Revealing Charlene: What Sweetness Is About

Hair & Makeup by Kada Issa from Bombay Beauty Loft. Clothes from Studio Intent Boutique

Charlene appeared out of the blue. She was the first person to hire me by looking at my website. All my clients prior to her were referrals, friends or family. She was looking to get headshot done for her and her daughter. Part of her email said: "We both need headshots and were dreading it...until I stumbled across your site!". That made my day.

Charlene is the lady behind Real Food Freak, a holistic nutrition small business that offers educational services towards healthier eating habits; check it out!

Charlene is very sweet, kind and gentle; the way she moves, communicates and even laughs is an elegant gentleness you want to be surrounded by. You feel safe with her and free to be yourself; a motherly energy that seems to extend to everyone, not only her daughter.

I love it when my clients bring their families to the reveals. Charlene was no exception. With daughter and husband tagging along, the reveal could be summarize in two words: big smiles! Her husband was standing taller, proud of his beautiful wife. 

In her own words:

"Fela made something that I was dreading doing (getting business headshots) into a truly special experience. I was drawn to Fela's concept that she could help me see that I am beautiful, I was hopeful but not overly convinced that I would like the photos as I never like photos of myself. She did it!!!!! The photos are STUNNING! The photo shoot was fun, I was laughing and relaxed the whole time, Fela was amazing to work with. I am so happy with my photos!"

Indeed, one is never too old or too young to learn to see one's beauty. It's so rewarding to be able to help more and more ladies to see it themselves!

Thank you Charlene for letting me photograph you and your wonderful daughter. Thank you for trusting me to do so and hope we get to see each other many more times. Best wishes for you, your family and your business!

Revealing Kada: The True Beauty Of A Makeup Artist

Hair and Makeup by Kada from Bombay Beauty Loft. Clothes by Studio Intent Boutique

If you have been in front of my lens, you have met Kada. She is the talented lady who does all my clients hair and makeup. Why do I love her? Well, let's begin with the fact that she's easy to love. Not only is she a great professional in her area who always understand what I want her to do (I love how good she is at cleaning the skin on site, she has saved me lots of editing hours that have helped me to deliver your photos very quick. Win for all!) but above all, she is such a sweetheart; always supporting what I do, encouraging me to keep doing what I do and a lady full of kindness and generosity towards our clients, her staff and just everyone around her. Their is a reason why Pritma, her business partner calls her "my business wife".

If you have been in front of my lens, you have enjoyed at least an hour of good conversation with her, laughing and feeling at ease in trusted hands. You have been impressed at how strong the makeup feels at the moment but in awe at how natural it looks in photos and specially, how you still look like yourself. Yes, I REALLY love Kada's work. And as a friend, she is as awesome too.

So what do I see as her true beauty? Her selflessness. Her willing to give her all in everything she does and do it well. Her ability to engage with everyone she talks to and the gentleness of her manners. She is kind and bold enough to say what's on her mind but always with respect. She's also humble enough to laugh at her own mistakes and rejoices as much as you when something good happens to you.

Also, even though she won't admit to it, she is hot. But I don't think I have to tell you this, because you can see it. And now she does too.

Do you know Kada? Share with her on the comments below what you think of her true colours. Words of appreciation are more powerful than you think!

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"