Don’t you hate it when someone gets you excited about something on their blog, and then they fall short?
Um… well… I’m one of those people.
I’ve decided to pull out on the 30 day thing. Sorry 
Long story, but I don’t want to finish it.
On the plus side, the days that I did complete really helped me understand the way I look on a day to day basis. And your comments really meant a lot to me! The same people who have said very kind, caring things about me as a person (internally) stopped by to say kind things about me on the outside. So that really meant a lot. Thank you!
And sorry I didn’t pull through on this one. I’ve always said I am terrible with routines. And I have great respect for the people who take these photos for 365 days!
Experiment in Light, Part 1
Tonight was a beautiful fall evening and I decided to take advantage of the amazing sky. It looked like a painting… a Magritte painting, to be exact. As usual, I was playing around with the lighting on the camera. I set the flash for a cloudy photo to see how it worked with the sun. The result made the photos look a bit unreal, and I love that. Petey joined me, although his doggie A.D.D. prevented him from focusing on the task at hand.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Ready for My Closeup
Is this why models never smile in photos? Smiling brings out the lines in a face… especially a face that is a bit too close to the camera. But these are my lines, so there you have it.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Morning Maintenance
For this photo, I wanted to focus on my morning routine, complete with the products I use and the shirt I wear. This photo was of course taken in the bathroom mirror, and I have my “Hottie” shirt on. It has a cartoon of Homer Simpson holding a beer and a donut. Yes, I know, how sophisticated of me.
I also placed shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion, cologne, etc. on the counter. I use a lot of products in the morning, but I’m very clean and I smell great! Ask anyone who knows me.
In Photoshop, I experimented with lighting levels and blurring.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Absence of Details
This is a larger version of the photo I used when I first mentioned my 30 days of photos. I increased the contrast to wash out the photo and it has a very grainy tone on my skin and in some of the shadows. The finer details become insignificant because this relies on the stark, heavy lines of the bedroom.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Intimate Conversation Over Breakfast
It all started when my friend Alex suggested I include a photo of me eating breakfast. I liked the idea, but when I got started, I felt strange eating while in front of the camera. How do I pose? How do I act? Do I really want to see what I look like when I eat?
I decided to play with the idea of combining multiple images of myself. I haven’t done that in years, when I used 35mm film and a scanner. I knew digital photos would give me much more control.
I took the shot on the right, holding up a spoon with cereal in it. I turned away, as if I were listening to someone talking. I then changed and took the photo on the left. I wanted it to look very natural so I just started talking. Whenever the timer went off, that would be the picture. I wanted to actually be speaking when the camera took the picture.
When I combined the two shots, the mood was a bit somber. It looks like both “characters” are having a serious conversation. The photo of me on the left appears to be delivering some bad news. You can’t see the window behind the table, but I am looking out into the morning sunlight. It looks like a lot is on my mind. This is all by accident, of course, but this actually does capture my face when something is bothering me.
It also blurred a little bit, because my face was moving, and I didn’t have the flash on. I decided to keep it as is. I like how “real” the final photo felt. It’s very unusual to see two versions of myself having a conversation.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Kitty Cam
When I started this project, I said I would include our pets. Well, getting a four legged friend to sit still can always be challenging. Purr Purr (pictured to the right) is fascinated by the camera. Whenever I set it up on a timer, she likes to walk (or jump) over to it and stick her nose right in the lense. It makes for some very cute, though very blurry pictures!
So for this one, I had to trick her. I set the camera on the carpet and aimed it towards me. She sat further away and observed me. She always watches what I’m doing. So by doing this, I was able to trick her into sitting still. Her eyes are a bit possessed, but here’s a pic of my little alarm clock. 
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Blue
Here we have another one of those happy accidents. I wanted a photo in a chair, it’s that simple. I could not get the angle, the position, or the lighting that I visualized in my head. I was sitting next to a window. I wanted a straight forward shot, looking into the camera.
This is what I got instead, and I almost trashed it too. This photo was horizontal, and my arm was in a very awkward position on the window pane. When you’re working with a camera timer, you only have a short period to get yourself into position, and sometimes the poses look bad. This was a classic example. However, when I cropped it into a vertical shot, it took on a whole new feeling.
I felt really happy with the result. I also like the strange blue reflection on my eye. I don’t know if it was the lighting, or what, but I like it. I also chose the simple title of “Blue” because I think the color of my shirt added a lot. It would not be the same photo with any other color.
Yes, I am really beginning to see myself now, from the outside.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Shadow
I took this photo during the same set that I used for yesterday’s photo. I wanted a shadowy photo that focused on shape, and not detail. It was taken in front of the same window, and I edited it to be a stark black and white. I think that’s where most people would have left it, but I wanted to add one more touch. I added a layer of color over it to balance out the darkness of it, and went with a very bold magenta. I like the outcome, although it does remind me of an iPod ad. That’s okay, everybody knows I love Apple.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
Screened
You’re looking at a photo that almost didn’t happen. I had an idea to take a photo using a screen with the sun shining through it. I waited until the sun was setting tonight, and reflecting through the windows. When the magical hour arrived, I quickly set up the screen and tried to angle it so the sun would blast through the blinds and the screen.
I wanted to be partially behind the screen to create texture and high contrast with a washed out background. I also wanted to look very neutral. I wore a black ribbed shirt, and combed my hair to be very straight. I just wanted things to be very stark, but heavily textured with the screen and my clothing.
As luck would have it, making that a reality was not so easy.
The initial pictures were terrible. I was sweating because of the heat from the sun. Today just happened to be the hottest one of the week. I did not get the picture I wanted and the sun was quickly disappearing.
I made one last effort. I sat completely behind the screen and took some shots with the sun right behind my head. It created a large shadow against the screen, and the texture was incredible. I then brought it into Photoshop and maxed out the contrast. When I did that, it created a spectrum of yellows and reds. I loved it. This is the end result.
I like playing with very different concepts on my photos. You will see more as the week goes on. I liked this particular project so much that I will be using a second “failed” photo tomorrow.
This is part of a series. Click here to learn more about it.
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