Self Portrait Week 3

This week I wanted to do a body shot instead of just my head like the last couple of weeks. I have a pool table in the back room of my house and it's almost never used. Just a few years ago, my aunt, sister and I all played pool with one another every week. My aunt used to be the captain of her pool team awhile back, so she taught my sister and I. We would practice hard every week and have a blast while doing it. What I love most about this shot is the dramatic lighting. I emphasized the light in photoshop on the ball. I wanted to show what I was hitting. I wanted it to look like a smokey pool hall in one of those mobster movies.
Shot in TV mode;
Shutter: 1/200
ISO: 1200

Self portrait week 2

This week, I wanted to add bright, wild, crazy. I was pacing around the house thinking of an original idea, when it finally hit me. I had been working on a color wheel project and was staring at my acrylic paints. I decided I wanted to go for a tribal look. I wanted to show my wild side, and show just how far I'd go for photography. I manipulated my face to make it look crazy. I painted it red and then added white details all over my face. I didn't want to have the same position as last weeks, so I tried tilting my face so that you can only see one eye. I wanted the photo to feel a little bit uncomfortable, so I cropped the other eye halfway in. I want the viewer to be shocked at the color of my skin. I added a feather to make sure I got the tribal look. I think I would have even danced around outside to get the feel of my attitude if it wasn't so cold. When I edited the shot in photoshop, I played around with the oil paint tool. I just got CS6, so I was excited and played around with new options. I wanted my portrait to be a little abstract, because I think this piece would be very cool to blow up and print on a canvas. I'd like to hang this in my house somewhere. I chose the color red, because in my color class, red is supposed to make the heart beat faster.

Week 1

 

I was considering doing a portrait of myself with my cat, but I decided that I wanted to go for something deeper. I had recieved a pair of studio lights for Christmas, so I put them to work! I also had some left over white foam core, so I used that as my background. I used my tripod to level my camera, and put the setting to portrait so I could see how it went. Portrait mode is supposed to smooth skin, so I decided to use that setting first. After I set up the shot how I wanted it, I went to the bathroom mirror and with my trusty eyeliner, I wrote all over my face. I wrote out words that I would describe myself with. After I was satisfied, I went back to my set up and took photos of my face close up. I have never taken a better composed self portrait!