Self Portrait Week 12: Home Studio Portrait

Jodie was home from school for Spring Break and helped me set up this shot.

We're so pleased with the results!

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My daughter Jodie was home from the university for Spring Break and needed some headshots for her graduation announcements, her blog, and her online resume. So we set up a photo studio in our living room.

Using some of the tricks she learned in her videography classes, we were able to get some very nice lighting effects. She taught me to have a key light pointing at the subject, which we diffused with an opaque white umbrella. We put a backlight on the floor behind the photo subject to separate the subject from the background. Then we used a mix of sunlight and incandescent lighting as fill light. I set up a custom white balance.

We used a nice medium grey felt as a backdrop and put the camera on a tripod. I used my "nifty fifty" portrait lens. I got some great photos of her. Then I used a remote wired shutter button to take this photo of myself.

While she was in town, we took a 2 hour "Portraits and Posing" class through our Parks and Rec department where we got some tips that we were able to put to use in our photo shoot. I feel like I learned a lot with this week's self-portrait.

Self Portrait Week 11: Head Shot

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

I bought a set of manikin heads so I can display my fun wigs. I loved the way they looked lined up on my dresser with morning light coming in the window through the blinds. I felt the urge to get in on the (in)action.

I came up the the concept, the "costume," the framing, and the lighting. But since I couldn't see through the sheet over my head to make the final tweaks, daughter Jodie finessed the shot and pushed the shutter button for me.

This begs the question ... what, exactly, makes for a self portrait? Does the photo need to be completed top-to-bottom by the photographer herself, or do most artists have assistants?

Self Portrait Week 10: St Patrick's Day!

Time to party!

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 Photo Lessons I Learned:

My goal this week was learning use my wired remote. I found it much easier to use for self portraits than the wireless because I didn't have to re-pose for the camera between clicking the shutter button and the camera auto focusing/taking the picture.

Plus, it's fun to get creative with the props. That bow tie is really a girl's headband with the bow glued to it. I tucked the headband under the shirt collar and pinned the bow so that it landed at the correct angle.

Sure Sign of Spring

Now there are 6 crocus blooming by the front door, and more on the way. I love this first sign of Spring.

So nice to get down on my belly with my macro lens for the first time in months.

Self Portrait Week 9: The Seamstress

This week in my Studio, I've been busy at my machines, sewing up a storm. The garment is almost complete! I always feel like I'm channeling my seamstress grandmother and tailor grandfather when I'm in the sewing zone.

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

I took this photo with my phone's camera in mixed lighting. I had to lower the highlights, lighten the shadows, and do a bit of color correction in editing.

F2.4 ... 1/15 sec ... ISO 200 ... 2mm

Self Portrait Week 8: Put on a Happy Face

Even when I've got the winter blues, I can pull out the polka dots, grab a Cheetos smile, and shine.

How 'bout you?

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

Forcing myself to do a creative project will often ease me out of depression. The process of being present to what I'm doing and solving problems takes me away from the kinds of thoughts that feed a depressive cycle.

This week I created the backdrop in my living room by cutting circles from construction paper and taping them to the wall. I took the photo in the afternoon without great light. So I used a fill flash, bouncing the light off the ceiling. I used a remote wireless shutter with my Canon 60D. 

My model needs to learn how to pose, though. I took about 50 shots before I got one I liked. It's hard to keep a twinkle in one's eye while keeping track of all the technical parts of taking your own picture. 

F5 ... 1/15 sec ... ISO 800 ... 42mm

Self Portrait Week 7: Let Me Speak

It took me a long time to find my voice. I take exception to being silenced.

With endless gratitude to my classmate Kim Barnes who, through word and example, reminded me that my story is sacred.

And to the guy in a bear suit who is my inspiration.

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Here's a sillier photo from the session that expresses my rebellion:

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

I used my Canon EOS 60D with the camera's self-timer and a remote shutter. I used a combination of natural sunlight and some indoor flood lights, both to the left. 

It took a bit of trial and error to get the light to fall mainly on the filthy zipper. The photo was very noisy, so I removed some of it in editing. I sort of like the noise that is left because it adds to the mood of the photo. 

I placed myself in the lower lefthand corner of the photo with the brick background to add a feeling of being suppressed. The dark clothing is a throwback to my childhood when some of the nuns were pretty strict about talking in class. (The nuns I know and love now are much more fun).

The zipper is held in place with some glue dots. I'm wearing a black t-shirt. The hood is a black scarf. It took some manipulation and pins to get it to cover my head without blocking the light on my face.

F1.8 ... 1/125 sec ... ISO 6400 ... 50mm

Self Portrait Week 6: Meditation

Meditation is becoming more and more important in my life. So much so, in fact, that we've converted one room in our home for the practices of meditation and massage. I spend about an hour in this room each day doing a bit of yoga, some meditation, and writing in my gratitude journal. These practices help me keep emotionally centered - and easier to live with!

