Tag Archives: photos

Time For New Headshots (or Adding Some Personality Into My Photos)

Posted on November 12, 2015 | 1 comment

I changed my hair a little over a month ago. As soon as I did it, I planned on getting new headshots taken. Since I don’t have the same hair color anymore, I wanted new photos that reflected my new look more accurately. I had every intention of doing the shoot within a week or so of the hair color change, but due to crazy schedules, that didn’t happen.

For this shoot, I shot with my friend Adam Emperor Southard. I’ve previously done a fun shoot with him, but this was my first time shooting headshots with him. And I used Kate Hollinshead for my hair and makeup (Kate did my hair/makeup for my last 2 headshot shoots and I love what she does!).

The hair and makeup took about an hour (that’s pretty normal) and we were ready to shoot as soon as that was done. I’m still in the post-college/young mom/office worker category a lot for auditions, so that’s the look that we were going for. We did a mix of studio photos and outdoor photos, but all of my favorites came from outside.

All of those photos are unretouched, but they look almost good enough to post on the online casting services already! I think that Kate did a great job getting the perfect natural look for me (which of course takes more makeup than I’m used to) and Adam was able to get some great shots with fun expressions. I’m always self-conscious at shoots because I feel like I don’t have enough looks. And when I try to replicate looks I’ve had in the past, they come out looking weird.

Even though my shoot was only a 2 look session, I convinced Adam to let me do a couple of photos with my new Mighty Petunia top (if you shop there, don’t forget to use the promo code “Bombshell”!). I love that tank top so much and I figured it would be fun to get some photos that I might use on the blog or other places where I don’t necessarily want to use my headshots. Since I was doing non-headshots, I told Kate that we could go bold with the hair and makeup. I was ok with whatever she wanted to do, so she went with curly hair and a bold red lip.

I love how those shots came out and I’m so grateful that Adam and Kate indulged me in adding a bonus look.

I’ve already sent my favorites to my agents and included some of the crazier photos with them in case they wanted to use one for fun. They picked their 6 favorites and 2 of them came from the crazy look (including the tongue out one for a kick ass rocker look)! I’m so glad that I took a chance with these photos because I never take chances like this and it seems like it’s paying off!

I’ll be getting my retouched photos today or tomorrow and then I’ll be getting them up on the casting sites, ordering new printed headshots, and doing new business cards (that link gets you 10% off that site!). It’s not cheap to do all of this, but thankfully I will get getting some money for Hanukkah at Thanksgiving so I will be putting a bit of that toward my acting expenses. It takes money to pursue this career, but it’s totally worth it to me.

I love when I work with a photographer and I get exactly what I need plus more! I’ve had some not-so-great experiences with photographers in the past where even after multiple reshoots I don’t have what I need and the money I spent on it was totally wasted. I’ve learned which photographers I work well with and I love having a couple of people who I trust to do headshots for me. I’m sure that within a year or so I’ll need to do photos again. But right now, I’m just so excited to get these photos up and available for casting directors to see the attention they get me.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, hair, headshots, makeup, photos

Feeling So Much Love (or Embarrassed By People Complimenting Me)

Posted on May 15, 2015 | 1 comment

On Monday after my workout, I posted the following photo.

I took it because during my workout I realized that I did a horrible job of taking of my mascara from the night before and thought it was pretty bad that I had mascara smudges and sweat marks on my face. I’m usually much better about removing makeup pre-workout. I was also pretty proud of the workout I had just done, but I’ll share more about that in my Monday post where I recap my workout week.

Right after I shared that picture online, I started to get lot of really sweet comments from friends of mine. Some shared them publicly and some shared them in a private message. But they were all pretty positive and made me feel pretty great.

Then that evening, I shared this photo online.

I was celebrating having my new mattress in my house. It was a crazy morning having it delivered and the first time I got to lay down on the mattress was at bedtime. It felt like a hotel mattress and I felt so spoiled. So that’s why I shared that picture (also to thank my parents and Grandma for letting me have the mattress). I really didn’t think much about it when I posted it.

Again, I got lots of positive comments on the photos.

I love all the love that I got from everyone, but sometimes I feel like a fraud when people tell me that they are inspired by me or how they are so proud with how well I’ve been doing. I question if I deserve that positivity or if I’m not sharing my true self online (I hate when people only share the good of their lives and not the good, bad, and ugly).

I’m still struggling every day with my eating disorder. In fact, I feel like I’m struggling more than before because I feel like the Vyvanse should be doing more than it is. I wonder if I’m doing something wrong that is making the medication not effective for me. I wonder why I can’t have it work for me the way that the drug tests claim that it worked. Because of this, I’m harder on myself every time that I have an episode.

