Self-Portraits, accidental, semi-accidental or vain!

Kevin Bjorke · Jun 21, 2006

I have a few, I was just thinking about this one earlier today, a little streetphoto joke:

I think in general self-portrait needs to be more than a likeness, it needs to be a self portrait seen as something else, something more -- to be really successful. The group shot in the "handheld tips" thread, for example. The self-portrait qualities of it disappear.

Don Lashier · Jun 21, 2006

Borged

Guess I should add a comment that I was out to shoot a vet clinic acrooss the street and standing in front of this shop waiting for the traffic to clear for a shot, turned around and took a couple of shots into the shop only to notice my reflection, so I lowered the camera and snapped this. Been meaning to go back and take a serious self portrait

- DL

Eric Perlberg · Jun 24, 2006

here are a few more techniques:

posed shadows:

or more sinisterly, this (part of a collection):
http://sqs.blogs.com/photos/curiously_incongruous/graveyard2.html

trying to look relaxed in a mirror on the street

posing in sunglasses (kind of difficult at this size)

Kevin Bjorke · Jun 25, 2006

I guess what I meant was, in simpler terms, a photo that at first glance or third might not appear to be a self-portrait -- it's first something else.

This is a stumbling attempt but I like the idea of my own gaze and the photographic one being separated

Asher Kelman · Jul 21, 2006

Sef portrait can have so many interpretations. At the far end it could be a blotch of green on blue, a metaphysical interpretation.

Here, I would imagine that self portrait has been taken to mean a picture including part of my own image.

This sort of definition is fine. However, there category of self portrait that one might be anchored to is one which shows at least the form of the artist sop that they might be recognized.

If one also conveyed something more, like class, wealth, power, character, profession or lack of any of these the portrait woulod be richer.

All the pictures shown are self portraits if the author declares so.

But who can say that there picture shows more than an image of their own person?

Kevin's last picture seems to be this.

Don's image is quite fascinating. Printable!

Eric's posed shadows provides philosphical challenges, to me at least, of harsh choices in life. The spear from below signals we must go one side or the other of the barrier. Again verty printable.

In that one chooses a picture with one self in it above other pictures, it might well say importanmt things about the photographer, without us realizing it. After all, our choices are never totally random.

Asher

scott kirkpatrick · Jul 21, 2006

Layers

How's this (find the photog)?

scott

Asher Kelman · Jul 21, 2006

Bottom left hand corner of the train windows?

Asher

nicolas claris · Jul 21, 2006

Asher Kelman said:
Bottom left hand corner of the train windows?

Asher

Yep! I agree, the photog is certainly sat on the other side of the wagon, we even can see the window in his back being reflected on the glass behind the woman...

But how can a viewer guess that it is not the protrait of the woman but a self portrait of the photog?

Asher! your turn! we all are waiting to see your self portrait!

c'mon!

scott kirkpatrick · Jul 22, 2006

Nicolas Claris said:
But how can a viewer guess that it is not the protrait of the woman but a self portrait of the photog?

Odd question. I didn't intend a self-portrait, but I was intrigued with how it was impossible to separate the inside from the outside of the train, or even select one side to view. And I thought it had about the right amount of me in it -- less wouldn't have mattered, and more wouldn't have helped.

Here's another of this general school, taken by my daughter on a rainy morning in Edinburgh:

http://www.pbase.com/skirkp/image/34280266

I think there is an element of self-portrait in it, because it reflects her likes, and her direct approach.

scott

Don Lashier · Sep 8, 2006

(almost) accidental self portrait

In the process of taking tonights bathroom art I (almost) accidently took a self portrait. I noticed my face reflecting in the actual photo currently hanging in the bathroom so snapped a shot. It's not ideal (my eyes don't show) but I found it rather interesting.

- DL

Martin McLean · Sep 8, 2006

Accidental self portrait + bathroom art = could be worse.

Mary Bull · Sep 8, 2006

Nice to see you in person, Don.
I like the photo simply as an image, also.

Mary

Asher Kelman · Sep 8, 2006

Don,

It's great! It has immediacy. Also a beard to be envious of!

A good subject and wonderful background. I'd do more!

Asher

Cem_Usakligil · Sep 8, 2006

Oh my! Timothy Leary's back and he is wearing a beard!

Just joking of course <lol>. But upon seeing this picture I couldn't help having a flashback of the 60's and the psychedelic images associated with that era <grin>.

Seriously though, very nice portrait Don! I like it.

Cheers,

Cem

Don Lashier · Sep 8, 2006

Cem Usakligil said:
... couldn't help having a flashback of the 60's

Wifeypoo wants to hang it next to the lava lamp.

