4 months down on the Instagram project, #portraitsofme ! April was also host to my yearly “Day in the Life” shoot. For the past 4 years I’ve chosen one day in April (generally late April, because I tend to procrastinate on making the constant camera toting day happen) to shoot an overview of what my/our lives look like, currently. I make it a point to include quite a few self portraits in the day’s shooting, so this April post has a few more self portraits then I usually have in one month.
The prompt for this week was {Real Life.} I’ve found myself on my phone, reading news, too often lately. Nothing much more real life than admitting when you know you could do better ;) I wanted to play with the symmetry and reflection of this scene.
#portraitsofme prompted with {extrovert or introvert?} for the images below. I’m most definitely an introvert and the quiet, uncluttered scene supports that aspect of my personality. However, I have to temper my introversion to meet the needs and personalities of my kids. The one pictured below (well, all of them, really) need a lot of physical touch and I’ve learned to be mostly available for that. But, I do still need my daily alone time.
This image was my take on {negative space.} I didn’t have a lot of open empty space to work with in my house, so I chose to backlight myself in front of a window. I knew that I could completely blow out the background, then easily expand the canvas of the image via Content Aware fill in Photoshop. Sometimes the vision is realized completely in camera, sometimes post processing wraps up the package with a bow on top.
These next two photographs are a glimpse into daily life. Unloading the dishwasher (though I rarely complete that chore as it now belongs to the kids. Score!) and lunch time with the littlest. To provide a unique look at mundane parts of life I decided to use an unexpected vantage point in the first image and a creative crop a long with a leading plane in the second.
Finally, {beverage of choice.} A tip for posing women’s hands. They look their most elegant when the back of the hand isn’t parallel to the camera lens. Also, if a joint can be bent, consider posing it with a subtle bend, as doing so softens the mood of the frame and is generally more flattering to your subject than a perfectly straight appendage.
-M
Pin It
Megan, thank you! I plan to incorporate more self-portraits into my photography. With a dozen children, there are *always* other people to frame in my lens, but I want to include myself as well. Your tips and examples are wonderful.
Yes! Get in those images, Susan :) It will be worth the effort.