Self-Portrait Challenge Recap




Did any of you participate in A Beautiful Mess's 30 Day Self-Portrait Challenge? If so please leave your instagram username below! I love seeing how others took this on creatively. You can follow me on instagram (@ohwhimsicalme) if you'd like a better look at these.

I took on this challenge with the hope of helping me feel more natural in front of the camera. I recently started a outfit series here, but photo shoots for it can be a little... awkward. I have no idea how to pose and instantly turn into a giant cheese-ball when a camera is directed at me. The results are rarely pretty. For me, unfortunately, I don't know if I got much out of this challenge, to be honest. Elsie and Emma mentioned in their first post about the challenge that when taking pictures of ourselves, "At first it feels unnatural, awkward and pretty self-absorbed." I never got past this stage. I've always felt this way, and I still do. I think this can be seen through the fact that very few of my pictures from this challenge actually show my entire face looking at the camera. For this is more so a result of not liking to take pictures of myself (or have my picture taken) than an attempt at creativity within my portraits. Because, I mean, there are quite a few pictures of my lap and feet. Boring.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Happy Sunday!

5 comments :

  1. I love your pictures! I think they allow a glimpse of who you are as a person and how you view yourself, as well as a look into what you think beauty and art is. Also, you have the most amazing hair ever. Its like, perfect hippie-folk hair. The texture of your hair sends me into artistic thrall...

    I really like taking self-portraits. For awhile I did think perhaps I was self absorbed, but recently I just got over it. For one, I really feel awkward taking pictures of other people. What if they hate them? What if they are bored? How do I pose them? What if they think I'm totally weird? When I take pictures of myself, I feel free to experiment and have fun without any negative feedback. I don't have to worry about any time constraints other then my own, and if I mess up, its totally okay because I don't care!! Another thing is blogging--my blog is kind of my chronicle of adventure and self-discovery. So, naturally it should have pictures of me on it. (okay, that does sound a bit self-absorbed) but hiring a photographer is way out of my budget! DIY is fun and fast and free. Tee hee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well thank you for the compliments, Carolynn!


    I suppose I do enjoy the freedom of experimentation and having things on my time when taking self portraits. And, as a blogger, I feel it is inevitable that I will continue to do so. I am also lucky to have a sister (with a super nice dSLR) who will take pictures for me/of me from time to time. Will's pretty clever behind a lens, too. But I would so much rather not be in pictures. I LOVE taking pictures of other people, especially large crowds or candid shots of family and friends. You get so much more emotion that way. My dogs make great subjects, too, but they're a little harder to capture :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lix HewettAugust 18, 2013

    If I'd known about this challenge I definitely would have participated! I don't know if there was ever a time I thought taking pictures of myself felt unnatural and awkward, but it's pretty much long gone now. The height of my awkwardness is those times I shoot in public with my mom as my tripod (I don't have one, or a remote, so pretty much all my self-portraits consist in me setting up the shot and posing as my mom presses the button on my DSLR), mostly because people insist on having to walk past. I'm extremely awkward in many other ways, but I get a huge kick out of modeling and I rarely feel embarrassed about the things I enjoy.


    In a way it's much harder for me to take pictures of other people in a shoot setting (as opposed to candids), even though I'd love to do that more often - I know what I want the shot to look like and I have no qualms about directing people to do what I want, but they never cooperate! Either they don't care, or they're easily distracted, or they're just bad at posing. Every time I try to work with my sister (who's 17), I end up wanting to pull my hair out. Which is why I've given up on that. Better for my mental health.


    ...oops, that was long. Anyway! Self-portraits can be fun, but there's nothing wrong with not liking them or not liking to be in front of a camera. :) I do love your braids, though, and the pic of you with the mug, and you look amazing in the pic on your sidebar.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm really good at taking pictures of people without their permission, haha. But I like doing shoots with people, too. Maybe it's a bit strange that I hate being in front of the camera so much, because I love performing (singing/acting) and always have. I use to dream of being an actor when I was little.


    And, I love long-winded answers! They are the best. You should still do the challenge in some form; I'd love to see what you'd come up with. Or, you know, you could just give me modeling tips :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rita MarieAugust 19, 2013

    Love the way you took your selfies! Great job! If they do it again, I will totally participate. :)

    ReplyDelete