I am a little over a week behind from starting the photography challenge.  In case you didn’t see the last blog, the list of the images I need to take are on this list and the secondary list is here

To be completely honest,  I procrastinated with starting this challenge because, well, the first day was a self portrait.  For those of you that know me well, you know that I hate being in front of a camera of any sort.  Still or video.  My comfort zone is behind the lens, not in front of it. 

When I decided to do this, I was dreading having to gather my camera and myself and try to artistically formulate a self-portrait.  But I really wanted to get this challenge going, and I didn’t want to cheat. So, here’s my self-portrait:

 

 

 

One thing that struck to my mind was a selfie vs. a self portrait. I dread the “selfie” trend.  I would say that I don’t know why to make everything nice and peaceful, but that would be a lie ;).  Countless times I have seen people post pictures of themselves in probably the most unconventional ways.  Selfies every 15 minutes. Selfies in the hospital bed. Selfies while grocery shopping. Selfies after getting out the shower. 

To my surprise, I actually haven’t seen a toilet selfie yet.  Still waiting for that one. 

Regardless of “where” the selfie is taken, they all look the same.  It lacks and element of creativity. It becomes dry, emotionless, and ultimately a promotion of vanity.  The selfie is restrictive.

But the self-portrait, on the other hand, opens to a much wider perspective and more creativity than just simply holding a camera or phone in your hand and smiling.   A self-portrait is expressive.  You don’t need to post a quote or a song lyric to explain the image.  You don’t need to explain what you’re doing.  A self-portrait can open the doors to a wide array of possibilities. it is expressive. It is artistic.  It is limitless.

I believe there are 3 days in this challenge where I have to do a self portrait.  While I’m not the happiest about it, I really feel as though it will help expand my thoughts creatively.  This one was fairly simple, I took it while it was raining so I had to grab a couple of umbrellas so that my hair or camera wouldn’t get wet.

I’m excited about continuing this challenge!  I’m going to be a trooper and get out of my comfort zone.  Be on the lookout for Day 2 tomorrow! 😉