The Pineneedle Collective: outtakes

Sunday, 4 January 2015

A Post Of Outtakes #2

I got such a positive response from posting outtakes on my blog last time that I decided to do it again (because for some reason I want to ruin the carefully-crafted internet persona I've worked on for the past 4 years, or something?)

But seriously, I'm posting these photos because although I may attempt to make you believe otherwise, I don't actually live in an always-sunny picnic-world of perfect skin and flattering angles. Nobody does. But because blogs and social media allows people to present only the very best side of themselves, it can lead to other people thinking that everyone's lives are better than their own.

I've been guilty on more than one occasion of comparing myself to other people with seemingly-perfect lives, and feeling completely flat on the other side of it. Social media sucks you into this black hole of comparison with other people that you'll never win, because other people's lives simply aren't like that.

Nobody looks good 24/7. And why would you want to? That takes all the fun out of life.

So, here's some less-than-perfect outtakes.

Every. Single. Shoot. I just get this unstoppable urge to ham it up and ruin an otherwise very nice photo. I don't know why I insist on posing like this, because I know I'm not going to end up using the photos, but I just can't help myself:

However, some of the best outtakes are when I am actually trying to look good.

Here, for example:

Sexy hair flick? FAIL.

Sultry look into the camera? FAIL.

Speaking of great accidental blinking shots:

If you realise that you've blinked in a photo, you consequently overcompensate to make sure that your eyes stay OPEN. And the resulting shot is even creepier than when you blinked:

Then there's the classic "getting grumpy at the photographer" shot:

And the "I don't know what to do with my hands - so maybe my cardigan is wings...?" shot:

I was trying to be clever in this photo. Because my ring is a heart, I was trying to photographically represent "EYE heart U" - get it?!... Needless to say, I didn't look particularly clever in the end:

And just so you all know, for every good "spinning" shot that you see on blogs, there's about 10 of these:

Katie loves to do this thing whenever we take photos together where she gets an extreme close-up of my face. Thanks, mate.

So, this is a little bit of payback - one of the best photos I think I've ever taken of Katie. GIRL POWER:

I have a question. What exactly am I doing here with my hands?? My wrist joints look completely broken:

Ahh, okay, this explains it - I think there was a creepy insect of some sort buzzing around my head.

Graceful.

And finally, I like to call this the "grumpy watering-can gremlin" pose:

This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Just remember, next time you start comparing your life to seemingly-perfect blogs and instagram accounts - they don't often post the outtakes of life.

I'll leave you with this photo of me, Tilde and Katie accidentally, and without prior consultation, all pulling our very best bitchfaces:

I hope that you've all had a great week,

Saturday, 23 August 2014

A Post of Outtakes

In the age of the internet, instagram, blogs and selfies, it's fairly easy to compose a carefully-crafted version of yourself for the wider world to see. My world appears through a select composite of angles and arrangements, positions and poses, faces and filters.

To the unaware, this can lead to the impression that my life is perfect - that I live in an eternal picnic-world of cute patterns and prints and perfect lipstick; that I never have struggles or stresses; that I never wake up with bed hair or panda-eyes because I've forgotten to take off my makeup the night before.

But life isn't perfect, and it's good to be reminded now and again that everyone else doesn't just roll out of bed at 6am rocking perfect hair and eyeliner.

Besides, some of these photos are just way too hilarious not to share. So, enjoy this post of less-than-perfect outtakes (quickly, before I decide that this is the worst mistake of my life and I take this post down!)

When taking photos, I will inevitably get an unstoppable urge to pull a ridiculous face and completely ruin the photo. Me and Katie didn't even realise that both of us had done this at the same time (in the above photo) until looking at the photos afterwards. And here I am ruining the nice photo below:

Oh Annika... gosh... might I say that you are looking stunning today? Did you do something to your hair? (I didn't even know that my face was capable of doing this; thank goodness for cameras!)

I'm not quite sure what was going through my head when I decided to pose like this...

Again, not the best pose I've ever thought of (...robot girl?):

And, frankly, the next photo just terrifies me a little bit. This outfit clearly brought out the top model in me.

Hi, Annika. That is a good... face... you've got there.

Now I'll share with you guys a few photography tips and tricks. This is how I get all my flawless outfit shots.

There's the flawless hair-flick photos:

The "this is going to look AWESOME" spinning shot:

Then there's the classic "hang on, I can't tell if the camera is working" pose:

Apparently, I also pull a LOT of grumpy faces:

And I am thinking that I might use this as part of my modelling portfolio:

"Oh! This will be a cute pose!" *FAIL*

"The sun has suddenly come out and blinded me" pose:

And the "I'm just looking at this teeeeeny ant" pose:

Good one Annika, that'll make a great photo: because normal people often walk around holding all their hair out at the sides of their head.

Classic vintage pose (aka going to the toilet in the lake):

Elegance:

Okay, I think I have sufficiently destroyed my carefully-crafted internet persona now. Just remember, next time you start comparing your life to seemingly-perfect blogs and instagram accounts - they don't often post the outtakes of life.

I hope that you've all had a lovely week,