Sometimes I think that I don’t deserve people to be inspired by me or proud of me. People should be looking up to people who have conquered their struggles, not are in the battle with them.

And I’m sure I’m being too hard on myself. I know that I look up to people who are public with their struggles. But I usually look at them as someone who is done with the struggle, not in the middle of it.

But maybe I do need to look at myself the way that others look at me. I should be proud of myself for working out 3-4 times a week (a lot of people don’t do that), for continuing to battle my eating disorder (and not just give into it), and for just trying to do everything I try to do.

I’m going to work on seeing myself the way that my friends do. Using them as the mirror to see myself in and hopefully not being as hard on myself in the future.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged binge eating, eating disorder, friends, photos, positivity, tough

“Thriving In Hollywood” (or Celebrating The Ms. In The Biz Book Launch!)

Posted on February 11, 2015 | 1 comment

I’ve been writing for Ms. In The Biz for a while now. It’s been so awesome to be a part of a blog that has so many amazing women with incredible stories and advice to share. And a little while back, Helenna (who created Ms. In The Biz) shared with all the writers that she was going to be putting together a book of some of the blog posts we had shared on the site!

The book is called “Thriving in Hollywood: Tenacious Tales and Tactics from Ms. In The Biz”. While none of my posts are featured in the book, I’m still super proud of all the writers who had pieces chosen for the book and that I get to be a part of the same blog!

This week was the official launch party for the book. There was going to be a red carpet and press there, so I decided that I really wanted to look my best.

After my morning workout, I showered and then headed over to The Dry Bar to get my hair done. I normally only go to The Dry Bar on my birthday, but the party was on my half birthday, so it seemed fitting.

I had them do my hair in a similar style to how it was done in New York, but lots of curls. As soon as I was done getting my hair done, it was off to makeup!

My friend, Kayla, did my makeup for me. She also did my makeup for the Besame launch party so I knew it would be amazing.

And when I was done getting beautified, I loved how I looked!

While it feels like a lot of makeup to me since I rarely wear makeup, it just looked like an enhanced version of me. It was perfect!

For my outfit, I wanted to be comfortable because I knew that I would be on my feet all night. As much as I could love to have worn heels, it’s just not something that my hips can deal with now. So I went with leggings, a long sweater, and some cute flats.

I know I look a little distorted in that photo. My mirror needs to be replaced because it can not longer hang correctly over a door.

I got to the party and my first stop was the red carpet. I wanted to make sure that my photos were done while my hair and makeup looked fresh.

After doing my official photos, I wandered around and found a bunch of my friends. It was so much fun catching up with people when we are all dressed up! We don’t normally look like slobs, but everyone looked so fancy that night!

After some catching up, I ran into other members of the team from the Inside Acting Podcast, including the hosts Trevor and AJ (who just got in from New York that morning!). So of course, we gathered for a podcast red carpet photo.

Before I knew it, it was getting toward the end of the evening. I was exhausted and ready to get into my PJs and watch some TV.

The one thing about having fancy makeup done is that it takes quite a bit to get it all off.

I was super happy to have my Spanx and fake lashes off and to have a bare face at the end of the night!

Overall, I have to say that this was a super successful book launch party! I had a blast and everyone else I talked to did so as well!

I highly encourage all of you to get a copy of “Thriving In Hollywood”! I’ve read it and it’s super amazing! And maybe the next time Ms. In The Biz does a book, one of my blog posts will be chosen!

1 Comment

Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged books, DryBar, hair, makeup, Ms In The Biz, photos, red carpet

New Headshots (or Trying To Be A Quirky Office Girl/College Student/Young Mom)

Posted on March 3, 2014 | 1 comment

This past Thursday was my shoot date for new headshots. I had booked this date a while ago because the photographer I go to, Joanna DeGeneres, is extremely popular and didn’t have time until the end of February (I asked her about shoot dates in the beginning of January). I was more than happy to wait because she is truly an amazing photographer.

Then, it was supposed to be the storm of the century on Thursday. Joanna told me we would need to cancel (she shoots outdoors and only uses natural light). I told Joanna that I would keep that date open, because there’s always a chance that the weather people are wrong.

And guess what? It was a beautiful sunny day on Thursday! So I got to do my shoot!

I had also paid to have someone there to do my hair and makeup. I’m not that talented with either myself, but even if you are, it’s always suggested to have someone else come in to help. Also, this allowed me to have a couple of different looks.

