Two weeks ago, my daughter and I had photo sessions with a lovely lady from our church who does photography on the side of her regular teaching gig. My daughter was having her senior pictures made, and I was getting new head shots and promotional photos. Bethany, being young and beautiful, made gorgeous pictures. The more mature member of the photo brigade had a few more challenges.
Being an author of historical Texas romance, I dearly wanted to get some pictures made in the bluebonnets this spring. It was the main reason I had postponed the pictures for so long. Our scheduled April date finally arrived. The day was overcast, but that is actually supposed to be good for camera lighting, so I was hopeful. We found a patch of bluebonnets out by our small regional airport, and after the first session of photos was completed elsewhere, we headed out to the wildflowers.
West Texas is known for its wind, and with a storm on the horizon, the wind in Abilene was crazy. Rescheduling wasn’t really an option. My photographer was booked for the rest of the month, and if we waited too long, the bluebonnets would fade and disappear. So we decided to go for it.
The four pictures below are the best of the bunch. I laughed with the photographer and told her I was just like one of those professional models who stand in front of those giant fans to create the perfect windblown effect. Ha! I don’t know about perfect, but we definitely nailed windblown. Thankfully, there were a handful that turned out good enough to use, but I need help deciding which one to feature on my website. So I’m running a poll. Please cast your vote. And if you’d like, give me your rationale in the comments.
Click on the photo to see a larger version if you wish. It will open in a new window. Thanks for the help!
Number 1
Number 2
Number 4
Number 3
So which one gets your vote?
Which would be welcoming and capture your interest on a website?
Here is a voting form to help me tabulate the results. Everyone gets one vote. You can change your answer as many times as you like until you click submit. Once your selection has been submitted, you cannot change it.
Thank you so much for helping me decide!
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What a tough choice! They’re all so beautiful!!
They are all wonderful, but I like number 4 because you look so carefree and joyful!
So beautiful! There’s nothing like Texas bluebonnets! I especially love #2. Very natural-looking and you have a great smile. Your eyes are open and you are very welcoming.Yet it still is professional-looking.
I vote for number 4. I think it looks like an actual snapshot where you are sitting with friends and watching something going on (kids playing, sporting event, etc.). The bluebonnets look great in that picture, too. On an unrelated note, I just started reading “A Worthy Pursuit” last night. 😊
Thanks, Elizabeth! #4 is my daughter’s favorite, too. Hope you are enjoying Stone and Charlotte’s adventure. 🙂
They all look good but I pick # 4
I loved number 4. You look so joyful and happy to be where you are in that moment. I think it’s great.
The background was worth the wait! I chose 4, you looked so natural and joyful. Honestly, all of the pictures are really good.
I voted for 3 because you more relaxed, but also like 2, as second choice.
I like number 1. You look happy and joyful, but it is also professional looking and has great eye contact, like you are really engaging with the reader.
All the pictures are great…anyone of them would make your website colorful and pertinent; but I chose 4 You could be one of the heroines in your books perhaps Adelaide Proctor.
Ha! I love that idea, Susan. Of course, I’d have to be wearing yellow for Adelaide. 😉
You can’t go wrong with any of them actually. Number 1 looks more like what I am used to as far as author photos. Number 4 is a more carefree version.
Hi Karen, they are all great . . . but I like number 1 the best. : )
Thanks so much for all the wonderful comments.
I noticed when I opened this post in the IE browser, picture 1 and 2 were not showing up for some reason. They seem to appear in other browsers. You can still click on the name of the photo for 1 and 2 and go to the large version of the photo if you are having trouble. Maybe (hopefully) it’s just my computer.
Thanks, everyone!
I like #1 and #3 depending on the type photo you want! 2 and 4 are a little too windblown.
The wind was definitely crazy that day. Thanks for your vote, Joan. 🙂
I love the colors in the photos, such contrasts! I picked #2 as your author photo because your face is the primary focus. I loved #4 but since it’s not a front view of your face, people might not know what you look like based on that angle. HOWEVER, I do love your expression in #4. I think you should frame it and give it to your husband 🙂
Great idea, Lis. I’ll have to keep that in mind. We have an anniversary c oming up next month. 🙂
I’m laughing over the wind, Karen! Isn’t that the way? We make plans, we time the blue bonnets just right, and the wind kicks up something fierce. The best laid plans! Just about every family outing I arrange seems ideal in my head, then ends up facing challenges in reality.
