Although in the article I located this image in, it does makes mention of plus size  models; I realise some will disagree that they are plus size but you know what, who cares!

Lets not focus on the negative and create more judgement – These women are BEAUTIFUL. These women are HEALTHY! and as long as they are being involved in these high end shoots, for the time being who cares what label they get given!

Again, without change nothing changes. Let the stylists, editors and alike call these women ‘plus size’; we can see there natural beauty. Let’s be positive and allow the CHANGE to begin!

Sweet Dreams x Miss Popeto x

Photographer: Steven Meisel for Vogue

Models: Tara Lynn, Candice Huffine, and Robyn Lawley

So what to write about tonight – I really didn’t realise how much of a ‘visual’ person I really am!

However a quick side story, it was only last week that a business function of 40 plus people was held in my studio; I was invited to introduce myself and welcome everyone to the space, I made mention that I don’t talk much, only to have half the people there (which know me through the local business community) literally laugh out loud at me. I wasn’t offended at all but gave myself a ..hmmm.. maybe Ryan ( my darling other half ) is right! haha.. Maybe we should listen to those close to us more often. the end of side story.

Annnnnnyway,

I think tonight I would like to share one of the things that is on my mind the most …  ’ how will I conquer women’s body image?’ and help promote natural womens beauty, without JUDGEMENT!

Of recent I myself have felt a little less than impressed with myself and it got me thinking, how have I let myself think like this?

I truly mean it when I say I am, 99.9% of the time, happy with myself. A long time ago I came to the realiseation that I am who I am and no wishing, no dieting, no hoping, no magazine gawking or bullying even – is EVER going to change that! I admit I have thought like every other woman in the world but no were NEAR as much as most if not all women I know if my life.

For those of you who have never met me, I am 26 years old, as close to 6ft tall as one can get, I’m a ‘super’ healthy size 14, sometimes size 16, sometimes 12, I have a funny looking right hand side little toe, sort of wrinkly hands and a broken nose. I can only imagine the image you have just painted in your head of what I might look like.

And there it is… Judgement.

As a race, as a country and as a human being, we really need to stop the judgement. I could go on about it for hours however tonight I am talking particularly about womens body image.

Why do we judge others? On the way they look and by the clothes they wear?

It truly truly makes no sense to me.

Seperate to my broken nose, funny toe and size whatever body – I also have beautiful eyes, soft lady shoulders, long dark hair, pretty little thin lips and long legs. How about now? New picture?

What I think I am trying to say is, tomorrow try and think about your thoughts. Really think about the world around you and how you see the world. Think about the people around you and how you really perceive them. Is it positive?

At the end of the day, try and think about the people you have passed and if it really matters what they look like or what they wear. I bet it doesn’t.

Concentrate on what would make you happier. How you can improve your home life. How you can allow yourself to see your own beauty.

Concentrate on your self.

It seems far more logical to think about yourself then waste time building opinions and judgements on someone else that really has no bearing on your life. You are most likely just adding to your bank of ‘ im not good enoughs’ and that really isn’t good enough!

I have not as yet worked out how I am going to ‘conquer’ positive body image but I would love your input. Without change, nothing changes!

I know the way I think but I need to know the way, you think. Your opinions, experiences and thoughts.

Why do you think women have a hard time loving who they are? or do you disagree altogether?

Anything, everything. I want to know.

The ultimate aim of my rant is I really want women to love who they are. I realise not everyone thinks like this but through my experiences with photographing lots of women, I can tell you now that UNDOUBTABLY without question that EVERY photoshoot I have ever done that involves a women, that some sort of body image question, statement, comment, wether it be about themselves or someone else, is ALWAYS said.