After I got to Joanna’s, she went through the outfits that I brought with me. Based on the clothes I brought and how I look, we had decided that the looks that would be best for me would be a mix of young mom, a quirky office girl, and an older college student. I agreed that those are what I’m most likely to be cast as as well.

Hair and makeup took about an hour and then we were ready to shoot! I had 3 different looks that day and one makeup/hair change. I don’t have all the proofs yet (I’ll get those at some point this week), but here are 2 screenshots of what we got.

The first picture is more of an office look and the second picture is more of a mom look.

I’m super happy with how these look and I can’t wait to see the rest. I know that these both have a similar expression and I need more range, but I know that we shot so many different looks that day (these were just 2 pictures that jumped out at both of us while we were looked at everything).

As soon as I have all my proofs and can look at everything, I’ll try to get it down to about 15-20 pictures. Then I’ll have my agents look at them and hopefully we can get it down to maybe 3 or 4 (every one that I want to put up on the online casting sites cost money so I don’t want to pick too many). And of those few, I’ll probably pick just one to print out. I don’t have to give casting directors headshots too often any more so I don’t need a ton to be printed.

Hopefully these new pictures will get me some more auditions!

1 Comment

Posted in Acting, Beauty, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, headshots, makeup, photos

Getting Pretty (or A Fresh Look For My New Pictures)

Posted on February 25, 2014 | Comments Off

I’m going to be getting new headshots on Thursday, so I’m trying to get everything ready for the shoot. I’m picking out my clothes, trying to figure out how to pay for it since my unemployment money seems to be delayed, and getting myself looking pretty.

I try to time my haircuts and color around major events like holidays or my headshots. So this past weekend, I headed over to my friend Erin’s house so she could do my hair.

I knew that I wanted to change things up a little bit this time. I’m getting a little sick of my bangs, and I’ve had them for a while now, so it was time to grow them out. I also wanted to brighten up the color a bit.

I had been on the lookout for color inspiration on Pinterest and found this pin. I showed it to Erin, and she decided to do a slight modification on that color for me.

The night before getting my hair done, I washed my hair. But I was feeling far too lazy to dry it so I just put it in braids and went to sleep. So my before picture is pretty crazy since my hair was all over the place.

You can totally tell that my roots were out of control and that the color on the ends was getting very faded.

After a full head of color and then highlights, I looked like this.

It’s a much brighter red than I had in the past, but it still looks natural on me. In fact, we based this color on the color I had as a baby. We used a picture from my first birthday as a reference.

I’m super happy with my new color (I just think my brows need to be dyed back to be a little darker, but I can do that with a brow pencil). It’s nice and bright and looks super fresh.

Plus, it always looks amazing when Erin blows out my hair. I can never make it look that good. Even after sleeping on it, the blowout still looked pretty perfect.

I’m ready for my new pictures now. Even though I haven’t lost as much weight as I could like from my last pictures, I think you really can tell in my face that I’m a little thinner now than I was before.

I’ll definitely show off my new pictures as soon as I get them emailed to me. The shoot is on Thursday so I’m not expecting to have anything until next week.

But I’m feeling very confident going into these photos and I know that they will look amazing!

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Posted in Acting, Beauty, Fun Stuff

Tagged acting, hair, headshots, photos

Getting Fancy (or I Splurged On A New Purchase)

Posted on May 24, 2013 | Comments Off

You might have noticed some much nicer than usual pictures on here lately.

Like these.

Pretty sure you can all tell that these were not taken with my iPhone (especially since I have an iPhone 4 which doesn’t have the greatest camera).

I recently got a new digital camera! It was a pretty long process because I am so darn indecisive. There were a few features that I knew that I wanted: high megapixels (or at least better than the 5 on my iPhone), long distance optical zoom, lightweight/small, and within my budget.

There are so many options out there! Most of the small cameras don’t have a lot of zoom on them, or if they do, it’s digital zoom and not optical. And there are plenty of really nice cameras that aren’t compact enough for me to imagine carrying them around with me.

Finally, after lots of time (and several phone conversations with my mom), I decided to get the Nikon Coolpix S9500.

It’s got pretty much everything that I wanted on my wish list. It’s a little bigger than I was hoping for, but to get the zoom capabilities that I wanted that was necessary. It’s super fun to use, and I’ve been enjoying playing around with the camera to discover new features on it.

The only downside is the battery life. It’s the downside to almost any digital camera. When I was taking pictures at Jennifer’s wedding, my camera died during the reception. I had my phone with me so I was able to still take photos, but it was still disappointing.

