Thirty Self Portraits – #2
Self Portraits - #2
This is the second self portrait in my project to shoot 30 self portraits. You can read about the project in my first post.
For this one I wanted to experiment with edge lighting and profiles. I think it turned out OK. I'm going to revisit this one and try some props (I'm thinking a hat work well) and change the angles a little.
The Image
Lighting Diagram
One thing I left out were the camera settings. Although the light is at f/5.6 I had the aperture on my camera set to f/8.0. This helped to darken the side of my face even more.
I also had a question about why the light is at an angle instead of behind me (which would have given more of a rim effect). The reason is so it doesn't appear in the scene as I wanted a black background. It is just out of the frame to the right, I made it as close as I could where it would not show up in the scene.
One other thing to note, I purposely made the light very close to me, the reason was to have a lot of light fall-off from the front of my face to the back. This creates more of a gradient and wider range between the highlights and shadows.
Lake Powell Images - Aristodeme
Aristodeme
This is a continuation of my Lake Powell images, there are so many that I'm can't put them all into my portfolio, but there are many worthwhile images, so I decided to show them here as blog posts. Each post will present all of the images for a given model. This week it is Aristodeme.
If you missed it be sure to check out Cwen's images
These were shot at Lake Powell during a week long trip in October of 2015. I talk about the trip in this post about Taking a Workshop
A Good Crop - My 2015 Photos
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop
- Ansel Adams
My Crop
I don't feel like I produced my best work this year, so I decided to do an analysis of my productivity for the year. I took 24,063 photos this past year for my own personal work (meaning that this excludes family photos and commissioned work, I actually clicked the shutter 31,537 times this year).
The Breakdown
I shoot several genres of photography and this year I primarily focused on two, street photography and models, so when I did my counts I separated the data for the two. Non-Model includes street photography, landscapes, abstracts, etc.
| Non-Model | Models | Totals | |
| Total | 10,500 | 13,563 | 24,063 |
| Keepers | 502 | 114 | 616 |
| Portfolio Worthy | 36 | 42 | 78 |
| 5 Star | 5 | 9 | 14 |
Keepers - these are the photos that I actually edited and considered finished.
Portfolio Worthy - There are images that I actually exhibited or showed to others via my web site, social media, etc.
5 Star - These are the photos I consider my best work of the year. These are my "Crop"
Analysis
I felt like I struggled this year with my photography, I had finished up several bodies of work and didn't know where to go next. I did a couple of model shots in the first half of the year (accounting for 7 of Portfolio Worthy images) and then I was travelling a lot and focused instead on my street photography. If it weren't for the Lake Powell workshop I took in October I would have only had 1 Five Star image from my model photography for the year.
Another interesting observation is that although I took similar number of Non-Model photographs to the Model photographs, I had a five times the keepers but fewer 5-star images. That is partly because there are a lot more varied photographic opportunities when doing street photography rather than with a model, but in the end fewer of them are as good. Some might argue that is because of lack of skill, perhaps. However many are abstracts and I think it is more of a selection process. What makes a 5-star abstract?
Conclusion
The final crop of 14 images is a good haul for the year although I am not entirely happy. If it weren't for the last minute trip to Lake Powell my production for the year would have been much less and not as strong.
I feel like this year was not an improvement but more of staying with the status quo. I plan to step up my photography game for 2016.
My 2015 Crop
How About You?
How was your crop this year?
UPDATE: I had a lot of questions about my selection critiera so I wrote another post that details why I picked each of the above photos. http://craigcolvinphotography.com/selecting-my-best-work
Lake Powell Images - Cwen
Cwen
I have had people ask to see more of my Lake Powell images, there are so many that I'm can't put them all into my portfolio, but there are many worthwhile images, so I decided to show them here as blog posts. Each post will present all of the images for a given model. This week it is Cwen.
These were shot at Lake Powell during a week long trip in October of 2015. I talk about the trip in this post about Taking a Workshop
