Day 14...by candlelight.

Shooting indoors is SO boring! And this winter darkness is making it hard for me to get in shots outside during the daytime, so I'm having to get very creative. I think I got a pretty decent shot for today!

By the way, I'm leaving tomorrow morning for the black hole of West Virginia, with no internet access at my parent's house (unless they recently upgraded). So, I intend on continuing this project while I'm there, but you may not get to see them until I return to civilization! (It'll be worth the wait though....there's about 2 feet of snow WAITING for me to play in it!)

Day 13..and I'm on time!

Back on schedule! Today, again, the winter darkness got to me too soon, and so I had to use my backup, indoor plan. I had a cool outdoor shoot planned but it didn't work out. Now, normally, if I'm shooting indoors and have to use artificial lighting, I generally plan on making those photos be in black and white, because the artificial lighting changes the coloring of your photograph. However, the colors in today's photo were just too good to pass up.

For background info, I'm a major bookworm. Right now, because of my very full plate of things-to-do, it seems as though I'm more of a book collector than a book reader, but someday I'm convinced that I'll actually have time to read them ALL. So, with that being said, here's today's shot!

And here's the runner-up:

Now, I'd just like to vent for a second. Can we just talk about how HARD it is to do self-portraits? I promise you, any pictures of someone else will not only take way less time, but they'll probably be way better too. It takes at least 30 seconds to one minute per shot, but when you are shooting someone else, you can pretty much shoot continuously. That makes it easy to change poses slightly, facial expressions, etc. With self-portraits, you have to completely get out of your pose to go mess with the camera and do it all over again. It's very hard to just FLOW! I can't wait until I can take pics of OTHER people again! I will be SUPER amazing!

Ashley, Jon, and Malone ("Lo")

So yesterday, I took some photos of my friend, her husband, and her very new baby. I still have some work to do on those shadows, but I wanted to get them up for everyone to see! They are such a beautiful family, it was easy to get great shots!

Day 12--Late again! But this time, with a good excuse.

So, today was a busy day, and I had to integrate the picture-taking into the rest of my schedule...so I decided to do it when I went ice skating with my friends...this was a cool picture of my reflection that I took while I was there. There's also another pretty decent one that I took of me and my friend Kira putting on our skates:

I even took a few cool pictures at the rink...of OTHER people! What a novel idea! Haha. The funny thing about me doing this project, and I think I've mentioned it before, is that I absolutely hate taking pictures...ever! I like being behind the camera, but I've literally been known to run away from people who are trying to take pictures of me. Anyway, I figured I'd share these:

Enjoy! And part of the reason that I was so busy today is that I took some family pictures for a friend who has a newborn--I'm planning on posting them soon so check back!

Day 11...another little thing you might not know about Angie...

So, yesterday kinda got away from me. I apologize for this being posted late, but it actually was taken yesterday morning! And, I promise, there will be another one uploaded today...I'm not trying to skip out!

Anyway, for those of you who don't know...I dabble around with the guitar. I used to play pretty regularly, but I kinda gave it up, and then I sold my old guitar. But, lately I've been feeling like God is giving me back all the things that I abandoned to do His work--things that I love and that bring me peace--including the guitar. In fact, He blessed me with this guitar through two amazing people that simply GAVE it to me for free (one of whom has dibs on being my photography assistant when I blow up!) So, I'm trying to get back to where I was skill-wise, but it takes time...and right now, so does this photography project! But, I'm learning, and after just a few days of practice I've almost got my first goal song down: Lauryn Hill, "Tell Him".

Okay, enough about me. Technically, these shots came out of me being lazy and not having long enough cords for my lighting! I was turned the other way, with the guitar into the light, taking shots from the bottom of the guitar up. I wanted to take one from the neck of the guitar down, so I turned around and tried to move my lamps to the other side but the cords were to short! Not feeling like unplugging them and moving them to a different outlet, I took one shot like this just to see if the angle worked at all--and the lighting was so much more amazing! Lesson of the day--REALLY play around with everything, and count nothing out until you see at least one picture from that angle/with that lighting/of that object/etc. Here's another one just for you to check out!

Day 10!!! Wow!

So, in the middle of trying to get this picture...in the snow...while it's in the 30s, and my whole body is numb...I had this brief thought, WHY didn't I give myself this assignment in the summertime?? When it's warm!!?!? Then, I snapped back to reality. If I was doing this in the summer, in NC, all I would have is a bunch of pictures of me sweating profusely, with big huge humid afro hair. No good. So, I'll brave the cold for these shots!

