self-portrait - noun: a portrait of oneself done by oneself

It amazes me how many people give me the jaw-drop look when I tell them that 99% of the pictures of myself are taken by me. When I first think about it, I wonder "Haven’t people ever heard of a tripod and remote?" Yet when I talk further with said astonished person, it comes down to a more complex question - Not how did I technically pull off the self portrait, but how "creatively" did I accomplish the self portrait.

It makes sense when people wonder how you can take a picture without looking through the view finder, adjusting the focus on the subject and making the composition work. It comes down to 5 simple concepts:
- pre-planning
-patience, patience, patience
-determination
-timing
-lots of pictures!

When I pre-plan, I usually am inspired by a painting, another photograph, music (usually a big part of the inspiration) and general thoughts or ideas that pop up in my mind. I work on a small to non-existent budget - read - the photo equipment I own, any props/clothing I have and whatever scenery I come across. Since I started my 52 Project, the outside has been a big part of my pictures (I LOVE natural light).

Patience is something I have had ever since I was born and it is very natural for me. Patience is knowing that something will go wrong or will not go your way and you have to be willing to accept this fact and make due with what you can. The lighting may not turn out the way you hoped, camera malfunctions, people are in the way, the idea in your mind may not be exactly the way it looks through the viewfinder, or you yourself may be having an off "ready for my close-up" day. This ties into determination to get the shot that you are wanting to create and taking lots and lots and lots of pictures! Sometimes I take over 30 images, they look great on the back of my camera and when I get home and upload them up on my computer, only one image looks marginally good enough to post as a final image. As the expression goes, s**t happens.

Timing is usually the trickiest part. Even with the use of a remote, the first few shots I have to get the timing down for my camera. Jumping, hair flicks, or just running to get in front of the camera all require the perfect timing needed to get the shot I want.

However, when you get that awesome day where everything works for you on every level, it’s like winning the picture lottery. Those are the days where the only editing I have to do is a slight levels correction the make my photos darker or adjust the saturation for my own personal "look" to my images.

Admittedly, as much as I would like a twin of myself in order to get the perfect angle and composition of my self portraits every time, in half of the time, it is fun to set the timer, run like heck, position myself and pray!

You just never know what masterpiece you will come up with :)