POW: Creative Self Portraits

Self-portrait photography was weird and challenging because I was the subject while I also had to be behind the camera. It was especially difficult to determine the desired exposure, focus, and placement of myself because I had to be in front of the camera to test all of this and behind the camera to check it. Most of my work was trial and error. I set the self timer with 10-shot bursts to have the best chance of getting a well-composed shot. In the first few photos, I was working with mirrors and reflections which allowed me to get some interesting shots. Safe to say I felt pretty ridiculous waving my arms and flipping my hair around repeatedly, hoping that one of the shots would be timed well. In the fourth shot, I was trying for blurred motion and good running form. Again, it was strange to run pointlessly across the street and back but I think the photos paid off. In the final photo, I wanted a closer up image of my face, but I wasn't really sure what to do with myself, so I grabbed the flower and played around with that to take some of the focus away from my face. 

Darkroom Update

 Contact Sheets

 Sampling of Test Strips

Final Print!

I've been doing a lot of work in the dark room which has so far only yielded two final prints. Since most of my film from New York did not come out, I opted to shoot more film for a photo of the week which meant I had to develop it and print more contact sheets. I now have a ton of photos to choose from with lots of different subject matter. I love being in the dark room and working with film. It can definitely be frustrating at times since there are SO many ways to mess up, but its really worth it when I finally get the exposure, time, and filter right and come out with a beautiful print. I'm beginning to develop more of an instinct for knowing which exposure or filter will be right for a particular photograph. Before, I knew what to do mechanically and was able to go through the motions correctly, but now I am starting to really understand the process and all of its intricacies. Since I have so many photos to print, I want to continue working in the darkroom for as long as possible. This is especially true because its my senior year and I'm not sure if I'll have another chance to work in a darkroom in the future. I want to be able to print as many photographs as I can and to be able to understand the process on my own and become more independent as I work.