I found this amazing red garage the other day when I was exploring downtown Raleigh. I knew I had the perfect coat to contrast with it! Just to give you an idea of how to get a good shot...first, find an awesome location, then play around with perspectives. At first, I was taking shots like this:

Then, I started playing with different angles and got this:

and this:

MUCH cooler! all from a change in perspective! So, go low, go high, go close, back wayyyyy up...just play! It'll be much easier when you aren't taking pictures of yourself, too!

Day 9 Continued...

More pics from yesterday's shoot! I don't think I've ever loved this many of the almost-same pics of myself ever...probably because it has my MOST FAVORITE FLOWER--hot pink gerbera daisies--in it. Sometimes a prop can make all the difference!

Day 9--My FAVORITE Flower!

I had an idea for this shoot a few days ago, and hadn't been able to find any Gerbera Daisies. (Note: hot pink ones are my absolute favorite flowers in the whole wide world!) I asked my amazing boss where I could find some, and by the end of the day, one of her florist clients for her magazine GAVE these to her for free! They couldn't have been more perfect. Anyway, it's VERY late right now, and I'm exhausted, and all these pictures are slowing my poor computer down quite a bit. SO--I'm going to sleep. And when I wake up, I'll post more pics from this amazing shoot! It's my favorite to date!

Day 8--Stupid Winter Darkness!!

So, today, I came up with this GREAT idea for a self-portrait. In fact, this idea might be my favorite one of the entire project to date. And, after I got off work to drive to the location, I got stuck in traffic and watched the sun sink, sink, sink...gone. There I am, mad, stuck in traffic for NO reason now. So, instead of that picture, you get this one! (I'm gonna get the shot I wanted tomorrow though!) Ordinarily, I would probably like this picture, but since I have such a GREAT idea in my head, I'm not really looking at this one very objectively.  I actually took this a few nights ago. I had already taken my picture for the day and I looked out my window and noticed that it had gotten extremely foggy. The street lights looked so great that I ventured BACK out to take this picture, fully knowing that one of these days I wouldn't have enough time to take a picture and I'd need to use it! This is a nighttime picture, so the exposure time had to be pretty long in order to get all the detail in...13 seconds to be exact. I had to hold very very still for those 13 seconds (after sprinting across the parking lot to beat the self-timer and get into my pose!) I also decided to play around with the long exposure times, so you can have a bonus picture today!

Yup, that's me, twice! And no, I didn't use photoshop with this picture at all. I upped my exposure time to 25 seconds. Then, I counted to about 12 and moved around the back of the pole very quickly, then sat in the second pose for the remainder of the exposure! Just thought I'd do something fun!

Day 7-Rainy Days

So, we've been having lots of rain here lately in North Carolina...COLD rain. In my personal opinion, that might just be the worst type of precipitation that there is. And since we've had so much rain, I've had to keep rainy day ideas in my head to use for this project. Today was the perfect day for this one! It only took me about 100 tries to get this shot...I'm starting to believe myself that I need an assistant like the girl in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. But again, I won't cheat--after all, I made my rules!

Still open for feedback!!

Day 6-Exciting News!!

So, I had another picture all ready for today, but then something VERY exciting happened! I went to check the mailbox for my nonprofit organization, and found something wonderful in the mailbox--a letter from the IRS approving us for 501c3 tax-exempt status! This means that we can apply for grants, receive tax-exempt donations, and we have a WAY easier tax form to fill out. So, YAY! I'm glad I could share it with all you people in virtual world.

Ok, we can still get a little technical lesson today. I could have taken this picture ten thousand different ways, but I didn't want it to look like a snapshot (I definitely tried the super cheese mode face holding up the paper...but that was definitely a snapshot moment!) So, I played with the composition and the focus, and this is what I got. Much less snapshot-y!

Day 5...For Courtney.

So, I know what you're thinking...well, that's a depressing photo. But, this is a self-portrait project, and it's a part of me--but I don't consider it depressing at all. Today, I got some sad news. And to explain it, I need to explain a little more about who I am. God gave me a burden, and that is for young men who get sucked into this life of crime/gangs/negativity. Things that happen that are somehow related to my burden make me cry kind of often. Much more than I ever cried before I knew what my burden was, anyway. At first, it bothered me, because I was raised by a tough, italian, football coach father who all but BANNED crying in our household! (If he had it his way, he definitely would have.) But, as I get into the word more and more, I see that crying is actually a quite natural part of having a burden. Jesus cried for his people often. Nehemiah cried. Lots of people in the Bible cried, and after the crying follows the action. I think it's something that has to happen to free your spirit from the hurt so that you can get to work. So, now, I'm accustomed to it. Anyway, today I found out that a young man that I've known since he was 12 or 13 has passed. He's about 18 now. He hasn't had the greatest life, and he hasn't made the best choices. I'm still not even sure of how he died. To compound things, my nonprofit organization is mentoring his older brother. I haven't heard from him in about 3 weeks and I can't get in touch with him. He's in the process of turning his life around, and for some people, experiencing something like this could make you give up on yourself. But, I have faith that he will make it through this.

