Self Portrait (Again!)

[Austin Greene]

In an effort to avoid piles of studying and homework that needed doing last night, I decided to try and step in front of the camera to try a different lighting setup in my living room. With how small the space is, getting a black background has been very difficult, but I finally managed to get it.

Your feedback is appreciated! I much prefer being behind the camera, but I'm learning that doing self portraits is giving me a better sense for posing. I tried to let my personality out a bit more in this one, I'm a generally quiet guy.

1.

Self Portrait by TogaLive, on Flickr


Thanks again!

Edit: Thought I'd throw this in. Tried my hand at doing a composite.

Untitled by TogaLive, on Flickr
Austin

 

[D-B-J]

Honestly, I think it's solid. The lighting is well controlled, the pose seems comfortable, the focus is spot on. Well done sir, especially if you say you are a quiet guy.

Best,
Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bossy]

The composite made me LOL

The self port is nice, I don't love your arm there / wish there was more arm, because it looks awkward, but as a fellow Shy in front of the camera-er I get the urge to do something to distract from yourself
The lighting is doing something odd to your face, one side looks much less angular than the other. (and I totally creeped your website to make sure it wasn't just your face so I'm not a jerk lol) I don't know how you'd fix that.

 

[iPwnF00lz]

The first one's lighting seems to be a little too harsh for my taste but that's just personal. It kinda looks like he's cut out and pasted there.

 

[Derrel]

Not too bad. The hand on the neck seems a bit forced, perhaps.

 

[D-B-J]

The first one's lighting seems to be a little too harsh for my taste but that's just personal. It kinda looks like he's cut out and pasted there.

Harsh in which way? I see no blown highlights or clipped shadows...

 

[Austin Greene]

I really appreciate the CC everyone! After each comment I've been able to look back at the photo and consider something that could possibly be changed. A really wonderful thought experiment.

Now I did take another photo last night, but I'm not nearly as much a fan of this one. I never shoot in black/white, but I thought "Why the hell not" and took it as an experiment in playing with shadows. I do feel like it does a better job of filling the frame than my first, but the connection isn't there.

Rip it to shreds!

2.

Self Portrait by TogaLive, on Flickr

 

[bingbang]

You are doing fine for the lighting, Austin, but imho you will not get much further if you do not work on the poses, this including the expression, the position of head, arms, shoulders, the clothing, etc. A good lighting without a subject will not make a good picture. I don't say that your picture is bad, I just say that it is not much exciting. I don't know what were your goals though. But as you are OK with the lighting, my intuition is that you should move on with the remaining stuff.

My personal views here, that are just personal. Keep them or throw them away.