Society has conditioned women to think that once they reach the age of 40 or more, they’re no longer worth looking at. That at 40, our lives is over and that the only thing for us to do it’s just be a house wife, raise the kids and that’s it.

Well, THEY ARE WRONG! Being a woman over 40 means you finally know what you want. You have goals you aren’t afraid to pursue and your determination is through the roof.

My goal with this campaign is to empower my fellow 40 something women. To show them that this is the best decade of their lives and that they shouldn’t be ashamed of it. 40+ and fabulous IS a thing!

Let me introduce you to this stunning lady. She was one of the first women to sign up for my 40 Over 40 campaign. Check out my interview with her.

What do you do for a living? 

Up until the end of August of this year, I was in broadcast operations for a sports league.  I made the decision to leave my career of 24 years to enjoy my family and life.

When was the last time you had your photos taken? 

My wedding day 17 years ago. 

Can you describe your experience with Ana Silva Photography? 

I went in not knowing what to expect.  Ana’s studio is bright and welcoming with beautiful windows that look out to NYC.  Once I arrived, Ana let me know the plan and was also open to any suggestions I had (which I had none since I never did this before).  The make-up artist and hair stylist were very professional and listened to what I liked and did not like.  Ana was very clear as she explained her vision for the shoot.

Did Ana make you feel comfortable and at ease during the session?   

From the moment I spoke to Ana about the photo session, she was very thorough with explaining the process. I let Ana know that I never had photos taken of me and I usually freeze up when I know a picture is being taken of me.  Ana assured me that I would get comfortable and the photos would come out great.  She was absolutely correct. 

What prompted you to sign up for the 40/40 campaign?

About 5 years ago when I turned 40, I realized I did not have many pictures of myself.  I looked into it and then something always came up and just did not have time.  When you are younger, usually you have a school picture from every year where you can see how you’ve aged.  Then all of sudden there is a huge gap from the next time there is a photo of you.  I wanted to capture what I look like in my 40s. I regret not having any from my 30s.  My girlfriend sent me a text ‘thought of you’ with Ana’s campaign for Real Women over 40.  I thought to myself, I’ve been wanting to do this and now is the perfect time.

As a woman 40 and over, what advice would you give your fellow women? 

Enjoy life and the way you look.  Do not change yourself to look younger, accept who you are and what you look like.  

How has being 40+ impacted your professional and personal life? 

I feel like I have been on a never ending marathon for the past 10 years. I thought this was normal, until now.  Being in my 40s is the middle of my life and I want to enjoy it and everything it has to offer.  I know I have the ability to keep what makes me happy in my life and get rid of what does not. I also know those who care for me, will not judge or criticize the decisions I make in my life. 

Would you recommend Ana Silva photography to your friends? 

Definitely. As I mentioned before not only was her studio welcoming, but so was Ana.  

How did this experience change the way you see yourself? 

I have a glimpse to what others were seeing; A strong, confident, beautiful person in their 40s.

Would you do it again? 

Definitely.

~Francesca M.

I hope Francesca’s story can resonate with you in some way. I hope her experience having her photos taken, inspires you to do the same.

Remember, it’s OK to love YOU. It’s OK to celebrate YOU. Do it at least once and feel the power of celebrating the amazing woman you are.

See you soon 🙂

Hi again!

Last year my siblings and I came up with the idea to surprise our dad for his 65th birthday.

You see, there’s seven of us, me being the oldest and we’re all in different parts of the world.

I live in NYC, two of my sisters live in St. Marteen, the youngest one lives in Spain and the other three live in Dominican Republic along with my dad.

Getting all of us under one roof wasn’t easy! But we all managed to commit to surprising him because it was about time we all got together.

I was the first one to arrive, two days before his birthday. Everyone except him knew I was gonna be there.

The plan was for all of us to be there the same day but due to conflicting airline scheduling it wasn’t possible.

I had my cousin record our encounter and just I thought, it was the best reaction ever! Check out his reaction here.

Two of my sisters arrived on his birthday and by now he was truly overwhelmed with joy.

He was very emotional to have us all together and we were so glad to have made it possible.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. He was extremely happy and we all got to share his special day with him.

Hopefully it won’t take another 21 years for us to get together again.

When was the last time you took a photo of your self?

Every day I read on my Facebook groups about how fellow photographers dread taking their own photos.

Many say they don’t like how they look. Many others say they don’t know how to and countless others simply don’t find they’re photogenic enough.

