Happy New Year to all and a tip on your mirror image!

So, my first blog post for 2016 and it has to be admitted one after a period of silence! I've never been one to state a New Year's resolution but I do hope to take on board all the advice I get and keep up a decent flow of posts. Just need to make sure it doesn't get boring for you!I've been thinking of a number of topics but thought I'd start off with something gentle, nothing controversial. I hope though something to think about.

Basically its about the contrast of looking at yourself and how others look at you. I am always fascinated at how a person's perception of themselves can be very different to how people see them. Often when reviewing portraits with a client, they comment on things which I am positive other people just don't see, or at least consider a negative.

I think sometimes people may even have hang ups about aspects their partners love.Emma Selby, founder of Business Hubs (www.businesshubs.org) asked on facebook the other day how important image was in business? I think everyone would agree it's pretty high up the list, maybe for some right at the top. It's the business I work in; personal image is I think a huge factor.

How you project impacts on how people assess you and subsequently your business. So the point of this post is to address one, just one issue, I think people have when reviewing their photos. It's the mirror. The thing is this, generally people only ever see themselves in the mirror. The mirror reverses your image, flips it horizontally so what you see every morning is not what everyone else sees. I think there is a root of a problem here.

Here's me. In 1887 a patented mirror solved this problem but was never seen as more than a curiosity. The True Mirror® is now made by US company The Mirror Company and distributed by a UK company over here, Grand Illusions Ltd.

Basically you take two mirrors and place them together at 90 degrees. Looking straight at it, you get an image reflected which is a true likeness. The bought version is machined to lose the join line on your home made version.I think this is fascinating. I may get one for the studio.

It's not that people don't have symmetrical faces, everyone's left and right side is different, (some more so than others true) it's just that you are used to seeing yourself one particular way. I say to people that your profile  photo isn't actually for you, it's for everyone else, your public. They're used to seeing you the way you look in the photo so be happy!