So lets start to change this and aim for positive body image WORLDWIDE

Share the love and feel free to either post comments below or email me directly at info@popeto.com.au with any thoughts or ideas you have

Lets UNLEASH YOUR BEAUTIFUL ladies! Your all worth it!

and here I am! This is the promo for our original UNLEASH YOUR BEAUTIFUL BODY CAMPAIGN { PART I } We still need to do two more shoots, so if you are interested in being part of it. Again, please email us at info@popeto.com.au – you can find the final image from Part 1 above under the appropriate link.

Love Team Popeto xx

Because giving you an electronic file, is just giving you an electronic file.

We are photographers; photographers create more than just electronic files.

We create memories. We capture life. We create art = Photographs

Photoshoots galore, studio openings, competitions and it’s not long now until the Ipswich Cup 2011.

Firstly we want to share a few shots of recent – many more to come – that we just love!

Here is baby Jaxon, who was 3 weeks old yesterday!

Not forgetting the AMAZING storm that went through Ipswich. .  LOVE LOVE LOVE this shot.

This shot in my mind really represents what Qld Thunderstorms are about – Beautiful old Queenslanders, Beautfiul Colours in the Sky and Amazing Cloud Formations. Tick!

and of course, tommorrows grand reveal of the much loved Ipswich based business Fourthchild! Be there at 9.30am!

EXCITING WE KNOW!

———> Seperate to all of this, we also have ANOTHER Competion to give away

{ 10 GENERAL ADMISSION PASSES } to the Ipswich Cup 2011.

These will be given away in pairs, so 5 winners in total!

To go into the draw to win these tickets for you and your mates, all you need to do is spread the Popeto Love.

To enter you need to finish this saying . .  Roses are red, Violets are blue, Popeto Portraits are Number One and . . . .

Post this as your Facebook status (be sure to tag us when you do so, to validate your entry ) and finish it off the most creative way you can. We will note down your name and put you in the drawer! Let your friends know too so they can have a chance at winning also.

Everyone who does so goes into the draw to win the tickets. Prize drawn on Sunday 12th at 7pm. Raffle type draw – Each entrant will have their name put into a hat and drawn at random. Winners will be posted online at 7 – 7.30pm on Sunday 12th. Winners are final. Winners to collect tickets from Popeto Portrait Studio Ipwich during the week.

Goodluck! Don’t forget our major competion we have running at the moment – GET LOVED 2011 – which gives you the change to win a $500 giftvoucher. Look at the blog or www.popeto.com.au

New news as well, this Thursday Vanessa and I are taking part in an amazing gallery launch for James of ‘Art Lae’ – High Profile loving! Can’t wait to share what we are doing and the end photos!! Hold your breath party people!

Thanks for dropping by

Team Popeto xx

and to top it off, I am not sure what to write.. I don’t think it is particularly writers block as I am not a writer; and to be honest, normally we will post photographs. Perhaps I am so incredibly use to ‘seeing’ the world around me that I have forgotten to think about it; in detail I mean.

On that note – who has found that since computers, and I mean mainstream use of computers, the internet, google, bloomin spellcheck and even worse AUTO CORRECT! that our spelling has gone to pieces. I don’t remember being a particularly bad speller but I sure do notice it now. Being in business and having to assemble alot of business documents, emails to and from clients, contracts, vouchers, press releases etc I have really found that if I am actually putting pen to paper that I struggle with spelling. Very random thought for the start of our second ever post, but very true. Think about it.

Anyway, onto photography type things. .

Well be that we want this to be a platform to allow people to be creative and at the same time share with the world what inspires us, let me share a bit about how I got into photography and found ‘my’ creative.

Often people say to me ‘I wish I could take photos like you’ or ‘I would love to be able to take beautiful photos’ or ‘I wish I was that creative’. This interests me, as I believe that everyone has their own creative. Your work, or art, might not look like Joe Blogs down the road but how does that make you uncreative? Who died and made Joe Blogs the creative police?

If you in-vision something, dream it, work on it, design it and create it the way you want it to look, then you are being your creative.

