Wednesday, November 30, 2011

December Self Portrait

For the 12 Days of Christmas photography class I'm taking, the pre-class assignment was a festive self-portrait.  Since I collect Nativity sets, I chose the first one I ever bought (a egg shaped one from El Salvador) and a ceramic angel made by my mom.  I had intended to take one of me holding the angel holding the Nativity, but I liked this image much better. Although it's technically a self-portrait (that's my hand), I think it's a bit of a dodge not to include your face, so here's the other SP I took:
To take these, I hauled a full length mirror outside. This is a technique I've seen before, and I reallly wanted to try it. Since I was in a rush, I only got as far as the back deck. But I like the results, and some time I will take the mirror all the way out to the back field and beyond.
Got any good self portrait tips to share?

8 comments:

Amy said...

I think the one you chose is lovely - not a dodge at all!
Tips, hmmmm, not really anything new I could add to what you have said on previous occasions .. they are hard ... have plenty of space on your CF card! ;-)

helena said...

Love the image with your hand. My fav tip is to pretend you are talking to someone off camera to stop the 'concentrating on taking the photo pose'

scrappyjacky said...

I'm afraid I tend to avoid self portraits at all costs!!!
I love that first image as well.

Sian said...

Now hauling a mirror outside - that's dedication to the cause! Our full length mirror is screwed to the wall in a corner without a lot of natural light. Big mistake!

I like both of these pictures - but the one with the hand has a simplicity about it I love

Unknown said...

Super cute pictures! I love that pretty little angel!

Unknown said...

Great photos. I really like the nativity set.

Carola Bartz said...

That first photo is beautiful, I like the setting! The second one is fun, I think I wouldn't even have such a big mirror. I tried to take a self portrait in the small fun mirror from IKEA that I hung in my studio, but they all turned out completely crappy!

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

Great job on the self portrait! I hadn't thought of taking the mirror outside. That would certainly eliminate the yellow in all my photos