So, I wanted a decent…

So, I wanted a decent photo of my haircut to show you guys, right? So I coaxed Kam and her fabulous digital camera skills to come over yesterday and take umpteen photos of me. Hooray for talented friends! Also for digital cameras that let you take a hundred photos in order to get one that isn't terrible.

Now I have fifteen photos -- but I'm having a tough time deciding which I like best. Which is important not just because of the new haircut, but because my official promo photo is seven years out of date, and while I may take a more formal one in the fall (one of those artsy black and white thingies), I figure it can't hurt to send Bob something he can use in the interim at least. And these are pretty cool. And my mom would be delighted to have a decent recent photo of me. So I need your help.

If you have a little time to spare, visit my new photo poll and vote for your favorites. I'm going to let the poll run for a week, and then print out the top three (yes, I've cleverly saved high res versions suitable for printing) and send them to Bob and my mother. Don't you want to make my mother happy? Go vote!

You can choose as many as you like -- if I understand voting systems correctly, that's most likely to get the people's actual favorite in the end. And if I don't understand voting systems correctly, it's too late to fix it now. :-)

And yes, this feels somewhat appallingly narcissistic. But on the other hand, it's a) part of the job, and b) the first time in years where I've had lots of photos of me that I like. So I'm attempting to revel in it. :-)

13 thoughts on “So, I wanted a decent…”

  1. But Mary Anne, none of these are as cute as the one you posted on July 6th. Okay, it’s blurry, but you look actually delighted and full of joie de vivre, as opposed to looking like “shit, I’m having my picture taken”.

    Ben

  2. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Sadly, blurry will not do, I’m afraid. I know, poor Kam did her best to make me actually smile, rather than do the forced-smile thing, but I apparently suck at smiling at the camera. If I can coax her to come to Sri Lanka with me in January, then presumably she will be able to take lots of casual shots of me and we can actually get some good ones. But this is what we have to work with for now…

  3. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I admit, I’m also a little bewildered that y’all like that photo. The lighting is terrible, and personally, I think my expression is totally forced and somewhat manic in that one. And my eyes are looking at someplace really strange, since I was trying to guess where the camera was pointing. 🙂

  4. The July 6th one, despite all the failings you mention, captures some of your character. The new ones only get a much, much smaller part of that.

    If you try again, maybe do it while reciting a poem you wrote, or reading something.

    Also, maybe have your photographer wear a big silly hat and a sack full of happy kittens.

  5. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Weird. I totally don’t see what you’re seeing in that photo. It doesn’t look particularly like me to me at all. But I suppose that’s the whole point of doing a poll thingie — perhaps one isn’t best qualified to judge photos of oneself. 🙂

    So far, a few photos are pulling out in front, but we’ll see what a day or two brings. Fun. 🙂

  6. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    I admit too, that I’m a little relieved that now *someone* has voted for each of these. It makes me feel better about being so indecisive…

  7. Since I’ve never met you in person, I’m always eager to see each and every picture of you, so yesterday’s big gallery was a huge treat for me. I voted for two especially enchanting ones, but each one is so welcome to me… The one on July 6 is treasured by me too… Thanks, Mary Anne. You’re so beautiful…

  8. Mary Anne Mohanraj

    Aw, shucks. 🙂

    One thing is interesting to me now — that the two groups that are clearly favored are the ones with me in glasses (maybe because that’s what most people are used to seeing me in?) and the last set, which had the lighting Kam was really excited about (sunlight bouncing off the side of a building to light my face). I wonder whether those two factors are overriding the question of my expression/smile, etc. Hmm…

    Also, we clearly should have taken more profile shots. Avoid the whole smile question entirely. 🙂 Next time.

  9. Hmmm… .d and .e …yes, those are the two I voted for. Well, but I’m Mary Anne-deprived in that I have never seen you in person. So I’m hardly “used to seeing” you (although I envy those who are…!). I’m not sure I know what it is… something soft in your mouth… something relaxed in your shoulders… now reviewing them again, those are still definitively the ones that especially grab me… Mary Anne, you are so lovely in all of your aspects!

  10. Had you considered contacting Tracy Lee about
    taking some photos of you?

    I like her work (including the shot that you
    used on the cover of “Torn Shapes…)

    Just a thought.

  11. I was wondering who is the pretty bird behind those nice, sensational stories. You look pretty. Yea.. with specks better. The bright the image is the better you look.

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