The Ol' Photo Shoot

Agh, another publicity photo. Only this one should have been twice as bad. Not only did I have to be happy with the photo of my own mug (purty near impossible), so did my 18-year-old daughter. The shot was needed for our young adult suspense Rayne Tour series (releasing next year) that we're co-writing. It needed to have a certain amount of that mysterious suspense author look.

The photo shoot was at 10 a.m. Did I mention my daughter is not a morning person?

Naturally, being a teenager, she got up too late. Which meant her make-up wasn't done on time. Plus, since she had to do it fast, she was complaining before we ever left the house how bad she looked. Then on the way she realized she'd forgotten to bring her make-up for touch-up--which we were told to do. By the time we got to the studio, she was in one negative mood.

(Remember those days of being 18?)

In to save the day--our photographer, Robert Weaver, in Mountain View, California. Keeping an upbeat attitude amidst Amberly's sullenness, he fussed with lighting until we had everything just so. After a good deal of time spent with preparation, the shoot began.

Amberly managed to smile. The more photos we shot, the more she loosened up. Two or three times we stopped to gather around the computer and see how the photographs were coming. Did we want to change poses, clothes, lighting, whatever? After around 70-90 pictures, we got one we both liked. Okay, we cheated. We liked Amberly's face better on one shot, and my face better on another. No problem.

The fixing began. Bob first cut out my head on the one photo and put it on the one we liked of Amberly. Then my favorite word when it comes to photography--AIRBRUSH. I told Bob to take off all my wrinkles and give them to my daughter. For some strange reason Amberly failed to find that funny. At any rate, we fixed. Coloring, jaw lines, shadows, wrinkles (on me). I came out with a face I wish I had. Well, I do have it. Just, ahem, a few years down the road.

This web version isn't nearly as nice in skin tone and overall dramatic color as the original that will be printed. But at any rate, here it is. Now all we gotta do is write that third book ...

The Rayne Tour books, featuring Shaley O'Connor, daughter of rock star Rayne O'Connor, release next year. The first two release together in April and the third hits shelves around September.