Self Portrait
2018
Let's journey into the darkest side of my mind
Worry not, you got me by your side
Lots of interesting things we could find
Trust me, no one gets left behind
As I hold the light of uncertainty
I will empower the soul that is inside me
Let it be our guide to eternity
Embracing the burning flame dauntlessly
Hold on tight to the bloody lifeline
Feel the black and white intertwined
Great eyes may not be part of my design
But trust me, my heart is not blind
Follow Me
Self Portrait
2018
Creative Process
I don't usually write about the process of how I did my photos. But I feel this is quite special and if I saw another person doing this, I would ask the same thing: How the hell did she do this?
Conceptualizing
Before I do my photographs, I always think of a concept first. Some take months, some take weeks, some take days... Doesn't matter. The process is the same when I do a painting.
I would say this step is the hardest part. Part of that 'thinking' is also stressing on how am I going to make a concept work.
For this photo, I immediately drew the idea in my cute sketchpad so I won't forget about it. :P
The original idea was me holding a lamp but I realized I don't have a lamp so I used a candle instead. Well, I think that the candle is a better idea though. For the composition, I haven't decided the number of figures at that time yet, that's why there are four figures in the sketch. But while editing, I decided to just use the Rule of Odds composition.
Capturing the Image
This is another challenge too. I do self portraits. That is, shooting this all by myself.
After planning, I prepared the things needed for this image. Then I set the camera on a tripod. Since I am used with doing self portraits, focusing the camera and imagining myself in a certain spot to remain being in 'focused' is not that hard for me anymore. Yeah, I don't have a remote yet. Might have to buy that soon. lol.
I took the shots of the figures holding the string first because it is easier than shooting yourself while having a blindfold and holding a candle, right?
For the string, I put it right in front of me (on an easel) then I let it hang onto something at my back to give the illusion that someone was holding it.
After shooting those figures, I then put the blindfold on my forehead and clicked the shutter and positioned myself at that certain spot. The self timer was set to take 9 shots in 10 seconds. So while it was counting down, I took the time to hold the candle and position the blindfold to completely cover my eyes. It required patience and faith that I won't burn the house down while blindfolded. Well, luckily I didn't. :D
Editing
This is the very challenging but the fun part. I almost quit because of this lol. (Not gonna be technical here though, just gonna show how it was done)
The first thing I did was I chose the photos to use and combined the three on Photoshop. Combining it is easy. Sure. But making it look realistic is not.
Next thing I did was manually painted the background. So it looks a bit okay now.
Then I connected the strings.
Then I cleaned the background and corrected the colors a bit.
Then I did the changed the colors one last time for the final look that I was aiming for. A vintageish feels.
That's it! I don't think there's a need for me to explain the concept since the poetry is self explanatory and besides I don't really want to explain like this. I just let you find out what it means. It makes the photo more interesting than spoonfeeding the audience with information, right? Go think!