Tripod, Camera, Action!

Like most people, I don’t like having my picture taken. This is, of course, at odds with being a photographer and frequently asking others to take their picture. So it was time for me to move in front of the camera for a change.

In a bid to avoid the dreaded selfie (and wretched selfie-stick), my tripod and camera self-timer became my new best friends. Those, along with some YouTube and Pinterest inspiration meant I was ready.

Week 18 - Self Portraits

Piano Man

I'm not sure exactly how many times I set up the shot, loaded said images onto the laptop and then went back to take more shots. Let's settle on "a lot".

Compiling this image required several shots of the piano and then a shot of me (with the correct pose) and the same lighting. These were then combined in Photoshop, shadows added and lighting adjusted. Retaining perspective (figuratively and literally) was a challenge in itself.

I gave up trying to remove the dust on the keys as it reappeared seconds after I’d cleaned it.

Detective for Hire

I’ve had a hankering to do a whole series of film noir images in a studio for a while. However, this image involved finding a stock photo with a licence for personal use (not just downloading something from the web) to use as a base. I then set up the camera and tripod, sat at my dining table and took several shots trying to emulate the same lighting as in the base image.

Once loaded into Photoshop, I masked out the original "Detective's" face, replaced it with mine and adjusted the lighting to look like I was always there.

Snapped

I had such a clear idea in mind for this 3rd self-portrait. Inspired by a photo I'd seen on Pinterest where the photographer had said "try this yourself", I put on a shirt and suit jacket (and had a hat on standby) and took some shots. I reviewed it on the laptop and it didn't work, so tried again. Still didn't work. I can't put my finger on it exactly why.

I ditched the jacket and shirt and tried a different one, this time using the vintage film camera as a prop. A few more shots later, having sorted the focus and exposure out, I had something to work with. A total of 27 images to get to this point.

In Photoshop I changed the background; created 14 white frames and removed the bits of the border as required; added a master background and then masked out the remaining part of my shirt.

This turned into quite the project!

In Summary

Enjoyable and frustrating in equal measures. On the plus side, my Photoshop skills are improved :). I have a few more ideas to try and I liked being transported into another time and place. So watch this space...

Next week - A Walk in the East