I was sent a link to a local photography contest, here in Nashville. I had never entered a photography contest before, but this made me excited more than nervous, as I expected to feel. I wouldn’t expect much, since it was my first time, but just to submit entries would be a great first step.
(We find out the results in October – eek!)
I entered two images that I had taken earlier in the year, and a third: a self portrait.
I had wanted to start experimenting with self portraits, so what a great opportunity to dive in.
I knew the location where I wanted to shoot, as I had driven by and saw a long driveway that was covered by trees. I found a skirt at Goodwill for $2, grabbed a yard of lace fabric from Hobby Lobby for $5, and some DollarStore flowers!! I am no seamstress (trust me) but I can sew a little bit. I sewed on some buttons I had laying around, you know those ones you keep in case you need to replace a button from a shirt but you have no idea what shirt they belong to, and made some button holes. As you can see, the sewing was nothing to look at, but for my first time (and knowing that it wouldn’t be seen in the photo) it worked out perfectly!!
I had my outfit, my location, and my equipment. I was ready to go shoot!
Self portraits should be easy, right? Wrong. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be! I was on a one lane driveway to an apartment complex, so I had to dodge some cars coming and going. I’m sure they were wondering what this girl in a dress carrying a camera and a tripod was doing running around their driveway. I laughed at myself…you’ve got to in these moments. It was hot and humid, making walking back and forth to the camera checking the back of the screen, while dodging some cars, a little more uncomfortable. I felt very self aware during all of this. Nervous of what I looked like, if what I was doing would even turn out, what people would think…but those thoughts quickly went away once I started to get to work.
I made a composite from the site visit and final pose, but I felt like it needed more.
I used photoshop to make a more surreal feel with the dress and was thrilled with the results.
Self portraits may be harder to shoot, but I enjoy the challenge and the way it pushes me to be more creative. I can’t wait to create some more!!