I ended up buying spare batteries on Amazon so I’d have them. The bundle I got had 2 extra batteries, a car charger, and a wall charger (the camera came with a wire to plug the camera into the wall, but no external charger). I think getting the backup batteries was a good investment.

Even though I’m trying to save money and pay down debt, I think this was a worthwhile splurge. I don’t want to only have iPhone photos of the weddings I’m going to. And when it’s my 30th birthday this summer, I want amazing photos to remember my party.

Even though I might not be happy when I get my credit card statement this month, I know in the long term that this was totally worth it!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Saving, Shopping

Tagged iPhone, photos

Happy Birthday Mommy! (or I Promise Not To Reveal Your Age)

Posted on April 4, 2013 | 1 comment

Today is my mom’s birthday! My mom and dad are in San Diego with my grandma, and I’m heading down there today as well. So this will be the first time I get to celebrate my mom’s birthday with her in a long time (possibly since I was in high school).

Since I want to get on the road to see my family, this is going to be a short, but photo filled post.

Going through all my photos on my computer, I’ve got some pretty cool ones with my mom.

My mom has a fear of elevators (I’m not a fan of them either). But when my mom and I were in Paris celebrating my college graduation, she conquered her fear and rode the elevator up the Eiffel Tower. Also, a highlight of that trip was when we were in Italy. My mom found a coat she liked, and was trying to talk with the store employee about it. My mom doesn’t speak Italian and the employee didn’t speak English, but they both spoke broken French. Watching them try to communicate was pretty funny (my mom ended up passing on the coat).

My mom loves Disneyland almost as much as me.

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The second picture is from our trip a few years back to Disney World.

Also, my mom now will indulge me in taking silly pictures (which I love).

This is from the WB Tour we went on right after I had hip surgery.

This is on the “Exorcist” steps in Washington DC (we were there for my brother’s med school graduation).

Also, my mom is still willing to try new things, like working out with Richard Simmons.

And even though my dog has pretty much replaced me (and maybe also my brother) in the family, I know she still loves and supports me. She even reads this blog!

Happy Birthday Mommy! I’ll see you in a couple of hours in San Diego so we can celebrate together!

And finally, this is my favorite picture of me with my mom (and my grandma too).

1 Comment

Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff

Tagged birthday, mom, photos

New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

Posted on October 29, 2012 | Comments Off

I had my photo shoot with Joanna Brooks on Friday. I haven’t gotten all of my photos in an online proof sheet yet, but I should have that by Wednesday.

We did a lot of the shoot in her studio that she created in her garage (she has a very understanding boyfriend who gave up parking his car in there so she could make a studio), but we did go out to a freeway underpass to shoot one of the looks.

While driving back from the location to her house, Joanna let me look at some of the photos in her camera so I could see how I looked. I was scrolling through the photos when one made me stop and gasp. There was one photo that looked so much like a photo that I look when I was 100 pounds lighter. I was so surprised to see it that it almost felt like I was kicked in the stomach.

I don’t know if anyone else will see the similarity (I think it has a lot to do with my chin and shoulder positioning), but here are the two photos side by side.

I think that the new photo (in the green) is way better than the old photo. I look younger and fresher, which is funny since the one in the blue was taken in 2007.

Even looking at them now, I can’t help see the similarities in the photos. It’s weird. It’s almost as if there is a sign that I’m not as far from the old me as I think that I am. Even though I have a lot of weight to lose, that’s all that keeping me from getting back to the old me (although I probably won’t go back to the shorter hair for a while).

This reminder is really helping to motivate me. I haven’t been doing so great with cutting out my favorite drink, Diet Coke. I know that when I’m not drinking soda I seem to eat a bit healthier. I’m making it my goal to seriously limit my soda drinking.

But I will allow my self to possibly have a rum and Diet Coke at the after party for the “#140Characters” screening tomorrow! Tickets are still available if you’d like to come!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

Tagged acting, headshots, photos, weight loss

Updating Me (or It Never Hurts To Ask)

Posted on October 2, 2012 | 1 comment

This morning, I had a phone meeting with Joanna Brooks, who is the photographer that I’ll be using for some new headshots. I’m getting some new headshot done because I’ve been using these two for a while and I want some new ones.

And yes, I am wearing the same shirt in both pictures. I didn’t think about that at the time I was taking the second one, but I know that color looks good on me based on Jill Kirsh’s color methods. They are both great pictures, and I love both of the photographers that I worked with, but I need a change.

This photo is pretty much the only thing that decides whether or not I get an audition. When hundreds of actors are submitted for the same job, I need to make sure that my photo stands out and gets their attention.