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

This photo was taken in our meditation room in very low light, primarily lit by the candles in the photo and a small light to the right of the camera.

I used the camera's self timer, manual focus, and a remote shutter button (hidden under my hand in the photo) ... then stayed VERY still! I deleted some of the noise in editing.

I took some test shots while wearing a dark shirt. I realized I was getting lost in the dark, so switched to a brighter shirt for the final photo.

F 5.6 ... ISO 6400 ... 1/2 sec shutter speed ... 25mm

Self Portrait Week 5: The Needlewoman

Depression slithered under the door last week and is sucking at my ankles like a primordial ooze. It's all I can do to keep from allowing it to pull me under.

When thoughts go sour and energy sinks, it's a good time for this needlewoman to pull out her crochet hook and soothing colors of yarn, creating a river where I can drift on calm waters. A meditation of movement, the rhythm of stitches and color change rearranges the pattern in my brain.

I tread in steady beats, waiting for light to break through.

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

A portrait does not necessarily require a face in the photo. This picture tells a bit about me with only a bit of me in the picture. It shows I'm left-handed. I'm married (ring). I know how to crochet. I like to surround myself with vibrant colors.

It actually took quite a bit of finesse to set up this shot so that there was enough light on the afghan that individual stitches could be seen. I had to hold my phone's camera over my right shoulder with my right hand while holding the crochet in place with my left hand and knee. It also took quite a bit of fiddling to get the afghan to flow in ripples across the shot. I also had to keep the background from being too distracting by moving furniture out of the frame.

I learned to use a voice command to have the camera activate the shutter.

Self Portrait Week 4: The Thinkers

Contemplating the state of the kingdom with the frog prince.

(In honor of last week's State of the Union address)

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

Sometimes it's the funniest things that inspire a photo. I was sweeping off my front porch and wiping down the table on which this frog sits. I realized it was "self-portrait day" and didn't have a good idea for a shot. So I sat down at the table to come up with an idea with my head in my hand, and realized the frog was looking back at me with the same expression.

This photo is taken in natural daylight in the afternoon. The waning sun is shining on my face from the right. I used my camera's phone in "selfie" mode, and tried to make position match the frog's. Maybe I should have grabbed my tiara, too.

A Year of Self-Portraits

This year I've given myself a photography assignment: a self-portrait each week. I'm hoping to learn more about my equipment. I'm going to experiment with lighting. I'm expecting to capture different parts of my personality. I plan to play dress-up and to be a little daring. Sometimes these portraits will be simple selfies taken with my phone's camera. Other times I'll work with my big camera, tripod, and lighting tools.

We're into the 3rd week of the year. Here are my first three self-portraits.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

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Photo Lessons I Learned:

When I started this project, I wasn't quite sure of the scope. So the first week I took a simple selfie with my phone's camera. I did try a trick my photo teacher suggested: stand in your front doorway. This way you have natural light, but not too harsh due to the porch ceiling. I need to remember to look into the lens instead of looking at the phone's screen.

The second week, I actually had a breakthrough. Adding a wig or a costume brings out the actress in me! The clothing helps inspire the photo. Again, this was a simple selfie. I did pay attention to having a solid-color background. Unfortunately, this photo was taken in my hallway, which has very bad lighting. I had to brighten it up quite a bit in editing, and that blew out the light tones on my chest wall and nose.

The third week I decided that my self-portraits could be more than selfies, and more than playing dress-up. Throughout the year, the photos can also act as a scrapbook of what was going on in my life that week. For this photo, I set up my DSLR on a tripod, and used a wireless remote to take the photo. It was tricky to line up the remote in my hand with the camera's infrared trigger, and then finish posing while the camera fine-focused and took the picture. I wish I'd used a lower f-stop so that the background would be more out of focus. I find those bits of wall and molding sort of distracting. This week, I also decided to experiment with editing in black and white.

Gifts for My Girls - Part 9

My eldest daughter, Jeanne, has long kept a journal. I was just like her at that age. I know how nice it is to have a special journal in which to write. She is also a lover of cats. I decided to combine her two passions into one gift.

I found this simple chart of a cat silhouette on Pinterest. I stitched it on 14 count Fiddler's cloth which is sort of a tweedy brown and beige cross-stitch fabric. I sewed it onto a coordinating cotton print, then used it to cover a simple spiral notebook.

I lined the inside of the front cover with an interesting scrapbook paper.

Next, I collected images of cats from magazines, catalogs, and other print media. I glued them to the corners of pages throughout the journal.

It makes for a whimsical piece that is useful and practical. I like that it's another way to let Jeanne know she has my emotional support.

(Thanks to Jeanne for the photos)

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The chart was inspired by this publication:

Gifts for My Girls (& a Friend!) - Part 8

Here's another little craft I saw on Pinterest that caught my eye. A cute and easy (and fast!) Santa gift card holder. I made two of these for Christmas gifts in 2014. One was the size to hold a gift card. Then I made a smaller one that was just big enough for a key.

