Summer Selfies
Process on These Photographs
So sometimes when I have an idea, I would like to try it out on myself first. I bought this large floral sheet (?) from Amazon, because I liked the look of the large florals as a backdrop. I also recently bought these hats because well, I mean look how cute they are. I thought that this would also pair well with my peacock chair.
The good thing about trying things out by yourself, I find, is that you can make adjustments as you go and learn from mistakes. I thought the teal necklace was too busy, for instance, so I swapped for my brass chain and pendant.
One thing I’m not so great at with selfies is creating a genuine emotion in my face. After all, I’m no actor! So Matt was generous enough to come in and help me laugh, getting some really fun and authentic responses.
I recently invested in a Sony remote trigger, which is awesome for this kind of work. And with Matt in the room, he could just click without having to worry about settings.
I decided to take some with flash and some without. I used my AD200 bare bulb at 1/8 power in the corner of the room to just add a little extra pop. In post, I did experiment on a few with some overlay light leaks. I usually don’t do the overlays, honestly. In my last post, all the “special effects” on the flowers are made in camera. On the confetti birthday post on my blog, that’s real confetti. But here, I decided to just experiment a little with these light leaks from PaperFarms. It’s ok, and I might use them sparingly in the future.
The second-to-last last image in the second set is just a pullback of what the set looked like. If you noticed that I can’t play the guitar, you would be correct. I have no idea how to play the guitar, but Matt thought including it would be fun, and you know what, it was.
2. Existing in Photographs
I mentioned before that I have a lot of thoughts about self-portraits, and I really do. I’ll share some here now.
I like taking self portraits, and I like when Matt takes my picture. And I feel like that sentiment (to enjoy taking/having your picture taken) is uncommon. But maybe it really isn’t. Hear me out. Sometimes I feel like women are expected to be humble about not wanting their picture to be taken, as if that embarrassment translates into selflessness and caring, which are socially valued “feminine” qualities, at least in the American South. What I have an issue with is the expectation that a woman shouldn’t take pictures of herself without her family or children, or be happy with how she looks.
Don’t get me wrong—looking at images of myself makes me uncomfortable. But I think that is true for everyone. It’s weird to see ourselves simply because that isn’t what we are accustomed to. There seems to be an unnecessary weight that women are expected to carry about seeing themselves and being happy/proud of themselves. I feel this, and I’m sure other women do as well. So, I try to actively challenge that narrative. When I see a picture of myself, I try to tell myself, this is just a depiction of what this camera took of me at this moment. It has nothing to do with my self worth. It has nothing to do with who I really am or even what I really look like. For instance, these photographs are all curated and edited, and these are all with some degree of posing that Matt and I worked through (which is such a helpful process). Even if I’m not happy with an aspect of my physical appearance, I’m still happy to exist and celebrate that.
That’s my diatribe on self-portraits, and really of existing in photographs. Everyone is deserving of their own self-love. Photographs can and should celebrate our unique selves.
