The Ultimate Challenge, Self Portraits.
Winter is the perfect opportunity for photographers to do some of their own personal projects. Once I was all caught up from Christmas session editing, I figured, why not do something for me? I decided to try my own self portraits "dun dun duuuuun." It was probably one of the hardest challenges for me as a photographer to date. Do you want to know why? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway, so here it goes. I was photographing myself...YIKES!
I'm not really one one to throw myself in front of the camera, I know weird, right?! You would think I would be all over this, seeing as I am a photographer and I love to photograph things. Anything really. People, pets, flowers, the sky, the dog hair on the floor after a good defurminating session with my German Shepherd. Let's face it, with cell phone cameras and of course my DSLR, capturing just about anything is possible and usually instantaneous. Sure, I take a selfie once in awhile with my kids or using a fun snapchat filter, but I have never, and I mean NEVER taken a true self portrait. Guys, I've had a DSLR camera since 2011, this is just absurd right? Well, believe it or not, it's way easier to photograph your beautiful faces than it is my own and here's my reasons why. First, I'm a Mom, and I'd rather be taking pictures of my two gorgeous girls or fur babies who are way cuter than I am. Second, I don't really enjoy editing my own face. I know...I see myself all the time in the mirror, but not zoomed in 100% in Photoshop gazing at every gigantic nose pore or acne scar from the 8th grade. Third, I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to share these images after I took them. But, my clients share their beautiful stories with me and I feel it's only fair to bare a little of my soul with them. And last but not least, guys it was hard! I had to get myself ready, which took every bit of 2 hours after makeup, hair, and wardrobe. Then, because I tend to do things backwards, I set up all of my equipment in HIGH HEELS! Dumb right? Well, let's just say, lesson learned. After setting up my tripod, lighting, and backdrop, I decide to take some test shots. Oh Lord, this....this was fun. Yes, I'm being sarcastic in case you couldn't tell from my tone. After about 500 shots (no joke) of me out of focus (because NEWSFLASH Leslie, you can't see the viewfinder from in front of the camera), mid-blink, itching my nose, or looking just plain ridiculous, I got about 30 usable images. But, guess what? After 4 grueling hours of determination and a few obscenities which I'm not proud of, I DID IT! So, self portrait challenge complete. Now, I can put this notch in my bulky photography belt and move on.