For as long as I can remember I know I have been overly creative. I remember when I was in primary school, instead of concentrating on the content of a set assignment or project, I would put all my thought and effort into decorating it. Of course to a grade 4 student this was no indication that some 20 years later she would be a pro photographer running a studio in Ipswich CBD just because she likes to glue & colour instead of read! I do however, when I was a little older , remember envisioning it.

From the age of about 14, amongst wanting to join Greenpeace & become a marine biologist, I have had a desire and want to do photography. It never once occurred to me that my desire to be creative would steer me this way, but it has.

Like all kids I did the fish and chip gig while I was at school, started my own car washing business at 18 (failed but learnt from it), worked for a major tourism company for 3 years in their reservations department and then literally one day (with some slight persuasion) I decided I was finally going to do photography. Explore my creative. The decision was literally that simple for me. I decided to leave my full-time, safe, secure day job to go and be ‘my creative‘.

Some months later I had the course deposit paid, new backpack, new exercise books and what I thought was the most shit hot camera I’d ever seen ( my dad now has it )  as I toddled off to my first class of Cert IV in photography.

What a day that was. Creative – yeah right! More like photography 101.. hmmm lets start with SENSITOMETRY! yeah .. google that! I dare you. That was my first day of my creative. The first day away from my secure day job. Wasn’t looking great. You know what though, I didn’t give up.

So the year went on and we learnt alot. Our creative brains a buzz, all the whilst over full with information, and a strong willingness to learn. It wasn’t long until we actually started photographing and getting to put that practice into theory. Getting to finally be our creative.

Initially for me it was children. I LOVED photographing them. I saw their innocence and their lack of inhibitions easier for me to photograph. They didn’t judge, half the time didn’t even pay attention, and were just happy to play about for me. Although I look back over those images now, my creative hasn’t changed.

My exposure, understanding of the equipment and lighting, editing, posing, light metering etc etc has improved but the way I capture people has not. I lost my prints in the recent floods but I will try and reprint from digital files if I can find them to show you what I mean.

In the beginning photography was never easy for me to understand but allowing myself to be my creative was. No one got to decide how I was going to be creative. How I was going to pose my subject. How I would make them laugh in a certain way to create a certain look I wanted. I dreamt it. It was my creative.

Then I just worked on it. I took as many photos as I could, of as many people as I could and as often as I could. Practice really does make perfect. Even after completing my Diploma I really still do try and just take photos of things. Teach myself new techniques and work, work, work on it. Work on being my creative. Work on seeing new things.

I honestly try and not bother worrying about what everyone else is doing. Everything has quite literally been done before. So its about you having a vision, dreaming about it, working on it, designing it and recreating it. Make it yours. Anyone can do it.

I remember at Tafe I was standing out the front of the dark room one afternoon and my lecturer saying to me, one day you will just get a sort of ‘second peripheral’ vision. You will just see things. Extra things. I remember thinking, weeeeirdo! However. . apparantley he was right. I don’t remember the ‘day’ it happened for me, unlike my lecturer, however I know I have it.

I often will just ‘see’ things. Colours, patterns, textures, lines and shapes – all which may make up a scene or just parts of scene. Things around me. I don’t know how it happened but I really do think it contributes to my success in the photography industry and the unique look I have to my images; just by being my creative. No one elses.

I have even put this theory into my business without initially knowing it.

I really do in-vision my shoots. I have design consults with my clients.

I dream my shoots. Again, I talk about how, what, where and when we are going to create our unique magic with the client.

I work on it. I will think about props, scenes and the final outcome. Get the client to contribute where possible.

Design it. Book locations, check weather guides, organise clients, research inspiration for the final look.

Create it. Photograph it! On the day, be my creative.

So for all those beautiful people who have flattered me by saying, I wish I could take photos like you – Thankyou. However, you should take photos like you.

Think about it – No one is YOUER than you! No one!

