Using Photos to Tell My Story

: Victorious Val

Korey Howell photography had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot for breast cancer survivor Victorious Val, along with plastic surgeon Dr. Elisabeth Potter, for an ad in the June edition of AW magazine. Both of these ladies are truly inspiring and were wonderful to photograph. Below is Victorious Val’s account of how we came to meet and her creative photography experience.

 

Val is founder of Victorious Val & the Breast Cancer Crusaders, a community of encouragement and kindness for survivors, co-survivors and supporters.

When I started the Crusader community, I didn’t have any professional branding. The very talented artist, Shane Campos from Taffy Print, designed my superhero logo based on the Victorious Val character I had created to get through cancer.

But as more people began to hear of me, and as the page grew, I decided I also needed professional photos, other than snapshots I’d taken of myself. I’d heard about Korey Howell Photography for years, and I’d seen so many beautiful pictures in AW Magazine and during other promotions.

In the back of my mind, I had thought, “Someday Korey’s going to take MY pictures!”

 When I walked into the studio, I was blown away by how professional it appeared. With beautiful photos on the wall, I saw the possibilities before I even started.

“Korey’s going to make me look amazing” is all I could think, and that quieted the whispering voice inside my head that said, “But your breast reconstruction isn’t even finished yet.”

 

From Superhero to Supermodel

After shooting for a few minutes, Korey took a few minutes to stop and show me what the photo would look like after touch up. Once she showed me, I felt comfortable and relaxed – it took the pressure off me to appear “perfect,” and I was able to get even better shots from that moment on.

The pictures I ended up with are stunning, and I’m not afraid to say that I loaded them up on my laptop, stared at them on-and-off for hours, and used the photo Korey affectionately referred to as my “money shot” for my signature photo. Her creative ideas – and her encouragement from behind the lens – made me feel like a supermodel. It was a fantasy come true, and I’ll cherish that session forever.

For more information about Victorious Val & the Breast Cancer Crusaders, visit www.victoriousval.com