Joanna and I had a really great phone meeting. I love her energy and she has some great ideas on how to shoot me in order to get the results that I am hoping for.

I had also brought up my weight loss in our phone meeting and my concern about having to do new pictures every time I lose 25-30 pounds. I asked about possibly pre-paying for a bunch of smaller sessions so I could use them when I needed an updated shot. Joanna was so sweet about it on the phone and she gave me a deal for future update shoots that will work perfectly for my budget and what I’ll need. So the plan for me for photos is one shoot this month with 3 looks, update shoots while I’m losing weight, and then once I’m at a weight that I’m happy with and am able to maintain (which is always the tough part) then we’ll do another big shoot then.

I’m so happy that I was able to work something out that works for both her and I. I’m always nervous to ask for something different or special, but if you never ask, you’ll never know. I think the confidence to ask for things like this has come from my day job. When I’m taking orders, we are supposed to ask if the customer would like to also make a donation to help our educational programs. Donations are the main thing that help keep that program alive. At first, I was so scared to ask for the donations. But now, I’m fearless with it. The worst someone can say is no, and then I’m no worse off than I was before I asked.

I’m just glad that when I asked Joanna about update photo shoots for me, she said yes. Now I have another motivation to keep me on this weight loss journey, however long it may take.

1 Comment

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged confidence, headshots, photos

Back to the Grind (or It’s Time to Be a Little Selfish)

Posted on September 26, 2012 | 2 comments

I’ve had a lot of fun stuff lately. My dad left to go back yesterday and now I’m back to the normal grind of stuff until I go to my friend’s wedding in October.

I’m getting over a cold/sinus infection/allergy thing right now, so my energy is a little low. But I’m trying to stay upbeat and beat this bug in my system ASAP!

After so much excitement, it can be hard to get back to the groove of things. I just had 2 days off of work, but now it’s back to 6 days a week. I’ve had company, but now I need to focus on myself a bit.

I’ve mentioned before about fall tv season starting. This is not only a time for research on new shows, it also means that tv is in high production right now and I want to help my agents get me as many auditions as possible. I need to be selfish for a bit and make me the best me I can be.

I’ve got Marci Liroff’s class starting this week which will help me out with the auditions I get. But I’m also looking at getting new headshots as those are the main tool that help me get those auditions.

I’m running into a problem though. I have headshots that look like me right now:

These are great, and when I walk into the audition room, I know that the casting director is going to recognize me as the girl in the picture. And that’s really important.

But after not really eating food for a while, I’ve lost 10 pounds. I don’t feel like I look any different, but that’s got me thinking. How much weight do I need to lose before I do new headshots?

Headshots aren’t cheap. I usually end up spending around $400 for the shots and a makeup artist (which I have found to be a necessity for headshots, not a luxury). If I’m hoping to lose 100 pounds, do I do new pictures every 25 pounds or when I just feel like I don’t look the same any more? I don’t have tons of money right now to spend on them, so I’m thinking of talking to some photographers that I’ve worked with in the past and that I want to work with now and see if someone will maybe let me do a bunch of small sessions where I only get 1 or 2 looks each time. But I’m not sure anyone will be willing to work on a deal like that.

And I can’t just use pictures that are from when I was thinner, because I don’t look like that person at all. My hair is different (cut and color) and I’m not that young anymore. Here’s one of my headshots from thinner days:

I’m looking forward to figuring out what the solution is going to be for getting updated headshots as I lose weight. I also can’t wait to see what my new pictures will look like in the future.

But I also can’t focus too much on what might happen. It’s another of the “what if” situations. So I’m just putting my head down, working hard, and conquering any problem that comes up when it comes up.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Saving, Weight Loss

Tagged acting, headshots, photos, selfish, weight loss

Tag Archives: photos

Time For New Headshots (or Adding Some Personality Into My Photos)

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Feeling So Much Love (or Embarrassed By People Complimenting Me)

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“Thriving In Hollywood” (or Celebrating The Ms. In The Biz Book Launch!)

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New Headshots (or Trying To Be A Quirky Office Girl/College Student/Young Mom)

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Getting Pretty (or A Fresh Look For My New Pictures)

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Getting Fancy (or I Splurged On A New Purchase)

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Happy Birthday Mommy! (or I Promise Not To Reveal Your Age)

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New Photo (or It Reminds Me of The Old Me)

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Updating Me (or It Never Hurts To Ask)

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Back to the Grind (or It’s Time to Be a Little Selfish)

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