Photo of the week contest 04|sharing my best photo of the week

Hello ladies in the @ladiesuniverse community
I feel relaxed participating in this contest most especially with fellow ladies

I hope to make new friends

Best Photo of the Week – Two Sides of Me

Someone took two photos of me this week. Same day, same setting nothing fancy, nothing planned. I wasn’t even really posing. In one, I smiled. In the other, I didn’t.

That’s it. That’s the difference.

But for some reason, I kept going back to those photos. Not because they were perfect shots, but because they showed me something. Something I didn’t even realize I needed to see.

The smiling one caught me in a good moment. A real smile not forced, not for show. Just a natural response to the moment, maybe to a joke, maybe to someone’s presence smiling at your beauty and in admiration of yourself You know those smiles that aren’t loud, but they feel genuine? The kind that makes your eyes soften a little? That’s what it was.

When I looked at that picture later, it reminded me of lightness. Of ease. Of those random, quiet moments when joy sneaks in without making a scene. It felt good to see myself like that. Just happy, without thinking too much about it.

But then there’s the second photo.

No smile. No big emotion on my face. Just me, standing there, calm and unbothered. At first, I almost overlooked it. It felt too plain. But the more I looked, the more I saw something deeper. It wasn’t sadness, and it definitely wasn’t coldness. It was presence. Stillness. A kind of quiet strength.

That photo made me think. It reminded me that not every beautiful moment needs to be loud or cheerful. Sometimes, just being there fully, honestly is more powerful than anything else. I didn’t have to be “on” in that picture. I wasn’t performing. And that’s what made it feel so real.

It’s strange how two photos, taken seconds apart, can hold such different energy. One feels like sunshine, the other like shade. But both are necessary. Both are true.

We’re often taught to choose the happiest version of ourselves. The smiling photo gets shared. The serious one gets deleted. But I think that’s changing. At least, it is for me. I’m learning to see value in both. The joy and the calm. The high and the quiet.

What really struck me is that someone else took the photos. I didn’t get to control the angle, the lighting, or the outcome. I just had to trust that what they saw was worth capturing. And it was. Because those two shots told me more about myself than I expected.

Sometimes, we don’t need to pose or prepare. We don’t need to try so hard to look good or feel good. We just need to be. And let others see us that way, too.

I used to think the best photo had to be the one where I looked the happiest. But now I’m not so sure. Maybe the best photo is the one that shows you exactly as you are no filters, no pretense. Just human. Just present.

So I’ve decided: both of those pictures are my best photo of the week.

The smiling one shows joy. The quiet one shows depth. Together, they tell a fuller story. A story of someone who can laugh and reflect, be bright and still, all in the same breath.

And honestly, that feels more real than any perfect shot ever could.

If there’s one thing I’m taking from this, it’s that we don’t have to choose between our emotions. We’re allowed to be more than one thing at a time. That’s the beauty of being human. That’s the beauty of photographs, too they remind us of the versions of ourselves we often forget to appreciate.

So here’s to the quiet photos. The honest ones. The ones that don’t try too hard but somehow say everything.

Thanks for reading. Let me know do you prefer the smile or the stillness? Or maybe, like me, you’re learning to love both.