Up Close and Personal: Let H.A.F.A. Diagram YOUR Anatomy

This is quite possibly one of the stranger questions you've been asked, but have you ever wanted to have a photo of yourself— your neck, your back, your arm, your foot— diagrammed out anatomically like the photo below? If so drop me a line at kristin@gm-studio.com. Include any photos you have in mind and we'll discuss the options. Then I will diagram it to your specifications for $25 and up, depending on the area to be diagrammed and the detail level of the rendering. When the diagram is complete, I'll send you the finished digital file or FTP it to the service bureau of your choice for digital output. More information to come, so keep reading:

One of my first posts on this blog (and one of my favorites) was The Anterior Neck: Theme and Variations, in which the visible structures on the anterior neck and their variability were examined. As much as I wanted to write about the the beautiful and elaborate anatomy in this area, I could not find an appropriate image that showed everything I wanted to show. So I ended up taking a shot of my own neck and diagramming it out.

While it's an amateur photo taken with an inexpensive camera, I was able to choose position, lighting, and the structures that would show most. It serves its purpose. Since then I've typically relied on shooting my own photographs, both for this blog and for my book. Soon after this post was published, a friend saw it and subsequently sent me a photo of his beefy arm, asking if I'd diagram the muscles out for him.

Since then, I've been getting more and more requests to diagram muscles and bony landmarks on personal photos, not only from friends and relatives, but from readers of this blog. This is a lot of fun and it seems to be gathering momentum, so thought I may as well make it official and offer it to everyone.

Sooo... Have you ever wondered exactly which muscles and bones you're seeing on the surface of your own body? Well, let me diagram them for you. Just send me a clear, high resolution (at least 300ppi) image of the area in question (um, no private parts, please) and let me know how detailed you'd like the diagram. (See below for examples.) Prices go from $25 up, depending on the complexity of the area and the detail level requested.

The most detailed example would be the fully rendered anterior neck image shown above. Simpler diagrams would look more like the following, which just simple outlines, color coding, and labels:

This is the diagrammed dorsal forearm of my student Shannen.
Bones, muscles, and compartment divisions are color coded and labeled.

Another example of this level of detail can be seen here:

I can also take your color or grayscale photo and make it into a sepia image before laying in the diagram, as shown below:

The image above shows the sepia option, but not much a diagram. I'm happy to complete any level of rendering over an image that I've converted to sepia.

A final option is to show only a specific few muscles, and/or simply labeling visible muscles, as in the diagram below. This option, in which only a few structures are diagrammed, can also be rendered with greater detail, like that in the anterior neck diagram up above.

The above image is a much simpler forearm diagram. Only three of the extensors are drawn in, along with the dorsal hand tendons of one muscle. The lower image has only muscles labeled, with no diagramming at all. This wouldn't be as much fun for me, but I'd be happy to do it!

I've shown mostly arms here, but legs, feet, hands, abdomen, back, and head are all fine. I welcome a challenge! Just be sure the image you send is clear and high resolution, and that some level of surface landmark detail can be seen.

For a time frame and quote, send images to kristin@gm-studio.com.

And feel free to contact me at this address with any other questions!