My 101 Self Portraits project is now complete

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

01/29/2006 12:48:57 AM · #1

Hey All,

I'm not sure if this will be of much interest to most, but I'm happy to have completed my own personal project 101 Self Portraits. The gallery can be viewed at //photography.alien2thisworld.net/101selfportraits/

I was originally inspired by DPC user arnit's self portrait project. I hope I expanded on the idea and personalized my series to show my own personality. During this series I have learned a lot, and I can see a very distinct difference between my early portraits and the latest ones I completed. I left the original portraits in the series, even though I would now consider them sub-standard for my abilities, just to mark where I began, and where I am now. The gallery is not displayed in chronological order of the shots.

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome if you feel so inspired :)
-Daniel

Jinjit

01/29/2006 01:06:38 AM · #2

Ok, I only got to see the first 10 (and I am already late for work) but these are very good!
I am not a big fan of such projects of self portraits, but I admit these are very inspirational and idea-wise as well as technically are really good.
One that I didn't like however, was "Amaryllis and I". It's a bit too dark and the focus is not sharp enough on your eye, and this pulls me away from the eye.
But other then this one, at least for the first 10 - I enjoyed my visit.
Will definately check the rest tonight!

_eug

Nikon D50

01/29/2006 01:14:09 AM · #3

Great stuff.

AzCKelly

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G ED

01/29/2006 01:45:58 AM · #4

Wow, I am very impressed. Loved them all, my favorites were high key, shades of grey, monumental, white robe, and summer breeze. These seemed to really stand out to me as more unique than the others. Very nice! Congrats!

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/29/2006 03:03:45 AM · #5

Thanks for the comments :)

Jinjit - I agree, the Amaryllis and I shot was my very first attempt at a white background. I'll probably attempt another shot when it blooms again this year

JRalston

Canon EOS-20D

01/29/2006 03:39:09 AM · #6

Excellent! Definitely some 10's in there :) I especially like "Find your Zen", "Nightlight", "Portrait in Teal", and "Jardin Public dans Bordeaux."

acrotide

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/29/2006 08:39:04 AM · #7

Some really great shots. My favorites were "Jardin Public dans Bordeaux", "Texture", "Find Your Zen", and "Where Dark Meets Light".

I'd like to try a project like this, but I'm not very photogenic. Maybe all shadow or silouette shots of me :)

Kavey

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

01/29/2006 09:37:19 AM · #8

They load quite slowly for me so I didn't get too far through but I did enjoy the ones I saw... nice project!

arnit

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/29/2006 09:42:03 AM · #9

100 Self Portraits in 100 Days

You beat me by one :) Good Job.

mandyturner

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/29/2006 09:44:21 AM · #10

I think that it is a great project and congrats on finishing it. I know that so many times I start something and leave it. I would like to do a project like that also. I probably already have 100 self portraits! But not with my new camera. I though about doing that to show clients all of the different styles of portraits I can do.

toffle

Canon EOS-10D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

01/29/2006 10:29:29 AM · #11

I really like this idea. I've been trying to do some self portraits to practice different techniques - I mean, I'm always a ready and willing subject, so it makes sense to do them of myself. This does give me some inspiration to try to do a huge series like you and arnit have. Thanks.

_eug

Nikon D50

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

01/29/2006 12:41:40 PM · #12

Sounds like we need a Self-Portrait-a-Day thread. Would that make it a SPAD?

jmlelii

Nikon D850

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

01/29/2006 12:57:07 PM · #13

heres a question for your self portrait heads... how do you focus? AF and hope it catches you? What about in real low light? This is a project I would like to attempt myself.

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

01/29/2006 01:00:52 PM · #14

Love the selfPAD project. Can't use the excuse "my model wasn't ready" lol

Jeremy, when I do self portraits, I use something like a light stand with a hat on it to set focus on (where I plan to stand), then set timer, jump in where the light stand was and viola! :)

soup

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/29/2006 01:17:11 PM · #15

nice work ! - toward the end of the slideshow - some of the images didn't load fully befpre the next one started loading - it seemed to be an issue with the view timing & the file size of the images trying to load.

for my self portrits - i use a flash light, so the auto focus can focus, and then turn it off when i press the shutter button on the remote.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/29/2006 01:30:53 PM · #16

Thanks again for all the new comments :)

Kavey - Sorry for the slow loading. I tried to balance image size with quality, but ended up leaning toward the quality side in the end

Arnit - Thanks for the initial inspiration :) I started out doing a portrait a day, but couldn't keep up once I got to about 50 shots. It is truely impressive that you were able to maintain the drive for 100 days straight.

It is quite satisfying to have completed the series now. The most valuable part was practicing and learning techniques that I saw demonstrated in fashion photos and magazine ads.

jmlelii- I started this series with my Minolta, so my focusing was pretty difficult. I ended up setting manual focus to 1.5 meters or so and then would dash out infront of the camera while the timer counted down. This was quite slow and difficult. For the last part of the series, I had my Nikon D70s and I bought the wireless shutter release. Now the focus is sooo much easier. I set auto focus and then take several shots with the wireless remote. In low light, the D70s turns on it's AF assist lamp to get the focus, which I'm thankful for.

soup- Thanks for letting me know about the slideshow issue. I may look into compressing some of the images further so their load time is faster. Thanks!

mystardream

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

01/29/2006 01:31:43 PM · #17

Nice pictures Dan...

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

01/29/2006 09:43:10 PM · #18

Thanks Swapna!

I should have tried to do one of these at the zoo :)

woohoopepper

Nikon D70

01/29/2006 10:10:51 PM · #19

very nice!