Start with these pieces:

• 11" x 6" red card stock for suit
• 11" x 2.5" black card stock for belt
• 3" x 3" white (or silver) card stock for buckle
• 2" x 2" black card stock for middle of buckle
• 3/4" diameter black card stock circles for buttons
• 4-1/2" x 2-1/2" red card stock for inside pocket *or* glue dots

For the smaller gift holder I just downsized the pieces proportionally.

Fold the suit and belt as shown. Use double-sticky tape or glue to attach belt, buttons, and buckle.

On the inside you can use double-sticky tape to attach the pocket into which you slip the gift card. Since my gift card was sort of big, I attached it with glue dots. On the smaller gift card holder I also chose to attach the key with a glue dot.

So cute!

Daughter Jeanne got a kick out of her gift.  :)

Thanks to daughter Jodie for help with these photos.

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Gift card holder inspired by Stamp With Heather:

Gifts for My Girls - Part 7

Middle daughter, Julie, has a new kitten named Fawkes. He's quite a busy, dapper fellow who likes to dress up in sweaters, hats, and ties. So I decided to give my grandkitty a little gift of a bow tie using some inspiration I found on Pinterest.

I found a nice tie at a thrift shop in colors that I thought would show off well against Fawkes' fur. So I carefully removed all the stitching and interfacing from the tie, pressed it, and used the fabric. You can check out the link at the bottom of the page to get the dimensions. But even after making the tie, I still had this much fabric left!

It was a press, fold, pin, pinch, wrap, sew kind of project. Then I added a ribbon to tie around his neck.

My childhood doggie modeled it for me before I sent off the package.

Ready for a close up?

Here's Fawkes lookin' all snappy in his new duds.

(Thanks to Julie and Jodie for the photographs!)

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Inspired by a pattern I saw on Chic Sprinkles

Jodie's Christmas Cards

While Jodie was home over Thanksgiving break, she was feeling pretty stressed out. It was right before finals and she was completing the first edition of the new student magazine for which she is the editor. So she asked me to help her de-stress by crafting with her.

She found a cute idea for a Christmas card on Pinterest. She had brought along her chalks and a silver Sharpie. I supplied the black construction paper. We sat in my Studio on night after dinner and went to town.

It took a few tries to figure out the proper shape for the light bulbs. Then it took more than a few more attempts to come up with a good technique to make the bulbs look like they are glowing. I was inspired to grab some cotton swabs to smear the chalk line instead of using our fingers. It worked really well.

We got into a rhythm of outlining with chalk, smearing,

adding the bulb caps,

then drawing on the wire.

We talked and laughed and de-stressed in general. As each card was finished, we used double-sided tape to adhere a 4 x 6 index card to the back on which she wrote her personal messages. We separated the stacked cards with pieces of scrap paper to keep the chalk from getting where we didn't want it to go.

The process ended up taking much more time than we'd anticipated. I finally had to call it quits when my eyes wouldn't stay open any more. Jodie finished the cards up when she got back to Corvallis. I received this one in the mail.

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We were inspired by artwork from Buggy and Buddy:

Kaylee's Bib

When my niece Tonya had her baby in October, I was lucky enough to get to visit with her and hold baby Kaylee. I stitched this little bib and took it along as a Welcome to the World gift.

Cute little faces, yes?

Gifts for My Girls - Part 6

Feeling like I had a little crafting mojo back after finishing the felt penguin, I moved on to making some hot air balloon stationery for youngest daughter, Jodie. She writes the most kind and wonderful notes for friends, co-workers and mentors. I was pretty sure she'd appreciate some hand-decorated cards. I was inspired to make this from an idea I found on Pinterest.

I started with a simple watercolor wash. It doesn't show up well in the photos, but these watercolors have a pearlized or opalescent quality. They shimmer a bit.

Then I found some fabrics that looked like they could work as a hot air balloon bladder. I had to audition a number of fabrics to find some with the correct scale. I ironed a fusible web to the back of the fabric, cut out the balloon shape, then ironed the balloon shape to the front of the card.

I used a bit of burlap to create the basket. Then I outlined the balloon and "tied" it to the basket with a marker. I stacked the notecards and wrapped them with a pretty coordinating ribbon.

Jodie opened them on Christmas and said they were too nice to use. She said she may frame them instead. Ahhhh!


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Balloon stationery inspired by Crafting Chicks:

Gifts for My Girls - Part 5

During the summer and into the fall, my attention was focused on renovating our home, I didn't get much crafting (or blogging!) done. But in September I did take a little time out to make another felt ornament.

This time, a penguin for daughter #2, Julie. It was inspired by a penguin I saw on Pinterest. I used some brighter colors than the original to make him a stand-out.

He's got the sweetest fact, don't you think?

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My inspiration is from Edge of Clarity Etsy shop: