The other day I was reading Becca's blog. She had taken a picture of herself and Clay in the snow. It reminded me that many of the photographers on Flickr and other photography sites take self-portraits. I'm not sure why. Probably because when they went to photography school it was an assignment and it's just standard study for real photographers. Or, possibly because since no one else ever takes pictures of the photographer, they need to take photos of themselves to make sure they are somehow included in the history books.
In any case, I decided to give it a try and went to one of my favorite places, the Star Barn to experiment. At least if none of the self-portraits turned out, there could always be more Star Barn photos. How is one supposed to assess if self-portraits turned out? Colors fine, focus fine, but is that what I look like? Are those looks I make? When shooting a subject one is familiar with, one object is to capture the essence of the character based on what you know. Self-portraiture, if nothing else, emphasizes how little we know about ourselves.
I do know I like to smile. Once a subordinate at work asking me why I was smiling. The inference was I couldn't relate to them if smiling. To me, life is better with a smile. If nothing else, life has taught me there's always something to smile about. So, here's a smile for you. Hope it looks like me.
The other day I was reading Becca's blog. She had taken a picture of herself and Clay in the snow. It reminded me that many of the photographers on Flickr and other photography sites take self-portraits. I'm not sure why. Probably because when they went to photography school it was an assignment and it's just standard study for real photographers. Or, possibly because since no one else ever takes pictures of the photographer, they need to take photos of themselves to make sure they are somehow included in the history books.
In any case, I decided to give it a try and went to one of my favorite places, the Star Barn to experiment. At least if none of the self-portraits turned out, there could always be more Star Barn photos. How is one supposed to assess if self-portraits turned out? Colors fine, focus fine, but is that what I look like? Are those looks I make? When shooting a subject one is familiar with, one object is to capture the essence of the character based on what you know. Self-portraiture, if nothing else, emphasizes how little we know about ourselves.
I do know I like to smile. Once a subordinate at work asking me why I was smiling. The inference was I couldn't relate to them if smiling. To me, life is better with a smile. If nothing else, life has taught me there's always something to smile about. So, here's a smile for you. Hope it looks like me.
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