- DL

Carl Harsch · Oct 1, 2006

With the exception of the reflection (camera?) in the lower left, I find this to be a quite pleasing self portrait. It's moody, thought provoking, and different. In short, I like it.

Don Lashier · Oct 2, 2006

Carl Harsch said:
With the exception of the reflection (camera?) in the lower left, I find this to be a quite pleasing self portrait. It's moody, thought provoking, and different. In short, I like it.

Thanks Carl, yeah that's part of the camera reflecting. I didn't notice it til after posting - it's easily cloned out and I'll do it when I get a chance. I was shooting blind obviously. One of the keys was the underlying image which had a central dark area, but what I don't like is that the light was a spot directly over my head that left my eyes unlit (but maybe that's the moody part).

- DL

Dave New · Oct 2, 2006

Plenty of reflective surfaces in a bathroom...

It could have been a reflection of your face in the toilet.

So, all in all, I'd call it a successful shot...

Ivan Garcia · Oct 3, 2006

lovely shot Don ... I love it.

Giovanni Brembati · Sep 9, 2007

Hi guys!

Just a couple portraits of myself. Photos have been shot at home, witout any banks, lights, reflective panels and so on. Unfortunately I haven't enough free space to reproduce a studio at home.

Lights used have been the following:
- Sun light coming from my back (through a window)
- Fill in flash to light the shadows and make smoother the background (didn't work so well for the first shoot ;-) )

I hope you will appreciate them.

Canon EOS 400D - Canon EF 70-200 F4 L USM

Have a nice shots,
Jacopo

Asher Kelman · Sep 9, 2007

Giovannni,

Great to see who you are or rather your person! Glad you joined OPF and are open this much to share self portaits. Might you now add new backgrounds?

How did you process skin color? By eye>

Seems rather ruddy. Is it so?

Asher

Giovanni Brembati · Sep 9, 2007

Hi Asher!
Just to clarify ;-) person in the shot is Jacopo, the son of Giovanni. He is "the" family photographer.
Giovanni, my father, is a programmer and he is developing PhotoResampling software, i mentioned it in some post concerning retouching.

Ok, coming back in topic, these are the steps of the digital workflow used on posted images.
First of all, I converted the raw files in tiff (8bit) with DPP (canon). I didn't perform a lot of adjustment on this step. Just one or two point of sharpen.
Then, i opened the tiff image in PhotoResampling and i worked on White Balance. As necessary I used also Curves, Shadow and Highlights, and exposure features.
Maybe, I used the "clone" feature to remove some skin imperfection. I ' m not sure if this step has been performed for these two shoots. I remember that in some shoots of this session i used it.

That's it.

Seems rather ruddy. Is it so?

It could be, i was just came back from holidays, so my skin was tanned ;-)

See you soon bro,

Jacopo

Asher Kelman · Sep 13, 2007

I've brought up to date and merged a number of self-portrait threads.

O.K. guys, six months later, who has accidental/almost accidental self-portraits? Give the circumstances behind the shot!

Asher

Kathy Rappaport · Sep 13, 2007

I will have to see it I trashed it

I shot the interior of a bathroom and I was in it.

Better than the naked "plump" person in the ebay photo of the teakettle for sale (no, not mine, but it went around the email circuit)

Rachel Foster · Sep 13, 2007

Can't call this accidental... I was traveling without the children and took it to sent home and hopefully make them smile.

Charles L Webster · Sep 14, 2007

Self-portraits accidental and intentional

This one was accidental. I didn't see my reflection in the truck mirror until I was posting the image.

This one was intentional, it's what I use on my "About Me" page on my web site. Shot in my studio w/ 2 AB400 strobes.

Sorry about the size, I just linked these in, didn't resize them for the thread.

Don Lashier · Sep 14, 2007

Here's another that wasn't exactly "accidental" but rather "incidental" as there was no other way to get the shot.

- DL

Rachel Foster · Sep 15, 2007

If that's a bathroom, it's majorly cool, dude! (I'm so with it...wack!)

Don Lashier · Sep 15, 2007

Rachel Foster said:
If that's a bathroom, it's majorly cool, dude! (I'm so with it...wack!)

Yup, a bathroom. That was my fall project last year. Glad you like it - that was WIP, here's a finished shot with lighting in place, which still qualifies for the thread as I couldn't hide all the way. The shot also needs ptLENS correction - this one is straight out of C1.

- DL

Rachel Foster · Sep 15, 2007

Love it!

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a self-portrait. I set up the lighting and the pose, but hubby actually shot it.

This is definitely a self shot:

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