Jumping on the SP Bandwagon

kdspencer

Hi Everyone!

I decided to give it a shot and do a few SP's.

While my one year old was sleeping yesterday, I took my 3 year old down to the basement where the 'studio' is set up, and gave it a whirl. To help with the auto focus, I plugged in my remote shutter and put the camera close enough that I could press it down half way to focus and then all the way to start the timer. I closed down the aperture too, so that more of the pic is in focus. (of course, my kiddo wanted to be the one to push the button, so once I knew it was in focus, I let him press the shutter button for me)

Anyway, let me know what you think. Overall they turned out better than I thought they would, but I'd love to hear your C&C!!

1. This was an attempt at high key, by overexposing the shot. I'm still on the fence about how much I like it.




2. White background, and zoomed in.



3. This one is my favourite - I really like it in black and white.


Thanks for looking and taking the time to comment!

~Kathleen :ivar

Qarik

nice shots!

I love the pose and smile in the 1st shot. For some reason the high key is not quite doing it for me though I can't really put my finger on it it. It does appear "correct" though heh.

The 2nd shot is okay

The 3rd shot is my favorite. Spot on!

lisap

I love looking at all of the SP's

The first two look like they have maybe a yellowish tinge to them vs. being white for the high key feel. You look a wee bit stiff in the first one, but I do like the pose too.

The third is my fav too. I think what I like about it are the triangular shapes that are there with how you have your arms positioned and the 'V' shaped neckline. I really like the square crop as well. It frames things nicely.

Thanks for sharing.

-- Lisa P.

jethibod

I *love* the third one - the pose is definitely spot on, and I like the bit of 'echo' of the triangles in the ?ottoman?. And the black and white just does it. Very nice!

divamum

Number three NAILS it! I love it. Pose, lighting and processing all combine for a terrific picture

#1 blows out your right shoulder so much that you look deformed, or at least shoulderless! #2 is ok, but the chopped-into-arms don't work for me as well.

But #3 is just an all-around fabu picture (as a self- or any other kind of portrait).

kdspencer

Thanks for the comments. It was a weird experience, trying to guess at what poses will look good in the camera, and how to hold the hands, head tilt, etc.

Not being able to see the shot until after was a little disconcerting. I tried setting up mirrors as someone else suggested, but I couldn't get them at the angle I needed to see what I looked like.

I crossed my fingers and hoped something would turn out good. I'm really happy with the third one in the series... there's something about the symmetry with the triangles of the dress and of the arms.

~Kathleen

sweet caroline

Cute! I agree that the last one is the best of the set. I also like the expression in the first one. Maybe you could rework it . A tight crop may work- crop out that "missing" shoulder? I'm impressed that you captured a nice smile. I haven't been able to do that as of yet.

Caroline

kdspencer

Thanks Caroline. Your SP pictures inspired me. I really liked the pose you did sitting on the bench with your red belt on the dress, as well as the one in your dance pose. But I know what you mean about making the smile look natural.

Between you, Jeff, Scott, and divamum (among others) the self portraits have been a lot of fun. It's fun to 'see' the people we talk with.

I've been thinking about the first photo in this series... I think it doesn't quite look right for high-key because it's not set up the way Nik or Scott did theirs. I used a white background, and a few lights, but then overexposed the shot on purpose... which is maybe why the shoulder looks 'missing' and isn't as defined.

~Kathleen

Mike J

I am sooo impressed that you can smile for a SP. I just can't do that for some reason. I agree with lisap that the triangle of your arm contrasted with the inverted triangle of the dress' neckline works very well in #3 (my favorite). There's also a very pleasing symmetry (at least for me) between the dark spaces (background and dress) and the lighter spaces of your skin.