highly enough! This post isn't compensated, but I did get the photos in exchange for modeling for her. But truly; find her on Facebook and her blog!