Most of my photography subjects are of every day folks, it’s the favorite part of my job.  A great many of my subjects will often tell me quickly they don’t like having their picture taken. Normally laugh and say “me either.”  It is usually enough to start to put them at ease.  But it is true, I hate having my picture taken!

I decided I needed to sack up and take some self portraits.  I decided to make “me” my last subject of 2012.  I approached my portrait similar to how I would approach an assignment I was given.  I wanted to have two finished products with two different looks.

First up was a new head shot.  I thought I needed something serious to off set the ridiculousness of my other idea.

Shot this with two speedlights in my living room. One SB-800 with a 1/16 gird and a Vivitar 285 in a small softbox high and camera right and a reflector below for a bit of bounce.  I’ve started to really dig my light “hard.”

For my next shot I wanted something more light hearted and environmental  I waited a few hours for the light to be just right in my back yard.

I shot this one with two lights.  An Alien Bee A-800 at full power into a giant parabolic umbrella camera left and a Nikon SB-800 with a 1/16 grid camera right.  I shot about 20 frames of myself feeling like I had something to work with I then coaxed “Domino” into sitting for me.  I combined the two frames in post.

For me the biggest pain when making self portraits is the focusing.  For my head shot I used a stick to reach the shutter once I was in position.  For the image in my backyard I had to get a bit more innovative…

I’m looking forward to what 2013 has in store.