Trenzle.com approached me for an interview but it turned out a bigger challenge than expected. Among many questions and quotes from my best-selling debut novel, they asked for several photos—but I only had one. Now, I cannot just submit a selfie, can I?
Selfies are seldom a good idea when you want to appear professional. Going to a professional photographer is expensive and often not possible on such short notice, unless you are looking for the typical pass-photo. However, as luck wanted, I recently got involved in my old hobby again, and that came to my rescue.
Back in my early 20s, I used to model, and for private use, I wanted to create new photos (my mother loves to receive photo calendars to Christmas). So, right around the time Trenzle asked for the interview, I had already purchased a starter studio set with stand, several backgrounds, softboxes, and umbrellas. Yet, modelling only really helps to understand what’s happening in front of the camera, not so much what’s going on behind it.
I reached out to my father who is into photography, and to a professional photographer I am befriended with (who lives in Sweden and was therefore not an option for helping me out in person). I filled the room with the equipment and experimented with light, settings, and poses an entire Sunday. Gosh, can you imagine how tricky it is to get the focus right, when you are both photographer and model? 😀
Bless one of my best friends in Japan who has the license for editing software for several devices and shared one with me. This way, I could properly edit the images, too. The result: I got some decent photos, which might not be professional, but let’s say semi-professional looking. Enough quality to deliver some photos to the interviewer.
Don’t forget to check out the interview on Trenzle.com.
Leave a Reply