Monique Alexandria says…

So, in January I started something that I’m calling “365 Days of Smiles.”  It’s basically a self portrait everyday of me smiling.  I was just tired of being surrounded by negativity all the time and over the years my smile has been the second most complimented thing about me (behind my hair), so I decided to share it with the world!  Well, maybe just my Facebook friends, but you get the idea.  Since I’ve started doing it, I’ve REALLY gotten to know what angles work in pictures and what don’t.  If  you’ve been nice enough to compliment my pictures, please know that it probably took at LEAST 6 or 7 shots to find one where I didn’t look crazy.  This blog is to share how to take a decent picture of yourself and how to pose in a photo someone else takes–since I’m now an “expert.”

When taking a self portrait, always cheat your body to the side so you’re at a 3/4 profile.  Hardly anyone looks great straight on.  If you do, I hate you….You also want to make sure your head is tilted downwards.  Looking too far up will just make you look like you have triangle face, and that ain’t cute honey.  I prefer to have my computer (where I do my self portraits) on my bed with me looking down at it, but you’ll tend to look good if you raise it about your head as well.  Just don’t have it level with your face.  Finally, breathe in on the snap of the picture.  It opens your eyes brighter and the inhale slims that tiny extra bit that most of us could use.

When someone is taking a picture of you, again, do the 3/4 profile.  This will give the illusion that you’re skinnier than you are, and unless you’re a twig already, you’ll probably enjoy looking smaller than you are.  I like to place on hand on my hip and pull my shoulder back too.  That makes your posture look good, your chest look perkier (and with my big boobs, I want my chest to look as perky as possible!), and you just look like someone people want to be around.  I also tilt my head down a little to avoid that dreaded triangle face, and I tend to prefer (if my hair is down) to have one half in front of my shoulder and one half behind to make it look more full and glamorous!

Now off to the camera!

My signature pose for a picture taken by a third party, and my signature look for my self portraits.

Well, February has been a little slow in terms of the Goal Calendar.  January proved to be an extremely busy month for me, so I’ve taken these first two weeks to basically catch my breath!  A few weeks ago, I had my tarot cards read by a friend, and I wanted to share with you our “findings.”  I’m not sure if that is bad luck or not, but as the saying goes, “you make your own luck!”

Yes I know I have horrible photo taking skills, but this was my past card.  It says “You were lost in a world of fantasy.” 

My present card says, “look to family for creative support.”

My future card says, “The realization of falsehoods.”

Finally, we have my wish card which says, “feedom through your own efforts.”

So, to keep from anything not coming true, I’m just going to be vague and let you know that each card is supposed to be interpreted by the person the cards are directed towards.  My cards could have a couple different meanings for me, but I’m pretty sure I know what they are talking about, and if I’m correct, it could mean both very exciting things for me that will unfortuantely cause other things in my life to fall by the wayside.  Here’s to things panning out for the best!