Selfies, Self Portraits, and Personal Experiments

Last year, I spent about six months working my way through a self portrait project. It started as a "selfie" project in order to reignite my interest in photography. I had put my camera down over six years ago, self-retiring from photography and generally burnt out. 

The camera on my phone had been broken via a software update so the focus was no longer working properly. I decided to force myself outside my comfort zone, use it only for selfies (the front camera worked fine) and then my personal challenge grew from there. 

I began to challenge myself to work with the broken camera to see what I could come up with. My older Canon 70D was also faltering with the focus and I challenged myself to try that out a few times as well. Those two broken-ish cameras really created a huge challenge to come up with a daily self portrait, and make it look good. My goal is always to create an image the best I can straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) so I can skip time editing afterward. 

Over time, the project grew in my mind to not only take a selfie a day; it became to create a self portrait a day as I did for two years in a row back in 2008-2010. From there, I gave myself permission if I continued past the first 60 days I could explore replacing my phone, or maybe even my DSLR. 

After 90 days, I replaced my phone and what a relief to have a camera that worked! In addition, I created a social challenge for myself last summer to get outside of my comfort zone and do something with a different person once per week; and try to ask them to be in my self portrait for that day... yowzers!

That additional challenge was terrifying, but over time it became easier and easier. Friends started to know I was going to ask to take a self portrait together; and many looked forward to my daily social posts, images, and a story to go with them. I explored getting to know a lot of people in my extended circle. Every person was wonderful in their own way, but after deeper reflection I learned how much I like a smaller circle and crave more introspective alone time than I was giving myself.

Last summer, I ended up doing way more than one outing per week, sometimes five days per week I was out and about... ahhhhh---fun, but exhausting for an extroverted introvert.

This summer I decided it would be a much slower summer. I'm working really hard at that, as I have one thing planned each week as it is and additional invites coming in... 

I need a reset and I learned that my time in the summer is when I can truly have downtime for myself, be creative, work in the garden, and regroup without feeling the weight of other's expectations.

I shared photos above of my mini-makeshift studio space to work with my phone or the DSLR and two photos with the black or white backgrounds. I have since filled this space back with my treadmill and spin bike. I need that sweaty outlet, too!

I learned so very much about mobile photography during this experiment that I feel as though I can create better images (at times) much easier on my phone than my DSLR. It's the camera that's always with me, right?

After all is said and done, this spring I did update my DSLR camera body. I am happy I can use my really nice old EF lenses again and get some great sports pictures of my boys. I'm not as much in front of the camera, but it's been great to look back at all the outfits I put together and hairstyles to easily come up with what to wear when I have to go out this summer!

My first self portrait project turned me into a photographer with a profitable business for over a decade. This second self portrait project... well, who knows where it will lead me.