I think the point of all of my rant is that anyone can be creative if they want to be but seperate to that, anyone can do anything they want to do. That I think is the underlying message here. When people say to me for now on, ‘I wish I could take beautiful photos’ I am just going to say, ‘well you can’. You just need to put your mind to it.

Maybe to get you seeing outside of your normal thoughts and vision, pickup your cameras and go and photograph the alphabet. I don’t meant photograph the letters of different signs to make up the alphabet but shapes and lines within the world around you that you can envision as letters. Be your creative.

Be that it is our second post, I am not sure if you can post photos but if you can post your results up. I would love to see them!

and remember . . .

Think left and think right and think low and think high.  Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!  ~Dr. Seuss

The End x

Finally we have finished months of research and brainstorming to make sure we deliver the right blog to portray just who we are { Team Popeto } of Popeto Portrait Studio.

For those of you who don’t know about us, we are a boutique Portrait Photography Studio located in the ever growing town of Ipswich, Queensland.

We Definitely are not the biggest photography studio in our town nor do we EVER want to be! Our aim is to be the BEST, not the biggest.

We pride ourselves on our unique vision within the portraits we create, as well as the time we invest with our clients, getting to know their story and often creating beautiful friendships.

Be sure to check out our work at www.popeto.com.au and follow our journey both here and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/popeto.portrait.studio

We photograph anyone with a face; hence the WE HEART FACES!

We hope to share with you all what inspires us, our vision as pro photographers, what we get up to in and around our community, our studio antics and all importantly our imagery. We love feedback and without it can not grow.

Soooooooooooo….

To celebrate our new blog in conjunction with our new studio, we are holding our FIRST ever competition; ‘Get Loved 2011′

* * WIN a $500 POPETO PORTRAIT GIFTVOUCHER * * ANYONE CAN ENTER!

So whats involved?

One of our trademarks here at Popeto Portrait Studio is our big beautiful RED HEART that takes pride in our logo. It goes everywhere with us!

Part of our portrait photography is to allow people to be who they are in front of the camera, so why not in art form.

Put basically, we want you to show us your creative side, whatever or however that might be.

Using our HEART , we want you to write with it, photograph it, cut and paste magazine clippings with it, sew with it, paint on it, draw on it, write poetry on it! Whatever it is that you do best and whatever way you want to express yourself, do it!

Each winning entry will win a $500 Giftvoucher towards portrait photography with Team Popeto!

Entry Details & Guidelines

• Visit www.popeto.com.au to download the printable PDF version of our Trademark Heart ( Found at bottom of Get Loved Page on our Website – look for the red hyperlink )

• Choose the category you wish to enter.
• Mini Heart Love – Children Aged Infant – 16 years
• Big Heart Love – 16 Years & Over

• All entries/designs must include the colour red.
• Once you have designed, created and captured your entry either post or deliver your entry to Popeto Portrait Studio.
• All entries must include your name, phone number, address and catergory you wish to enter.
• All entries will remain the property of Popeto Portrait Studio. Please make copies of your entry if you wish to keep a copy.
• As we receive entries, they will be photographed and posted online for everyone to enjoy.
• Competition closes on the 1st of July. All entries must be received by the studio no later than 5pm Friday 1st of July.
• All entries must include your name, phone number, address and category you wish to enter.
• Winners will be announced via the blog on Sunday 3rd July 2011 at 7pm.
• Gift Vouchers will be posted out upon announcement of winners.
• Prize is non redeemable for cash & non transferrable
• Through entering this competition you agree to signing up to Popeto Portrait Studio’s Mailing List. All information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with others.
• Art is a form of expression and there is no right or wrong entry.
• Winners will be chosen by Popeto Portrait Studio and Sponsors.
• Winners chosen are final and are at the discretion of Popeto Portrait Studio.
• Prize not valid with any other offer & is valid towards new orders only.
• These Terms and Conditions of entry can be changed at any time without notice.