So, anyway, it rained all day today and I had a kind of busy day. My plan was to go outside after the rain stopped and take a picture of me stomping in a big ol' puddle making a giant splash...a happy picture to show my playful side. But, then I got this news. And I really wanted to document this side of me, because I think it's a side that a lot of us have, but we are ashamed to show it. I used to be there. Now, I cry unashamedly. I can be in public. I can be in a movie. I can be in church. I don't care. Because my tears are not only necessary to help my spirit heal, but they very well might be helping someone else, too.

With all that being said, I dedicate this picture to Courtney B. His memory lives on in the hearts of those who love him. Forever.

Day 4. And that's all I have to say about it.

So, this is today's image. Well, this is the one I put on facebook anyway. I had a very hard time picking out what image I was going to use today because...I don't like any of them! Weirdly, I feel like this was an amazing location with amazing light, but I just didn't like that it was very "me". If I was taking pictures of someone else, I probably would love them! I felt like the scenery and lighting just called for a more somber mood...but I didn't portray somber accurately. Sometimes I looked scared, sometimes mad, and sometimes I just looked! I'll give you guys here a few more options to look at...and then we'll talk technical stuff. Because although today's photo was a bust, I learned/remembered quite a bit technically. (Side note: Be proud of me! I wanted to crop everything down to my eyes, because my eyes looked amazing in this light. But, I don't want 40 pictures of my eyes at the end of this self-assignment...and it's a reflection of my insecurities and we CAN'T allow that to stand.)

Okay, now for the fun stuff. Today was the first day I shot in all manual with my digital SLR! AND...I bought a tripod! Two huge steps for this project. Manual is great...much more of a difference than I expected. I recommend learning the ins and outs of your camera and then using it in manual format ALL THE TIME. The top picture just above is with my camera in semi-automatic (aperture priority) and the bottom is in manual. I underexposed the bottom one to get richer colors and skin tones. Notice how in the top one I look super pale and almost glowing! The underexposure also adds to the ethereal nature of the photograph.

Another technical tip...play around with the composition of your photograph and where you place your camera. On two sides of me in this shot are busy streets, and on the other side, a big ugly parking lot. But, with the perspective here, all you see is JUNGLEness! You can make a little piece of beautiful go a long way if you position your camera right.

Note for tomorrow and the rest of this project...take Tyra's advice Angie! Practice different faces in the mirror! I promise to you all that before this project is over, I will do a full-body portrait and a full-face portrait...someday.

As always, PLEASE gimme feedback!

Day 3-The LOVE (LUV) Shot?

Okay, so....today was rough yet again! I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but it's a self-portrait! And it was this or not have one. Fridays are my busy days so I didn't have a lot of time. I started out with another idea altogether and it wasn't working. Then I got another idea and it didn't work either. Then I put everything away in frustration, sat down to pout, and BAM...this popped into my head. And...130 shots, 1 burnt arm, and 1 extremely hot ear later (lamps were a little too close for comfort!) I got ONE shot that was fully in focus (low lighting plus timer equals difficult focusing situations). Thank God that it just so happened to be the same shot that had the PERFECT lighting! Here's a photography tip I learned while being a poor college student: for cheap portrait lighting at home, take the lamp shades off your lamps and have at it! Just don't get too close to the bulbs...and only use this trick for black and white photos. Your standard at-home lamps tend to turn EVERYTHING a yellowish-orange in color photos. So, what do we think?? Corny or cool?

PS...I was told today that I need an assistant...kinda like the little girl in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I agree! BUT, I said that I was going to do this project totally unassisted, and I'm going to stick to that....for now at least!

PPS...I was reading up on self-portrait tips today and someone wrote (forgive me for biting, mr. man) that one thing you learn from taking self-portraits is how to pose, and then you can tell others how to pose! Yet another perk of this project! I definitely have never been good at telling people how to pose, and now I realize it's because I run away from pictures at all costs, and never really know how to pose myself. I'm learning...and I would say slowly but surely, but this project has THRUST me into the lion's den!

