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A Few Self-portraits

A man laying on the floor. He is looking at the camera placed above him looking down. He is surrounded by some photography gear, a laptop, and a few personal effects.
A man is sitting next to a tree in a field. His back is leaning on the tree and his left hand is fixing his hat. He looks midly dissapointed.
A silhouetted man pointing at the clouds.

I had a couple of different ideas for this post in my head, but I’m glad about what I was able to create.  In our photojournalism class we had to write a 500-word paper on what our why and our purpose for being a photographer, so I already had a deep look at myself and some revelations of why I love photography. For the first one, I had an idea of a top-down shot of me lying on the floor. I messed around with different orientations and lens widths until I landed on 45mm. For the lighting I had my speedlight on top of the camera and bounced the flash off the ceiling so I could get a wide and soft light profile. I placed some of my photography equipment and personal effects out, and I finally got the composition and lighting I had in my head.  

For the second one, like normal, I was having a bit of trouble coming up with ideas.  I was in a field next to a restaurant where I used to work in Southern Pines. I remember coming out for smokes breaks and always admiring how good the sunset looked, so I thought I could do something with that. I got there as soon as I could, but the sunset wasn’t really popping and the lighting I was hoping to get had already gone. I decided to capture my disappointment and frustration in a shot of me sitting next to a tree. I sat my camera up, played with my settings until it felt nice, and got the picture. 

For the last one, I had the idea of setting the camera low and getting a shot of me standing over it. As soon as I set it up, I saw myself silhouetted against a beautiful backdrop of clouds, and I knew what I wanted to capture. I could’ve exposed for me and the sky and fixed it in post so both would be exposed, but I decided to expose for the gorgeous sky and leave me in the dark.  

I think all my photos came out well. I would love to capture a nice sunset at that second location, so I will definitely go back there. Even though I am the least photogenic person in the world, I enjoy taking self-portraits.  

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One response to “A Few Self-portraits”

  1. ryssa.wuorenma Avatar
    ryssa.wuorenma

    I really like how different the three images feel from each other, even though they are all self-portraits. The first one especially feels very intentional. I like that you included your photography equipment and personal items because it gives the viewer a little more insight into who you are beyond just seeing your face. I thought it was pretty fitting that you mentioned doing the ‘why’ assignment, because I can see some of that coming through in these photos. It feels like you are literally surrounding yourself with the things that are part of that purpose.

    I also really like that you decided to photograph your disappointment with the sunset instead of trying to force the original idea you had. I think that makes the image more interesting because it captures an actual feeling and memory connected to that location. The third one is probably my favorite, though. The silhouette against the sky gives it a really dramatic feeling, and I think you made the right choice by exposing for the sky instead of trying to make everything perfectly exposed. I actually think having yourself fall completely into the shadows makes the photo more interesting. I also think it’s cool that you’re willing to keep experimenting with self-portraits even if you don’t consider yourself photogenic!

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