On a positive note — your pictures turned out happy and bright and fun. 🙂
Thanks, Becky. We make do, don’t we? Of course, I’m not showing people the 50 pictures I eliminated from the running due to one-sided baldness or hair in the face or bangs sticking straight up. I figure this was God’s way of helping me narrow things down. It’s hard to pick one good one out of 50 good ones – but one out of 4 is much more doable. Ha!
You are gorgeous. Love #1!! But they are all beautiful!!
I vote for number 3! What a grand adventure!
Love all the pictures but #4 & #1 are my two favorites. In 4 I love the smile and the pose. Your daughter is beautiful. Love that picture of both of you together.
Thanks, Pat. I can’t believe my baby is about to go off to college. Yikes! Where did the time go?
Photo #4 gets my vote. It makes you look the youngest, (not to say you’re old) & like you’re having the time of your life.
Ha! I’ll take that compliment, Betty. 🙂 I do like the carefree feeling of number 4. As if all my problems were blown away.
All of the photos are beautiful, but, I chose #1. 🙂
They all are really good, even if you are wind blown, so it’s really hard to pick. My favorite is #4 just because you look so happy. For a more professional look, I would choose #1.
I like them all but #3 speaks the most to me.
My favorites are #1 and #4, also. #1 is a more traditional author pose. I also like the full-on view of your face and posture. You look friendly and about to say “Hello. What’s your name?” When I look at this pic, I feel like I am getting to know you a little bit. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and I enjoy the look I see in your eyes.
#4 makes you look fun, adventurous, and care-free. It makes we want to join you on your walk through the field of flowers. However, if I was not already familiar with you as an author, I would learn less about you because I can’t see into your eyes.
I definitely do not like #2 and #3 as an author pic.
Thanks, Kandy. Great feedback.
I like #2 or #3.
I like #3 because you seem so at ease and like you really love being outside in the bluebonnets! 🙂 (I asked my sister, who likes 4 because you look so happy. :)) But they’re all great. I love bluebonnets and wish they stayed around here longer!
All of them are fun photos and you look great in all of them. For an author photo I prefer the ones with eye contact, so that eliminates #4. #2 is a bit too windy and looks a bit off-balance. #3 shows the beautiful flowers well but seems disembodied. #1 is most appealing to me for an author photo, with its direct eye contact, friendly smile and posture slightly forward, and of course beautiful flowers behind you!
I pick number 3!
Numbers 1 & 2 would be good for books or head shot type photos. Number 3 is so relaxed and care free while maintaining eye contact, great for a website. I like number 4 too. I have a similar photo of my daughter sitting on a hillside with the wind blowing her hair.
Love number 4. You look so young, relaxed, care-free and just being.
They are all beautiful… 🙂
Exactly what Cynthia Marcano said. #1 is what looks most “traditional” for an author photo, and it wouldn’t look too unprofessional if a newspaper or conference program, etc. grabbed it for a publicity shot. But I sure hope they’ll find a place to use #4 because it is so fun and carefree and your personality comes through even stronger. They are all just beautiful (and your daughter is too!)
Thanks, Deborah. I just might have to find a way to use both. 😉
I love 3 and 4! You look so happy and youthful in both of them! I love 4, but if you want a good direct face shot then 3 would be better because your features can be seen better. But there’s something about 4 that really captures a feeling warmth and just makes me feel like smiling. : )
That emotional response is priceless. Thanks, Veronica.
You are beautiful in all of them but I like #1
Number 3, then Number 4. Both are so carefree and just beautiful.
Number 1.
Definitely 1! Love it! Beautiful scenery and subject! 🙂 you are very photogenic!
All lovely but I vote for.# 3 first then #1.
I really like number 1. I agree with the first comment that it’s more of an author pose and let’s us see your lovely spirit. 🙂
I really like #1. I love the blue bonnets.
I love the whimsy of #3! It represents your novels so well. Fun and beautiful!
I like #’s 1 & 4. #1 is better as an author photo as your face can be clearly and beautifully seen.
It was a tough choice, Karen – you are so lovely in all of them! #1 and #4 are my favorites. In the end though, I felt #1 was the most author-like. Thanks for letting us help you choose. 😊
Thanks, Jen. I need all the help I can get. 🙂
Gracious…such a difficult choice. They all have great aspects that draw the eye. My eye was first drawn to the photo of you lying in the bluebonnets, because I think that’s a fun, whimsical, carefree type pose and it shows off the bluebonnets well too! Then I clicked to make them larger and loved the that you seemed to be looking right at me in number two as if you were about to tell me a story. Number four just looks like you are enjoying yourself so much! So…after all of that, I decided to go with my initial thought of number three since it first drew my attention. Truthfully though…you can’t go wrong with any of them! 🙂 Love them!
