The Challenge: Self Portrait

30 day photo challenge

1st challenge: Self Portraiture

Instead of doing one challenge a day, I have decided to just focus on each challenge as time permits.
 

I combined my first attempt at this challenge with taking portraits of one of my granddaughters. I am much happier with her portraits which I will share later. 

This is a shot from that first attempt. I shared a better shot Here. I definitely chose the wrong time of day and the wrong location. In addition my attempt to get the focus set properly wasn't very successful. Not to be beaten by a challenge I had to give it a few more tries.

On my second attempt, I headed out with two of my grandchildren. Once again, I captured some good portraits of the kids. As for the self portraits, they were better than my first attempts. However, I was still not satisfied.

Although it was about the same time of day as in the first attempts, this time I chose a location that had more trees to diffuse the harsh light. Thanks to the children, who agreed to sit where I planned on sitting, I was able to set the focus better this time. Although still not satisfied, I am happier with this than with my first attempts. Maybe if I had posed differently I might like it. But the way I am sitting almost makes me look pregnant! Thank God that isn't possible. LOL

For my final attempt I decided to go for a completely different type of self portrait. I did a series of shots that will be used for a project I am doing about living with Narcolepsy. I am very satisfied with the results. 



This challenge definitely took me out of my comfort zone (behind the lens). It also gave me a chance to work on conceptualizing the portrait instead of relying solely on what I see through the view finder to compose the portrait.  

At first I thought this took me out of my comfort zone because I am getting older and like mirrors I can't hide that from a photo. Then I realized that isn't it, because I have never liked having my photo taken. It seems to me many photographers feel the same way. So I ask, why is it photographers are more comfortable taking photos of other people than they are of themselves? 

Creating An Inexpensive But Elegant Backdrop

Recently I decided I wanted to get more of a studio look with some of my portrait shots. Of course that means I needed to get some type of backdrop. After looking around I decided that at this time it was more than I could spend to purchase professional backdrops. But this did not stop me from improvising.

First I purchased a rolling garment rack and then went in search of material. I was fortunate to find approximately ten yards of this wonderful 110 inch wide draping material at a Goodwill for only $3.00. I wasn't exactly sure how well it would work as the fabric is a bit sheer so I had to first hang a plain white sheeting behind this fabric but I am happy with the results. However, as you can see by this photo it is not wide or tall enough to do full standing shots, so I will be heading to Home Depot to get longer tubing to increase the width and height of the garment rack.

After putting it all together I set up my lights (made from regular old automotive shop lights) and my camera and had a little test run. Just as I expected the width of the backdrop frame is too narrow for any distance shots.

It was however just fine for closer shots. I do need to figure out a better way to get the focus right when doing self portraits though.

The total cost so far for the backdrop is $15.00, ten for the rack, $2 for a king size white sheet and $3.00 for the fantastic print sheeting.  Both the material and king size sheet were purchased at thrift stores. Looking around I should be able to get the tubing to increase the width for under $21 dollars. Do you have any favorite materials that you use for backdrops? I will be keeping my eyes open for more fabrics to create different backdrops.

Silhouettes part 2

Still on a mission to create a cool looking silhouette I headed down town to see the 'open air painters'. I thought that would make a really cool silhouette. Sad to say though I couldn't find a single one, not sure what happened to them but they were no where to be found. So here is what I got instead.

Then I headed over to the Japanese Gardens. I have to admit, because of it's popularity with couples in love I was hoping to get a nice silhouette of a couple but I guess it wasn't the right day for that either. It was however a very beautiful day in a very beautiful setting, so I opted for a silhouette of the trees and got a nice reflection with it.

The whole time I was thinking if someone was just standing there or there it would make a great shot. Of course I thought hey I could do self portrait shots but I don't have a remote shutter release. So instead I settled for a close up self portrait silhouette.

Purchasing a remote shutter release for my camera is now at the top of my must have accessories list. I really enjoyed creating these SOOC silhouettes, I hope you enjoy viewing them. For more interesting and creative silhouettes check out the 52 Photos Project Week 18.