Manipulated

For those of you who don't know, this week (February 20th-26th) is National Eating Disorder Awareness week. I read a few articles today about eating disorders and I have to tell you it makes me incredibly sad to read stories of young women suffering from this disease.  I for one am beyond fed up with societies standards for women. It kills me that ANYONE, EVER has the thought that they are simply not good enough or not beautiful. It breaks my heart that young girls starve themselves or over eat because of societies pressures.

We have such a screwed up view of what beauty is because of what society has thrown at us. And you know what the craziest part of it all is? Those "perfect" women are fake. The models that you see in photographs and magazine covers have been altered. They have been made skinnier. Their skin has been cleared. Their naturally beautiful features have been altered to make this "perfect" woman you see before you. That woman does not naturally exist. But industry professionals force this lie down our throats with the rational that we would not buy a magazine with a woman on the cover who was not altered like these women.    

Take these two photos for example. Faith Hill is a GORGEOUS woman. She is not overweight, she has a beautiful smile and a gorgeous face, yet the people at Redbook chose to make her slimmer, darken her makeup, make her skin and hair look perfect. We take one look at this photo to the left and think she looks gorgeous. We don't see how we are being manipulated until we see the photo below. 

We have been manipulated by these images for so long that we do not see our own beauty.

 I've struggled with dealing with my weight pretty much all my life. I've had trouble finding clothes, partly cause my boobs are ginormus!  Lol..But I've had society and its minions tell me that I'm not beautiful all my life because I'm not a size 0…Well you know what society? Go screw yourself! I am beautiful. I am gorgeous. I am perfect just the way I am. God doesn’t make mistakes. He created me and he made me beautiful, inside and out.

Now this all sounds peachy and awesome, but I realize that its difficult to change your mindset. I've been there. I used to think that no one could possibly want or love a girl like me. I thought that maybe if I just lost a little weight I'd feel better about me on the inside. But that doesn’t work. Not realizing that God made you perfectly and forgetting about your inner beauty is one of the biggest mistakes you will ever make.

You are beautifully and perfectly made.

Don't ever forget that.


I thought I would leave you with a few great examples to show you that beauty comes in all forms. These are some of the many gorgeous ladies I know who are beautiful inside and out. :)




Krystal :)

 Courtney :)

 Hillary :)

 My little sister Jessie :)

Cait :)

 And Last but not least, Brittany

-Peace :)

Waiting for a Good Thing

I love photographing nature. It doesn’t move unless its an animal or the wind is blowing too hard. Its easy to work with. But where is the challenge in that??  My favorite challenge?? Photographing people. They are funny, beautiful and from time to time full of surprises. I love human expression. Its one of the most beautiful things to see someone genuinely smile, to see enjoyment on someone's face, or simply be aware of how they feel inside.

My favorite style of photography is something called lifestyle photography. My version of this is a little different than what you normally see from someone who says they are a lifestyle photographer. A typical lifestyle photographer takes people out into a controlled environment. They typically try to recreate a "magic moment." When I'm shooting a portrait session I want to interact. I want to try to connect with you. I want to witness the "magic" come to light, not force it. I want you to laugh and genuinely smile. I want you to enjoy yourself. The biggest reason? When you aren't comfortable, it shows.

I've had a lot of clients who absolutely were not comfortable in their own skin. It took a LOT to get these people to realize that I was indeed their friend. My absolute favorite example of this is Yasmeen. Yasmeen was VERY nervous about the shoot. And in the first 50 frames it really showed. However the further we got into the shoot, the more "magic" I began to see.

 

Unless your some kind of pro or you've done way too many photo shoots to count, NERVES ARE NORMAL. 

One of the most frequently asked questions I get on a shoot is "What do I do?" I hate this question. lol. If I tell you what to do, its not natural. If I don't tell you what to do, eventually you will figure it out, but at least the first 50 frames are going to suck. lol. Its a real dilemma I have to face every time I shoot.

At some point, regardless of what I say to you, your nerves will melt. Even if it is just ever so slightly. 

It seems to be a trend that the longer you spend in front of a camera, the less you think its and evil instrument out to get you.

My crown jewel of the day??

That's it to the right.

The perfect, let your guard down, shot. :)

So perfect, its the only picture of a sort of stranger hanging in my house. lol :)






-Peace :)

The Little Things

Hey Everyone!

For those of you who don't know me I suppose an introduction is in order.

My name is Melissa and I am a photographer living in the OKC area.

I am the Owner/Photographer of Paper Heart Photography.

Photography is my life and my passion. 

I love to observe life through my lens.

{I swear my camera is one of my limbs...lol}

I guess if I had to label myself I'd say I'm a beautiful, classy, book worm, indie, rocker, vintage loving hippie...lol

{A Hippie who doesn't partake in narcotics. 

But I won't judge you for it if you do.}

Jesus Christ is my Savior. He forgives me. And I need a lot of that...lol

With that said, I can swear to you that I am not one of those crazy people who call themselves Christians, then turn around and spread hate. 

I accept you for who you are because Christ accepted me for who I am. 

My whole reason in creating this blog is to share with you the way I see the world. 

{Even if I'm not leaving the OKC-Metro area! lol}

I realize that this sounds a bit strange but if you stick around you'll see what I mean.
When I take a photograph, it is not just another photo to me.
It is a moment in time, a piece of art.
I tend to notice the things other pass by on a daily basis with little thought, the little things in life.

These things amaze me. They fill me with wonderment. I hope you can appreciate them too. :)

I'll leave you with a few shots I took yesterday. :) Enjoy

-Peace :)