I voted for #4! It just seems especially genuine, joyful, and carefree to me. You look sincerely happy in that picture and I think your smile is most beautiful and comes across as most natural. You look like you’re about to join in a round of joyful laughter with friends.
After reading back through the comments, I know a lot of commenters commented on some of the other pictures looking more like the typical author photo, but I also know that sometimes it can be really good to break out of the “traditional” mold for something that’s more unique. Just a thought.
True. My personal debate is between 1 and 4. Do I go more authorish or more unique and personality-filled? My son’s favorite was number 3, and I’ve been surprised at how votes that one has received. I think I’ll use some in other places like FB or blogs if they don’t make the website cut.
They’re all so beautiful!! I chose # 1, but I absolutely love #4. You can’t go wrong with any of them!! =)
I voted for #1 since it looks the most professional and flattering, but I also love #3 as a more casual option.
Definitely no 4.
I love number four. You look so natural and happy in it, and it drawn me into that happiness. My second choice would be number 2. (Honestly all are lovely.)
They are all beautiful but #1 does look more professional for a website. But #4 is really my favorite. I love the relaxed look!
I like them all! Numbers 3 & 4 are my personal favorites but I chose number 1, keeping the author photo purpose in mind. Whichever one is chosen will be perfect for your website.
#4.
No 4 is my favorite.
Karen they are all great! You are very photogenic! If I can only choose one then I choose #1! Love the bluebonnets!
Oh my goodness!!! They are ALL beautiful! How do you decide!? Um … #4!!! Second runner up would be #1! They are all beautiful!!!
#2 is a really nice picture. The others are nice but they look a bit staged or posed.
Love them all , #.3 favorite, gives one a total picture of you with Texas bluebell flowers
#4 is my favorite. You look so happy and carefree in this one. Love your books, I look forward to reading a new one!
I like #2 best. It’s a great close up, of both you and the bluebonnets! Great smile!
Love your pictures! My girls and I travel to Ennis for bluebonnet pictures every year. None as good as these this year though! Where did you go?
My favorite is #4!
We don’t get too many bluebonnets in Abilene, but there was a nice thick patch out by or tiny regional airport, so we trudged out there and battled the wind for the shots.
#1 gets my vote. They are all lovely!
What a fun day to spend with your daughter! The bluebonnets are so lovely the wind is a small price to pay! I liked #3 the best. I could imagine you daydreaming about a new story while feeling nostalgic about being a little girl laying in the flowers watching the clouds drift by for hours.While #3 drew me, you can’t go wrong with any!
They are all beautiful but #4 as I love the carefree feeling it gives.
Also thanks sooooo much for posting all these photos. I live in Australia and have never seen bluebonnets. They were mentioned in a book i was reading to my grandkids just this morning. It is great to have a picture to show them. 🙂
#4 it’s creative, beautiful, original & fun
I like #1 – full face and more light/dark contrast, plus the bluebonnets pop! #3 and 4 look a little washed out, but are nice pictures.
I think all the photos are very pretty but I voted for #3 because your hair looks less windblown in that one. It’s also a more casual pose. I love the bluebonnets. They are one thing I miss about Texas (we lived there for 3 1/2 years).
#1
Tough choice, because they are all great! But I like #4 the best – it looks so natural and joyful. And of course the bluebonnets are a beautiful touch in all of them!
#1 is my favorite.
Tough decision they are all very nice .But I vote for # 3 , you look natural , relaxed and very joyful .
Number 4 is my favorite.
I love your books. I like #1 because it is your Web site and should be your picture. It was hard to decide, they are all beautiful. You are a beautiful lady and your photos express it.Faye
Hi Karen! I thought all the pictures were great,but my favorite is Number 3. I think you look very pretty among the flowers .
I vote #3 because, as a photographer myself, I think it has the best composition as a header. Plenty of space for copy when and where needed, and less wind effects than the other three. Plus, there’s a winsome touch to it that I think really reflects the qualities of your books! You could crop it for a headshot as well, or if you want two photos to choose from in your media kit, my second choice is #4. 🙂
Always great to have a professional opinion, Amy. Thanks!
I had a hard time deciding but I pick #3.
I really like 4! You and the flowers are beautiful.
#3 is my favorite, but #4 is so fun.
I like #1.
You are photogenic btw. Form didn’t work for me. My favorite is 1 with 4 in second.
My favorite is #4. You look so… carefree, natural, relaxed, and happy! 🙂 #2 is a close second, though- I love that one too. I must say, you do the windblown look quite nicely. 😉