I get it. We’re are our own worse critic. We’re constantly nip picking ourselves apart and are never satisfied with our looks.

I used to do this, A LOT. I didn’t like to look at myself in the mirror. I preferred to be behind the camera instead of in front of it.

I used to have very low self-esteem and didn’t consider myself pretty. It took a very long time for me to be happy with myself and how I look, and honestly I am happier now.

I learned to accept me as I am. I learned to love me first in order to love others.

It also dawned on me that if I wanted my children to have a high self-esteem and learn to love themselves, I had to set the example.

So I decided to do a self portrait each year to celebrate my birthday. I wanted to document each year of my life for THEM. I wanted them to have a portrait of their mom no matter how I looked.

Below are some of the self portraits I’ve taken over the years.

I crochet and used any excuse to make a hat so I can photograph it.

Finding inspiration from celebs is also another excuse to photograph yourself. Jennifer Lopez is my favorite celebrity so when she posted this photo, I had to recreate it. Granted it’s not exactly identical but it doesn’t have to be. That’s what inspiration is all about.

Mood is another reason I take self portraits or if I’m trying out a new preset. On this particular day, I was feeling kinda of down so I took a photo. It turns out that I had the perfect light and preset to bring this image to life. It’s OK to take a photo when you’re down. Life isn’t always happy.

My point is, our kids don’t care how we look. They just care that we are around for them. They care that we’re alive and they can spend time with us.

For that reason, I get in front of the camera each year(and sometimes twice a month, lol).

It has boosted my self-esteem a lot to do this. Sure, half the images are tossed because they don’t turn out the way I imagined but most do come out great and I share them.

Doing these self portraits has made me realize I am beautiful. It’s made me realize that it’s OK to feel good about yourself and it’s OK to love yourself.

I now look forward to them so much, that I’ve actually started brainstorming what kind of session I want to do!

Last year the theme was to have a big tulle skirt and very red lipstick.

This year I made it a little more dramatic. To celebrate a new era of the 20s, I bought myself a Great Gatsby inspired outfit.

I made sure I had everything from the dress to the accessories.

Mind you, I do NOT promote nor condone smoking so this is only part of the theme.

This was by far my favorite self portrait to date! I really enjoyed dressing up and pretending to be a flapper girl 🙂

That’s what it’s all about, having fun! Being yourself is the best thing you can do for YOU.

For my fellow moms and women in general, don’t let this intimidate you. It’s so simple to take a self portrait with your camera. Below, I’ll share my tips of getting the perfect shot that will help you love taking self portraits.

STEP 1

Get yourself an outfit that fits your personality. Or if you want to pretend to be someone else, get yourself something that will showcase that.

STEP 2

Find a place with good light or set up whatever light you have available to you. For some of my shots I used artificial light and window light. I have never used the camera flash or external flash but if you want to, it’s up to you.

STEP 3

Set up your camera and tripod. I used my 50mm and my 24-70mm. The 50mm is a great lens for sharp images. But if you don’t have a lot of room to work with, the 24-70mm will give you a good range without being too cramp.

STEP 4

Set your camera to the Interval timer shooting(Nikon). Select the amount of shots(I set mine to 5 but you can choose more). Canon users click here. I use autofocus on manual mode. I don’t have a trigger but if you do, that’s even better.

Depending on your lighting conditions, set you ISO to between 400-1000. You might want to bump it up if it gets too dark with your natural light. Fstop between 2.2-3.5 and between 1/100 to 1/400 if you’re in a brightly lit area. Some of my shots were directly in front of the sun so I was at ISO640, f/3.2, 1/400.

STEP 5

Place yourself in front of the camera and strike your favorite pose! You might have to hold one pose in order to get a good one. That’s the reason why I set my interval to 5 shots so I can check the back of my camera and see if I got the shot, lol.

It helps if you can set up your camera to tether, that way you can see right away if it’s right. I don’t tether so I do it the hard way, haha. I normally take between 100 to 200 shots and end up with probable 20-50 good ones.

STEP 6

Pick your favorite ones and edit them to your heart’s content. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get good ones on your first try. It happens to me all the time. The cool thing is that you can always try again and again.

Finally, make it a habit to photograph yourself often. Believe me when I tell you that it has really helped me a lot. Not only on a personal level but on the professional one as well.

I can see how much my work has improved by doing this. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done.

If you decide to take the plunge(and REALLY hope you do) share your self portraits with me. I’d love to see them!

Until next time!