Oct 31, 2011

Revisiting the self-portrait

I've been dying to shoot more portraits (I think our new Richard Avedon coffee table book is definitely contributing to my itch) but I just don't get much human interaction during the weekday when I'm working at home, so I settled for the next best thing and attempted some moodier portraits on myself, tripod set, remote in hand.

Damn, expressions are hard. I can really appreciate a good portrait now, having tried to convey different expressions and failing. I realized that generally, when I don't smile in my portraits, I come off as a smug bitch. And smiling is no bueno either, so I end up with the same half-amused barely there smirk in every shot. And these days, I just want to make everything black and white. Maybe it's because of the rapidly approaching winter...

16 comments :

  1. do you have a black wall in your new apt?

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  2. not smiling = looking evil? looks like we've been blessed with:

    http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmxbcbVOGC1qamig1o1_500.jpg

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  3. Bahaha "smug bitch"? I really like your processing on these four. It's so hard to get back into self portraits after some time away!

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  4. I completely empathize. In any case, these turned out beautifully :)

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  5. You're gorgeous! I see no smugness. =] These look great!

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  6. Great shots!
    How do you get your focus when you shoot self portrait?
    I tried a couple but had a hard time getting the focus right. End up going with a narrower aperture but losing the DOF =(

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  7. Gorgeous, dahling. By the way, Em and I talked about you after meeting up on Friday. We agreed that we both admired your seemingly effortless classic style and natural beauty :)

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  8. i know how you feel! but these portraits are beautiful alice!!

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  9. Beautiful portraits Alice! I love the BWs. You carry the classic look very well in those.

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  10. i like the very first one to the left. you are such a beauty!

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  11. You're stunning Alice! It's nice to see some selfies, my fav is the one of you in the top right corner! Love the
    b & w too!

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  12. Beautiful shots. Self portraits are always so hard i think!

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  13. I really love the coloured ones too!

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