I haven’t done a self-portrait in such a long time. Mostly because I have been lazy and uninspired. Today I finally had an idea I liked, but when I went out to shoot it I realized my hair isn’t long enough for what I had hoped to do. After messing around in photoshop quite a bit though I managed to turn it into something I think works.
I had the itch for a self-portrait for quite a few weeks, and finally had a chance yesterday to do one that I had sketched out a while ago.
For the most part it turned out how I had wanted it to. I do wish that there was more glass on my face, but it just kept sliding off. I plan on doing a sequel of sorts, and have figured out a way that should get the glass to stick, so hopefully I can get to that in the near future.
I am really drawn to the one with the eyes closed, but have heard from many that the prefer the opposite. So I am curious to hear, which one do you here on my blog prefer? I would love to hear some feedback!
Last Thursday Joy Christiansen Erb came to my school to give a lecture on the Intimate Portrait. Her work influenced the series of self-portraits that I did a couple of summers ago, so I was very excited when I found out she was coming to give a workshop. There was a pretty good sized group there, and we discussed various things relating to portraits and photography for a while. We also did a writing exercise to come up with ideas for self-portraits, which I found very helpful. She then gave us an hour to take a self-portrait, but because I was helping other people (and because it turned out how I wanted it to very quickly) I ended up only taking 5 minutes or so on mine. For being such a spontaneous shot, I was really happy with how it turned out, and felt it conveyed what I wanted it to.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I am going to try to be better about posting here on a more regular basis. I am still producing work, but have been pretty busy and focused on other things. But I feel as though sharing my work here on my blog is important, so hopefully I will be able to step it up. Thank you to everyone who has stuck around lately!
I thought of this one sleepless night a while back, title and all. I had been trying to get together with my friend Susannah for ages so that she could do hair and makeup for me, but we both have been extremely busy. Our schedules finally worked tonight, and so I went over to her house, and she went to town on my hair and then snapped the shutter for me. My hair was (well, is) so big that it got squished while getting into my car. The editing process for this image was almost absurd. It took close to three hours, and went through maybe six different versions before settling on this one.
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I had plans for an elaborate, complicated self-portrait shoot this week, but things happened, plans changed, and I didn’t get to do it. I was going to try again tonight or tomorrow night, but my hair was looking wonderfully curly yesterday afternoon after letting it air dry and so I spontaneously took some simple shots just in case. It was an extremely rushed shot, and because of this is it very similar to a couple of other recent (or somewhat recent) self-portraits. Since it was so similar to other self-portraits I decided to play with editing more than I usually do. Needless to say it is not my typical style, but I love how it turned out.
Only three more weeks of this project, and I am already getting sad that it is coming to an end. I have three BIG ideas for my last three shots though, so I only hope they work out so I can add something a little different to the project still.
I was stuck in bed all day yesterday with an awful stomach virus, so I just got around to last week’s picture today.
**Thursday, November 4
Last night we finally cut Elliot’s hair. I knew that was what I wanted for my 365, but we didn’t get to it until late, so I didn’t get a chance to upload.
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I am half way done with my 365, crazy!
Well, back to playing catch up. Saturday was an exhausting day. I had to be in Louisville by 9:00 am for a day of open shoots for Pinnacle 10. We shot 12 or 13 people, which took until around 7:00 pm, and I then had an hour drive back to Lexington.
Pinnacle ten is a model and talent agency group. The photographer (Andrew Kung) who I have been helping out works for Pinnacle 10, and invited me to learn the ropes on Saturday so that he can hand off the open shoots to me. Once a month they hold these open shoots where they try to bring in new talent. Aspiring models come in for hair, makeup, and styling and we shoot them in a couple different ways. They get two or more outfits, and we do a combination of ambient light and strobes. We shoot differently based on how we would potentially be marketing the person, either commercial or fashion. The open shoots are not only a way for the hopeful models to get some shots for their books and such, but also a way for Pinnacle to start finding and developing new talent. It was such a great experience, I learned so incredibly much in such a short time.
This picture was taken using a ring flash, and is of one of the new, unsigned talent that came in on Saturday.
Abigail Thompson Photography 