Click of the Wild: Self |

“You are more beautiful than you think” -Dove

When Alicia chose “Self Portrait” as our focus for Click of the Wild, that quote from the Dove Commercial came to mind. If you haven’t seen this video, watch it…You won’t be disappointed. (there is also a longer version.. you can google it)

I believe in beauty, and I believe it comes in many forms. I love to capture the beauty of laughter and love and relationships and so many other emotions with my camera.

But, believe me, beauty is not easily captured in a self portrait! ha.
Okay, I was under no illusions that it would be easy. But, I was excited to give it a try. Excited and nervous. In fact, I was planning on suggesting ’Self Portrait’, but Alicia beat me to it, and I am kinda glad she did. Because I might not have had the guts to do it.

For me, it was hard to get myself in focus. That was the hardest part. Then, when I managed to get myself in focus I looked like such a dork! Because I can’t see exactly where I am in the shot, composition was tough…. Clearly, this was a hard one for me.
We have two weeks to work on our focus, and at first I approached it as I do most of my photography. I captured moments as they happened. I was folding laundry, so I set my camera on my dresser and took a picture (focusing on the laundry and letting myself be out of focus on purpose, which I liked). Another day, I had a few minutes, so the girls and I jumped up on the bed and (because I don’t have a tripod) I set a package of diapers on top of a stool, set my camera on top, and set my timer and ran to the bed – over and over again!
I finally borrowed a tripod from Molly, and that is when I got the awful out-of-focus/in focus dorky shots. I had actually showered, fixed my hair, and wore something besides a t-shirt and yoga pants for this attempt. I walked outside, feeling good. Then…the wind was blowing my hair all over the place, I couldn’t seem to get my focus right, (even though I had grabbed a sheet of paper on my way out the door and drawn a smiley face on it to use as something to focus on – then I would set my timer, remove the paper and stand exactly where it had been.. but, it didn’t seem to work for the focusing issue’s I was having) I finally decided I would just give up and use one of the shots I had taken over the past few days. Even if it had to be a mirror shot, which I felt like was a little ‘safe’… possibly lame. (they are included in this post!) Anyway, just when I gave up I saw my reflection in the door and thought that’s kinda cool … so I took a shot. Then, I held the camera up at different angles and got a few different shots that I liked. Really liked. So from there, I managed to get the shot I am happy with

All in all, this focus was tough. But, I am happy with the images I ended up getting (as a photog and Mom, I don’t get in front of the camera enough), and I love that some of the images are simple real-life images of my girls and I. And, I learned how to use my self-timer on my camera! Score!
This is the image I ended up using….

My laundry folding shot

My girls and I….

A little iPhone shot of my set up! Stool, box of diapers… who needs a tripod?!

Mirror shot…

This is us. This is the norm. And for that, I love it.

Here are the two door reflection shots as I was walking back inside after deciding to give up on trying to get anymore.. right before I started getting shots I liked. Glad I saw my reflection and was inspired to try some more