My modeling journey through the years

 In my previous post I said that to-day I did my very first photoshoot in the snow, and that it was a large milestone. There's a deeper reason for it being a milestone in my artistic timeline, besides the simple fact that I'd never done it before.

  In all of the previous years, I would always stop photoshoots in the winter when it was too cold to do do them outside (where the bulk of them were taken). They wouldn't resume until spring the following year. Even just last year: the photoshoots stopped in November 2013, and didn't start again until March 2014! What this milestone symbolizes for me is that I'm now much more serious about my passions, and that I'm moving onto a new me. I've known that I've been changing; I've been shaping myself and my life for quite awhile, and it's finally getting to where I want it to go. :) I will continue my artistic endeavors as best I can even in the winter from now on, instead of going dormant.



  Now, I've been modeling since 2010, when I was 13. Many, many things have changed since then, and I've never really thought much about it until recently. Like any art form, I think I've improved so much over time.

  I usually don't like bring up the past beyond a certain point, but let's forget that for now and take a trip down memory lane! Here we go! Let's do some trivia. :)

Did you know that my modeling pictures weren't originally stock? 

That's right! Everybody who now knows me as a stock provider is probably very confused. When I began, I just liked to model and make nice pictures to look at and share. In all honesty, I dealt with my fair share of creeps, but otherwise the reactions from the community were generally all positive and they gave me motivation to keep going. I never let the weirdos or the nay-sayers keep me from doing what I loved, and eventually I realized that I was doing it was just as much, if not more, for myself than others.

Sometimes fans would ask permission to use my work in photomanipulations or as reference, and thus somewhere down the line I started uploading my work as stock instead of regular photography. I thought it was GREAT that my work inspired others. :) That still rings true to this day, and that's why I provide stock for others to use.

My first photos were uploaded in July, 2010

Since then, many, many photos (even entire shoots!) have been deleted for varying reasons. The earliest photos from a shoot in my gallery are from August 2010, and only two original pictures from it remain.

The single earliest piece I have from my early modeling days is my first photomanipulation, from July 2010:

I certainly have improved since then!

2011 was the worst year of my modeling and art

I have a grand total of six modeling photos remaining from all shoots that year! D: I also have two photomanipulations. So, out of all work done in 2011, at the time of writing this post I have only 8 pieces of artwork remaining. I did minimal shooting all year, but that was mostly due to my haircut. Which brings us to our next tidbit...

I had a pixie haircut in 2011

A long one, by pixie standards, but still very short hair for a girl. I cut about 12 inches to give to Locks of Love. I have no pictures of when it was first cut super short, but this is the best one remaining that shows how short it was:

I HATED IT.
But that's alright- look at it now, it's beautiful!

Speaking of hair...I used to dye it a dark copper-blonde colour up until I got it cut:

 It was ombre when it grew out, which was cool.

"QueenWerandra" wasn't my original deviantArt account.

My original account was just "Werandra", and I made it in 2010. I deleted it for personal reasons in 2012 and made this one. I had to re-upload all my photos. About 50 low quality or so didn't make the cut and I didn't bother to re-upload them.

Even after that, there was "The Great Gallery Purge".

"The Great Gallery Purge" was another turning point in my life, in 2013. I deleted all of the low-quality photos that (for some reason) I re-submitted when I switched accounts. That meant over 200 deleted photos, including entire photoshoots! That's why there're a lot of "leftovers" at the back of my gallery. These relics from the past are only 1-3 in a set instead of an entire shoot. These oldies linger mainly due to popularity, being used in a photomanipulation, or sheer personal favour. 

I got my first professional camera this year: July 2014

Her name is Carmen. :) Before I got her, I would use Mum's little point-n-shoot; it worked pretty well most of the time, but as a stock provider, it wasn't as high in photo quality as I would have liked. The super high-quality photos before I got Carmen were done by Lydia or her sister, Anna, using their mother's professional camera. Besides them, I have collaborated with other photographers this year who used their own equipment.  Getting my own camera was another huge accomplishment for me. I bought her myself, saving money from commissions and my birthday. The fruit of my effort was a huge leap forward in my modeling career. The quality of my pictures is great now! :)

Well, that was a fun blast from the past. Here's to many, many more years of modeling and creating art to share in the future! Hip-hip, hooray! May God bless all of us, and allow us to reach our full artistic potential.

Love,

Queen Werandra