Category Archives: Uncategorized

I took this iphone self-portrait the other day in the community garden.

You’d think because I take so many self-portraits that the self-reflection aspect of it would wear off, I’d learn all I needed to and then it would just be about taking yet another photo.

But thats not the case.

Not at all (in case you were fearing that taking self-portraits would make you egocentric.  I really truly believe it is quite the opposite that has the potential to happen).

The more I continue on this journey, the more insights happen and the next layer of the onion gets peeled back.

This photo sparked one of those moments for me.

I looked at it.  Looked at me and what I loved about the picture made me smile.

I loved her fullness.  I loved her big cheeks (sometimes I might have bypassed a photo in the past if I felt like my face looked really wide).   Her smile lines.  Wholeheartedly.

It reminded me of what a friend had once told me about what she was seeking in a partner.  She wanted someone to love her for who she is, not in spite of it.

I think we all want that.  To be loved for our quirkiness, what makes us different.   Not just have someone accept it.

Of course, #beyourownbeloved style, I can’t help but turn that on ourselves too.

I feel like for a long time now, there have been aspects of my self-portraits that I love in spite of what I see.  I think this is oh so powerful and important.  To see a photo that shows parts of ourselves we might have otherwise wanted to delete and to say ‘I love this photo anyways’.

That itself is a big beautiful realization and a major part of seeing ourselves with kindness, not discounting a photo because of something we see in our physicality that negates the value of the whole photo.   Loving ‘in spite of’ can be a revolutionary step!

But it feels like a new stage, a new unfolding, to see myself and my body with love because of what I see.

The two parts of my body that I tend to try to photograph in a certain way so you can’t quite see them the way they are in reality are my belly and my upper arms.  Yet lately I’ve been letting go of that and sharing more photos that show my belly and boldly show my arms.  I’m starting to see those parts of myself in a very different way and loving the photos because they are visible, not in spite of it.  This feels wild and free…because my arms and my belly haven’t changed.  My perception of them did.

I thought I’d share this with you today and invite you to see photos of yourself with love in spite of what stories your inner critic might be telling you….but also to invite you to make room for those moments where you might see yourself with kindness and love because of what you see.

The you that always was there, that didn’t have to be transformed into another ‘you’ to be seen with love.

The you that is just there, ready to be seen with love…when you are ready.

This is actually from a past blog post (that you can see here) but today it was pulling at me to make it a bit of a manifesto!

Lately my love for double exposures has been renewed.

Have you ever tried making double exposures (warning, it can be mighty addictive)?

Some of my favourite ways to do this in the past have been through using a Polaroid Spectra or by using Photoshop.  The Spectra Camera is not the pretties polaroid camera but it allows you to do double expose your film in camera which absolutely rocks…here are some examples of some polaroid double exposure.  You can also make double exposures using any film (just pull out the end of the film again after you finish a roll and over it a second time) though there are some great cameras like a Holga Camera or a Diana that you need to manually turn to take the next photo, making for easy access to creating a double exposure (though often I do it accidentally)!

The other main way I love doing double exposures is through layering them in Photoshop. You can actually do it on the free photo processing website PicMonkey too.  Just start with one image to edit then click on the ‘Textures’ tab and where it says you can add your own, pick another photo to try layering!  You can also play around with the ‘Blend Mode’ button once you’ve layered them for different styles of layering.

One of the best things about creating double exposures is that you have to let go of control.  Sure you can pick two photos you think might go together well but the best ones, the absolutely magical ones happen when you least expect it to.  I loved pairing two random photos together to see what happens and its always incredible what happens when you let go of trying to create a perfect double exposure and just experiment.

Lately I’m finding 2 new tools that are bringing back my double exposure obsession: Goldfrapp and a Double Exposure feature in my camera!

Goldfrapp is a simple yet amazing app that helps you create double exposures.  It has features that allow you to decide if it is black and white, colour or which photo is layered over which.

What has me head over heels for this app is actually the random shake feature.  You can shake it and it will pair together two photos from your photo stream.

This rocks because as I mentioned, it is the unplanned ones that are the most magical.

The Goldfrapp app has that energy of experimentation.  Its random pairings always blow me away (and are pairings that I wouldn’t have imagined going together).  I should warn you, once you start doing the random pairing of images you took, you might not want to stop!

There are lots of other apps you can use to create double exposures: Instablend and Duomatic and have more features for adjusting your photo, but that random shake feature is just winning my photo-heart over all the rest (but I recommend exploring more double exposure apps if you’re having fun with Goldfrapp)!

Here are a few pairings (both intentional and random) that I’ve had fun creating in Goldfrapp!

