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A complete change of tack for me.
Apart from 'avatar' type shots using a mirror, I've never attempted a self-portrait before.
Of about twenty shots that I took, I've saved three that I'm happy with. I don't know whether or not that's a good average, or an indifferent one.
Of the shots that I discarded, almost all that went in the bin did so because the model was lacking rather than any technical ****-ups!
I took this, sitting in a dining chair with my camera propped up on a pile of table mats on the table as my tripod's too large to stand on it and this method was less bother than setting it up on the floor.
Autofocus was on, AV was turned off.
Shot in raw. W/B. and exposure adjusted using Lightroom (3.6).
Into CS6, cropped, adjusted contrast (curves), increased saturation and converted to B/W using the 'Gorman' technique. Cleaned up a couple of spots and a dog's hair with 'content aware,' resized, (smart) sharpened and uploaded.
If anyone would like a copy of the 'Gorman' technique, I have it saved as an action. Just let me know, PM or email perhaps and I'll send it to you.
| Brand: | NIKON CORPORATION |
| Camera: | Nikon D3100  Check out Nikon Nation! |
| Lens: | 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 13 Nov 2012 - 12:00 PM |
| Focal Length: | 24mm |
| Lens Max Aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/200sec |
| Exposure Comp: | 0.0 |
| ISO: | 200 |
| Exposure Mode: | Manual |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Flash: | Exertnal, hotshoe flash fired. |
| White Balance: | Auto |
| Title: | B/W weekly challenge "Self portrait." |
| Username: | 
Jestertheclown |
| Uploaded: | 13 Nov 2012 - 12:15 PM |
Comments
A well captured sp - really like this! Gritty and real. And hi!
Anne
Thanks Jack.
The pose, if that's the right word and the direction of my eyes was just one of many that I tried.
The highlights, there are two because my flash has two lights, were created by attaching a piece of white paper to the head to reflect the light downwards with it set to 45º.
I didn't (and don't) really have a clue how to get a good SP!
The exposure was set by guesswork, firing the camera at the empty chairback, adjusting the power of the flash and the aperture until it looked about right. I'd set the shutter ti 1/200th because I know that it synchs. there. Everything else was guesswork. I took about ten test shots before I sat down.
When I did sit down and take the first shot of myself, it all worked.
Except for the pose.
That required some experimentation!
Most of the work I carried out in post, was to ready the shot for converting to B/W. The original colour version needed very little tweaking at all.
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