Self Portrait

I've been referring to the Photographer's Playbook (see Amazon link below) for some inspiration. Self-portraits come up multiple times in the book.

 

It was a very cold Sunday, so I decided to set up and try to make one that I had in mind. Here's the result:

 

Zen Circle, Self-Portrait, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 35mm f2 AF-D Lens, 3-stop ND Filter, Nikon SB-600 Flash

iso 200, f11, 2 seconds

 

I hung up a black backdrop, put the Df on a tripod, and connected the SB-600 flash with a remote cord and mounted it up higher on a second tripod with a small softbox over it. Using a 20 second self-timer setting on the Df, I was able to get situated before the shutter opened. With a 2 second exposure, I had enough time to make the circle with a small flashlight I held in my hand. It was my intention to leave the circle unfinished as it is. The flash was set to rear curtain sync, so that it froze my position at the end of the exposure. I also like how the preflash left an impression of where my arm was at the beginning of the exposure.

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this. I have a couple of other self-portrait ideas that I may try next.

 

If you think it's easy to do a self-portrait, you should give it a try. I find it quite difficult to get an image of myself that I don't hate.

 

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