The Ugly Betty Story And Why I Want To Show Your True Beauty To The World

Everything started with a real life Ugly Betty. I'm talking about myself.

I thought for many years that I was ugly. I could see my classmates turning into beautiful teenagers as I seemed to be frozen anatomically; I only kept growing taller. On top of it, my school uniforms were always 2 sizes bigger in case I kept on growing (we couldn't afford to keep buying uniforms). I had very long and abundant curly hair I kept in a horrid low ponytail, I admit I didn't shave my legs either, I had big eyeglasses and yes, I was a big nerd. I still believe I'm a nerd but I wear it proudly now.

Not only I felt ugly, I was reassured every day at school. I was called "Ugly Betty" (from the original colombian series "Yo soy Betty La Fea"), "skinny", "whip"... to name a few. I was made fun of because of my appearance, the typical "no dancing material" (I could definitely, most certainly dance, but I wasn't being asked to). I was the never been kissed case. My first kiss was when I was 19 and it was not romantic if you're wondering but that's a whole different story.

My youngest self or "before" photo. This was my "look" until the Yearbook adventure (for aprox. 8-9 years). Sorry for the lack of older versions of me on my "Ugly Betty" state, but I just don't have any.

It wasn't until the yearbook situation that everything changed. We all needed headshots for our graduate pages and of course I had to have mine too. What a nightmare! I felt it was just going to be another mocking tool that would spread my ugliness to the world; I was not going to be able to keep it contained in school, ugh!

One of my classmates had hers done earlier and they seemed very well done, so in a last attempt to restore my dignity my mom and I saved every possible penny to hire that photographer (we were definitely not wealthy at all). I had my hair straighten and they applied makeup on me. I never saw how I looked at all. I just wasn't able to bring myself to look in the mirror.

The photographer was very sweet to me and made me laugh a lot; she made me feel comfortable and I trusted her. It was a great experience. I didn't know if I looked good at all but her treatment made me feel special and a bit beautiful that day.

When the photos arrived and (after a deep breath) I saw them, I noticed they gave me someone else's! There, in front of me was a girl that seemed smart, definitely very pretty and had a smile that shined; definitely not me! I turned to my mom and showed her what happened. With watery eyes she brought me to the bathroom mirror, placed the photo in front of me and said: "that IS you sweetie. I've seen it all along but it was time you saw it and believed it yourself as well". I spent the rest of the weekend looking at those photos; my mind was being "reprogrammed". I think that's a better word to describe what was going on in my head.

My yearbook photo. The photo that changed it all.(2000). I still wear those earrings, ha!

That was a turning point for me. I had a haircut, started tiding up my hair and slowly embarked myself onto reflecting outside what was inside; making the outside "match" the inside.

I'm not saying I'm a front cover hot stuff or anything like that; neither am I saying that you should have perfect looking hair, makeup and clothing 24/7. Heck, there's lots of days when I still don't shave my legs (during winter I need my fur coat hahaha!), I place my hair in the quickest bun, don't wear makeup and grab the first thing I find in the closet (and believe me, hubby still thinks I'm a hottie, fur coat and all). The difference is that I have self worth now. I KNOW I'm beautiful and I FEEL beautiful; I just don't have to prove it to myself anymore.

And that is why I want to show the world but mostly YOU, how beautiful YOU really are. It doesn't matter age, weight or body shape. What matters is to be comfortable with one's self inside one's self. I want to help you discover and reveal your true beauty, one photo at a time.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, please share it with me. 

If you're interested in having your own True Beauty Revelation or know someone who needs it, please email me at feladales@felaphotography.com. 

If you doubt of yourself, or think I would have to work my "magic" or perform "miracles" (I have heard that said to me before), I insist, PLEASE contact me; you will NEVER regret it!

You can read the sequel to this story on the post "I'm not Ugly Betty, now what? The beginning of a journey"

Desiring a Cover Model Image

I recently stumbled upon the video above and felt inclined to give my humble opinion since it hits close to home; in my personal life and my photography business.

First of all, is not news that as women, in one way or the other, we tend to wish the body and image of a magazine cover model. This is subject of many, many articles, videos and even marketing (Dove, anyone?).

Well, here I am adding to the list. I agree. There's a reason why there are many before/after Photoshop retouching videos so that we get to see the reality of it. It is not real and therefore we shouldn't aim at it but all the contrary, be proud of what and who we are. 

As a photographer I want to add though that is not always the photographer who makes these changes and therefore we should not be pointed at when talking about who sets beauty standards. To make it more clear, when we are hired as photographers for a magazine, depending on the magazine, we might or might not have to do the retouching. When left to the photographer, there's a high chance we won't "plastic surgery" you on Photoshop, though there's always the exception to the rule. We are all individuals and artists with different perceptions; you'll find all kinds of tastes and preferences, just like in everything else. But most of the time (in the case of magazine covers for famous magazines), photographers provide the images, the magazine orders the retouching through freelance or in-house retouchers and ta-da! Transformation complete.

That's why is so important and sensitive matter for me and my team to not over do it in our sessions. It's actually harder than you might think to be in that middle point. When you're constantly preparing people for photos and creating the images, is easy to take it that step further without noticing. Many times I've had to stop my editing, and step away from my computer to refresh my view and find that I'm removing too much or polishing too much, so I have to undo a couple of things.

My team might do too much contouring to the point the whole face structure seems to change (remember that infamous photo of Kim Kardashian with a lot of bronze and corrector on her face?), so they're careful about that as well but polish enough as to not assume I'll "fix it all" in Photoshop. Some things need to be done on-site, it saves time. 

For us is about exalting the beauty we already see in you (inside) and on you (physical), not about changing you into someone you are not. 

Here's a list of what I usually do on Photoshop:

- Create a "mood" (general colouring of the image)

- Color saturation

- Sharpen eyes, mouth and hair

- Apply highlights and shadows to the hair and cheeks (these last 3 bullets have to be done always since once the images are transferred from camera to computer, they lose certain properties that have to be restored).

- Fix skin (because I'm sure you wouldn't want that blemish there, would you? A blemish doesn't define who you are, is just temporary).

- Polish skin (yes, I do it very subtle, because sometimes the makeup applied for photography can make the skin look dry and older than it really is. I bring it back to real but not too much as to make it look porcelain; after all, we all do have pores and wrinkles, the contrary is unnatural).

- Sometimes I'll remove undesired objects from the background or change the background all together but this doesn't affect the subject.

I NEVER chop or add pounds to anyone or make them look younger or older, taller or shorter. That's non-negotiable for me.

I remember once a client said: "but you'll make me thinner on photoshop, right?". My answer was "Why would I want to give you a confirmation that something is wrong with your body when there's nothing wrong with it? You look beautiful, you ARE beautiful. Trust me, you'll be happy when you see the photos". And indeed, she was. But most importantly, she was happy with her own self.