Hello my field daisies!
Growing up I was such a nerd. I wore my pants too high and had ridiculous cat t-shirts way before it was cool to do so. I spent most of my time in the library. I had braces and didn’t know how to wear makeup. 9 year old me never thought she could be a model, yet here I am proving her wrong.
Outfit details here.
Of course I don’t consider myself a professional, and I doubt I could ever make a living off of posing. But modeling has become a hobby of mine. Some people like to collect stamps, some people like to knit. I on the other hand love fashion, modeling and taking pictures.
But I wasn’t always so camera friendly. The picture above has an interesting story behind it. My father, like most Asian dads, loves to take pictures. So our family trips consisted of us going to scenic locations and taking lots and lots of photographs. My brother and I hated these trips. To us, they were boring, standing there for many minutes while my father tried to capture the perfect shot. Looking back on all the stunning pictures, I wish I would have appreciated these trips more. But as a kid, all I wanted to do was lay around on the beach. Instead I was in a car, driving up some precarious mountain road to watch the sunset from the top. And to make matters worse, we didn’t have enough gas and had to go back down to refill and then back up again.
We almost didn’t make the sunset, getting there just as the sun was hitting the horizon. Being this high up was absolutely freezing, and neither me nor my brother wanted to get out of the car. Since we were in Hawaii, none of us thought to pack warm clothes. All I had was a thin sweater and a pair of gauchos. Haha remember when those pants were the coolest?
My father ended up coaxing me out of the toasty car. But I was not having it, and you can see my distain as I waited for his to snap the picture. Arms crossed over my shoulders, face turned away from the camera, my mouth in a grimace…
How could I have been so ignorant as to not have noticed the beautiful view? We were so high up it felt as if we were in an airplane, looking at the expansive skyline head on.
Now that I am older, I’ve realized that our family trips influenced and catalyzed my modeling. My dad takes FOREVER to snap a picture. My patience and determination to get the perfect shot comes from adjusting and coping to his shooting style. He would always give pointers too, such as chin up, turn this way, eyes wider etc.
Every girl can be pretty, but not every girl can model. Now this is not an elitist statement. Modeling is difficult, awkward and often times uncomfortable. Coming up with new poses is hard. Trying to get a photographer is hard. Finding a good photo shoot location is hard. Angling your face to be illuminated by the sun is hard. You may be tired, sick, hot, cold, annoyed but you cannot show this on your face.
With all this said, I want to say I adore modeling. It’s an art form, and the hard work definitely pays off.
I don’t typically do life stories, but today felt right to do so. I am currently on a family trip in North Carolina, and I plan on appreciating it to the fullest extent. My father was my first ever photographer, and I admire his work so much. You can see one of my favorite shoots we did together here. In this post, I came up with an outfit inspired by Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and posed around the High Art Museum in Atlanta.
Love ya’ll and thanks for reading!
Hope you have a daisyish day!