Day 2-Self-Portrait Assignment

THIS was hard. It was hard from a technical standpoint, but this assignment that I have given myself is harder on a whole other level of hard. But, we'll get to that in a minute. Technically, I've had this image in my mind for a few weeks now. I was going to get someone to help me take the picture, but then I went and gave myself the assignment to do each of these photos completely unassisted. So, here's me, doing the old "turn the camera around backwards and hope for the best" trick...136 times in 30 minutes! And wouldn't you believe, not ONE of them is exactly what I wanted. Well, there was one, but it wasn't focused properly:

THAT is exactly what I was going for...only I wanted it in focus and without a big shadow on my eye. Anyway, after 30 minutes I had to go get ready to go to work. Not to mention I was sick of taking pictures of myself. And the really big problem was that my eyes were HURTING! I have a newfound respect for models, because, like Tyra teaches, they have to constantly "find their light". That means turning yourself towards your light source. If you don't, you get unflattering shadows, bags, and a bunch of other yucky stuff happening all on your face. Seeing as how, in my head, I wanted my eyes to be gazing upwards in this picture, that presented a problem. I was basically STARING at the sun in each one of these shots. I'd say of the 136 I took, a good 80 turned out to be of me squinting or grimacing. So, yes, technically, this was hard. And I didn't really get exactly what I was looking for either. Maybe after this assignment is over, I'll repeat this shot...with help!

Now to get to the "whole other level" of hard...THIS ASSIGNMENT is HARD! In an effort to be transparent--like we are supposed to be--I'll explain why this is going to be so hard for me. I've struggled with my self-esteem for a pretty long time. I'm doing much better now than I used to, but it still creeps up on me occasionally. Well, I think this assignment is gonna have to be my "get free" time! Because taking billions of pictures of yourself presents two challenges: you're gonna have some not-so-flattering shots and you're gonna have to objectively look at all the pictures to determine which one is the best. Sometimes, God frees you from stuff by just taking it away. Sometimes, you have to go through some things to figure it out on your own. Other times, he just puts it in your face all day every day until YOU finally let go! Looks like that's what He's doing with me right now. Ultimately, that's a good thing, but it's gonna be uncomfortable. On a brighter note, I also see some good sides to this assignment. First, I'll be MUCH more fashionable on a regular basis, if I'm going to have to be toting around a camera and taking pictures of myself every single day! Second, I get to look for beautiful things WITHIN myself rather than just looking out into the world. MORE TO COME!

Day 1 Self Portrait

Hello internet world! I can honestly say that until very recently I never pictured myself as having a blog. So, here goes! You must forgive me in advance for technical glitches (I am computer un-savvy), made-up words, and over-use of exclamation points. Now, to get to the meat...I LOVE this world. (Or should I say, LUV?) Anyway, I really do. And God gave me the eyes to see beauty in things that many people don't find beautiful at all. What an awesome gift. I was going to say I haven't been using this gift lately, but I have. It's more like, I haven't been SHARING this gift lately. I see beauty in lots of things all the time, but I haven't been using my gift-talent of photography to share it much lately. Lots of people who know me now don't even know that THIS was my major in college! So, I'm on a journey to get back to my roots...and to learn it in a digital form. To start off that journey, for this whole almost month that I am free from graduate school for Christmas break, I have given myself an assignment: take one new, completely unassisted self-portrait per day. It'll be my facebook profile picture each day as well as uploaded on here!

This was my first ever self-portrait using a self-timer (I am lucky enough to have one of those on my camera now!) It was an interesting experience! The light was so pretty when I got off work that I just wanted to get somewhere fast before the sun went down. So boom, I roll up in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I took a few pics in the middle of the parking lot but didn't like the fact that this GIANT light pole kept weaseling its way into my background. So, what did I do? I MADE it the background...and it made my picture! This is what I had to go through to get that shot: To make sure the focus was exactly right, I had to keep one shoe in the frame while I placed the camera on the ground as far in front of me as possible and set the self-timer. I tried to just leave my shoe and walk in a sock, but 10 seconds isn't enough time to put on a shoe AND pose! So, I kept one foot by the lightpole and stretched the other one out as far as I could to put the camera down in front of me (Twister style). I did this about 33 more times (45 minutes in the Wal-Mart parking lot on the WINDIEST day ever) and voila! Self-portrait number 1. Feel free to let me know what you think. More to come!