Getting out the camera and taking some pictures around the yard, last week, put me in the mood for setting myself some type of challenge, photographically speaking. Despite good intentions, I've never really gotten into taking self-portraits, and I think that would be a good exercise for me.
However I feel about most photos of myself, these days, I imagine that someday, someone (myself, my family) will probably wish that there were a few more of them in existence. Besides, it's the fact that this isn't my usual "style" of photography that makes it more of challenging. Also, it hasn't escaped me that if I'm the one taking them, I can also more easily destroy the bad ones so that they never see the light of day. (g) So, I've decided to challenge myself to take (at least) thirty self-portraits in thirty days.
Thirty in thirty sounds like a lot (to me, at least), but I'm cutting myself some slack. They don't all have to be full shots of my face. Some can be shadows, reflections, intentionally blurry, or focused on parts of my body other than my face. (Um, by that I mean headless shots, hands-only, maybe feet. Nothing too weird. ;o) You know me better than that, right?) Also, I may take several in one day and let the extras count for the next few days. None of this "you must take one photo every day" nonsense. It's just not practical-- neither is it important-- and if I make that one of my "rules", I'll only be tempted to cheat.
I hope/think/hope this will turn out to be fun. I'll try to learn a few new tricks along the way. Maybe I'll get a few good photos to add to the one or two fairly recent (as in taken within the past ten years) photos I'm currently willing to share online. ;o) (Joking. Kind of...)
Of course, anyone who wants to join in is welcome! (I'm not expecting anyone to, but you never know!) I'm planning to post my photos in their own set (album) at Flickr, but I may also cross-post some of them here. If you want to see all of them in one spot, visit my Self-Portrait Challenge set.
Here's my first effort:
Taking that photo, it all started coming back to me, why I never really got into self-portraiture before. (g) I have a feeling this really is going to be a challenge!
Chopped the top of my head off, there, but oh well! Oh, and the bottom is one of those intentionally blurry shots I hinted at earlier. (So convenient for days when you're not feeling especially presentable!) This photo was my inspiration. Think I kind of missed the mark, though. I may have to give this one another try, but that's the point-- practicing until I (maybe) get better at this kind of photography.
