I, as most people should be, am wary of Craigslist. For what it is, it does a decent job of connecting buyers and sellers as well as undercutting the newspaper industry. However, the uptick in scams and ads asking for services well below a respectable fee leaves one viewing the Craigslist as an amusing diversion, not a real market. So nine times out of ten, I'll read a request for a photographer, chuckle or shake my head and move on with my day. But occasionally I see an ad that perhaps, just perhaps is an honest offer to which I'll respond. Alexandria happened to be just such an occurrence.

Alexandria was interested in getting headshots taken of her to use as profile pictures for many of the social networking sites. I offered to do this for her and we met on one windy afternoon in Fredericksburg. We chatted as we walked around. Alexandria was finishing up her grad school in Richmond and was looking to the future, figuring out how to find that perfect job. Being the savvy person she is, she knew having a good picture for your profile goes a long way to how your perceived by others and more to the point potential employers. Alexandria had a bright attitude and a gorgeous smile yet despite this, she insisted she took terrible pictures.

I took it on myself to prove her wrong.