The other fun double exposure tool I discovered recently is that you can actually take them with my camera! Holy exciting discovery!  It is a Canon 6D but it also sounds like it is a feature on the Canon 5D Mark III  (here’s a tutorial and some super inspiring images)…though it may even be a feature on some Point and Shoots too (check your menu and see if it is mentioned)!  That said, it is just as easy these days to layer them off camera, so if your camera doesn’t have that feature…you have lots of options!

Exploring it in camera, in the moment was pretty fun too as it tells the story of the moment but in two photos.  Plants, trees, silhouettes and light are some of my favourite things to work with (often matched with a self-portrait too) and it was neat to just pick two random things to photograph and see what happens!  As you’ll discover if you experiment with doing double exposures, the areas that are really light or really dark in the photo are the most important as they provide the contrast and shapes of where the other layer appears through.

Here are a few examples of my in-camera double exposure experimentation I took the other day on an evening photo walk:

Have you played around with double exposures or have a technique you love for experimenting with them?  Do share!

Confession.

One of the most common emails/direct messages/instagram comments I get is “Where did you get your shoes”.

Now, I love shoes, I totally do.

But lately I’ve been struggling with the frequency of the question, especially when the photo/post is about self-love or is sharing something pretty personal like sharing the truth of the day (usually that stuff ends up on Instagram).   To be honest when I’d receive that question, requesting information about where I got the shoes (different than just ‘I like you’re shoes), I started to a bit invisible.  Do people only want to know about the shoes? 

I share a lot of self-portraits not just cause its the work that I put out in the world, but because it is a daily practice I do to evolve my own relationship to self and as you may have discovered, foot self-portraits are one of types of self-portraits that we can do a bit more subtly than others (a bit about why I take foot self-portraits here).

I confess it each time I get the shoe question it has been building up and even bothering me a lot and I’ve been wondering what to do about the shoes.  Its not a bad question to ask of course, I just somehow let it overshadow the other awesome questions coming into my inbox.

Then today I had a bit of a conversation with myself that cracked me up and shifted this whole “Is it just about the shoes” thing for me (yup, and helped me get over myself).

There I was, in the bathroom after a bath, putting on makeup.  I was doing a little cat eye thing I’ve been doing lately, ever since going to Alexandra Franzen‘s workshop.  I think I’ve been tryin’ to channel a little Franzen, make-up style.

As I was cat-eye-ifying myself thinking about how to handle the ‘shoe issue’ it hit me.

Maybe the shoe questions aren’t disconnected from the self-love message after all.

Did I sit through Alexandra’s workshop just thinking that I should start wearing cat eye makeup?

Oh heck no.  The total opposite.  I was writing like a madwoman, having brainstorm after brainstorm leaving me so excited and energized yet more full of ease about  putting my writing into the world in hopes that it will help people.

I think perhaps the cat eye thing is a beautiful daily reminder of that inspired energy for me.

So maybe when people ask where they can get the shoes, maybe it isn’t just about shoes?

Maybe they are listening deeply just like I was at Alexandra’s workshop and are wanting those cute shoes to stand taller in themselves and to wear in the photos they are seeking to make space to see themselves with kindness.

Maybe the shoes are a tool to help them get there.

Or maybe they didn’t see the message and it is just about wanting cute shoes.  But then somewhere along the way the shoes will remind them to invite themselves into a photo or to look at themselves with love.

Maybe the shoes will be a reminder.

Maybe indeed.

It just took me being in that place myself to realize it.

So, I definitely plan easier for people emailing/messaging about the shoes to find that info and you can find all the info you need in this blog post, but I’m glad I turned the corner on this and got over my own overwhelm (and for the record…don’t be afraid to ask the shoe question if you wanna know…I’d just love to learn a little bit about you alongside it too)!

Maybe those shoes will remind you when you wear them to see yourself with compassion.

Now if that overwhelm or invisibility happens again I can remember this and hope that the shoe questions will be a tool to open the door to inviting themselves into the photo!

I know sometimes just beginning something is the hardest part and in my workshops, my biggest happy dances for the participants is when they take that first photo and share it.  Because they made it past their fear or their inner critic and honestly, that is the most challenging part of taking self-portraiture.  Saying YES when fear says NO.

So, inspired by the brand new Beloved Beginnings, I wanted to share the top 10 reasons why you might want to begin your self-portrait or Be Your Own Beloved Journey today!

P.S. If this resonates…you might want to join me for an upcoming session of Beloved Beginnings or Be Your Own Beloved (and if you’re reading this before June 13th…when you join in for the July Session of Be Your own Beloved you get the June community session of Beloved Beginnings for free)!