Friday, February 11, 2011

A Picture of the Friend I Want to Be

A local photographer arrives for a photo shoot in my home.  I need a professional head shot for my writing, and I have the worst time looking natural and being myself.  I never look nice in pictures!  But I have a secret weapon today:  I invite a friend over who I know tells the truth and helps me be myself.

We're knee deep in snow, and the photographer asks my friend to assist her by holding the "reflector."  It's freezing outside, and I'm standing by my favorite winterberry bush.  My friend positions herself beside me and holds up the circular shade.  She accomplishes two tasks:  she reflects the light toward me (so light bounces off her shade towards me), and she diffuses the harsh sunlight that's overpowering the shot.


It looks something like this (only imagine the snow, the wind, the freezing cold, us shivering, and plain me since I look nothing like this model):

I'm smiling at my friend, suddenly feeling just like myself.

I want to be a friend like this.  I want to reflect the light towards her, and I want to diffuse whatever attempts to overpower her. 

I can't wait to show you the pictures!

Living with flair means I'm a reflector and a diffuser. 


(photo by Mila Zinkova, Wikimedia Commons)

__________________
Journal:  How can I reflect the light and diffuse what's harsh in my friend's life today?

6 comments:

Anna Barlowe said...

Can't wait to see them! Hey, if you have any extra friends like that, can you send one to me? She sounds like a gem! :)

jenny_o said...

Like Anna said - can't wait to see them!

I like this analogy.

Alison said...

Love these questions: How can I reflect the light and diffuse what's harsh in my friend's life today?

And love the resulting photo! You go girl!

seabluelee said...

What a wonderful depiction of what a real friend can and should be. Thanks for your word pictures. Looking forward to seeing the photos, too.

Susan DiMickele said...

I want to reflect light too. Thanks for this challenge. And can't wait to see the pictures!

Frotastic said...

You are already that friend! You're an irresistible bundle of love, excitement and gratitude. You're irreplaceable.