janet kwan photography

I’m trying to learn how to smile naturally on command. My friends know I have this exaggerated smile aka “fake smile”. You know what I mean. If not, go ahead. Look through my Facebook and you’ll see. It’s not that I’m not happy in the picture…the “nice smile” doesn’t come naturally to me. Want a genuine smile for photos? Make me laugh. You’ll know it’s real when my eyes disappear

Exhibit A. This is a hybrid. Notice that both rows of teeth are exposed. That’s too much teeth for me to be natural.

This week, I had the honour of being in a photoshoot! No, I wasn’t called by some agency or anything but there was a opportunity and I happened to be available…and Asian Remember when the photographer for school pictures says “Say cheese!” or “Say moneeey!”? I ended up with a half smile and trembling cheeks from holding the pose too long. Oh how I wish I practiced smiling for all those years of school photos. It was hard to smile constantly and consistently on command but our photographer was so great at getting that natural reaction out of us.

I had an absolute blast from beginning to end on two fronts. Not only did I particiate IN the shoot, I got to watch a professional photographer at work! I paid attention to how he interacted with his crew, with the models, his shots and angles. Ahh it was like a real life workshop! I don’t know if/when those pictures will be released but when i find out, I’ll try to post them here. Or if you see them before I do, please let me know!

So, the story behind the picture below…

When I got home, there was some super nice sunlight streaming into my room (I looove facing west!) so I took some self-portraits. Let me tell you how uncomfortable it is for me to take pictures of myself and POST THEM ON THE INTERNET FOR THE WORLD TO SEE. But hey, it helped me practice a) smiling b) using natural light. Plus, the hair/makeup artist did a nice job keeping everything au naturel so I want to remember this for future reference

Exhibit B. I had to think of something funny (but not too hilarious) to get this. It felt weird but it worked

Got any tips/tricks? Please do share! Happy Friday!

When I first saw these, I knew I had to get a pair. They looked SO comfortable, like a fluffy jacket for your feet. And the best part? There’s a rubber sole so you don’t slip or wear out the bottom easily. And the better-than-best part? They were only $8 from Joe Fresh!

I have this small, thick notebook of blank paper that I got from volunteering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 3 years ago. I decided to use it for taking notes starting from one end and doodling/sketching from the other end.

Sometimes, I randomly have the urge to just draw stuff…nothing in particular but I like patterns so that’s the first thing I started with. The first 2 were done over the course of a week or so. I don’t really remember. I just kept adding to it everytime I looked at it lol

Circles

Random

The was done this past week and it’s based off of the profile picture of Colour Me Katie.

About three months ago, I took this picture. The sun was pretty far from the big antenna/tower at the right.

Look at where the sun was 2 nights ago! This is how I gauge when summer is here