sierrabruggeman

Through the Looking Glass

A creative self portrait taken in studio!

A creative self portrait taken in studio!
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Evansville, Indiana, US

upload_date

May, 2021

Views

124

Likes

Awards

Action Award

Contender in the Visual Poetry Project

Zenith Award

Curator's Selection

Judge Favorite

Superb Composition

+10

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Peer Award

Superior Skill

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 30 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in a college color photography class as a part of a project titled "self-portrait", this project was one of my favorite ones of the class, although I struggled with the creativity aspect in the beginning.

Time

This photo was taken mid-afternoon, after my photography class had ended. I was struggling to be creative, and figuring out the setup took me a while. Then, when I did figure one thing out, the others fell into place.

Lighting

I wanted the lighting of this to be a little harsh, and to show detail. I used a long grid on a soft-box and placed it to the left of me so that there would be a more shadowed side of my face, and a side that showed more detail!

Equipment

For this photo, I used my Nikon D3500 with 18-55mm lens attachment. As for lighting, I used an Alien Bee flash unit and attached a Godox 35x160cm 14"x63" Beehive Honeycomb Grid Strip for Softbox. I also used a glass that is in my hand and a piece of large plexiglass in which I sprayed down with water for more of a texture effect.

Inspiration

I was trying to be very creative for this photo project. My professor had always loved my photographs, but could see that in some I was lacking creativity. I took inspiration from fellow classmates and tried utilizing an element that I had never used before in any of my photography, being water. After a lot of trial and error, this photograph came to be and quickly became my favorite of 5 portraits included in the project.

Editing

In this portrait, I did take part in some post-processing work. I started by color corrections, then turned all but the section of my face in the glass, to black and white. I think that this made all of the difference for the photograph as well as makes my blue eye pop. I think that it also made for more vivid detail in the black and white as for the details on my face and the water droplets on the plexiglass that is in front of me.

In my camera bag

I always pack my Nikon D3500 camera body, my 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens attachment in case of close situations when I need more space, my 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 lens attachment because I often photograph sports and the lens always seems to do the trick, my go-to lens will always be my 50mm f1.8! I always keep lens hoods for each one handy, because I never know when the light will not work in my favor. I keep a lens buddy as well, a band that has a stuffed dog on it, which goes around my lens to keep attention of children in times of need! I additionally keep my SD card case in times where I would need a larger card, a lens cleaning kit and lastly, a bottle of water!

Feedback

Just go for it! Show the creative side of you and enjoy it! I found that I got the perfect shot when I relaxed and was not uptight about the process and making sure that the photo was perfectly positioned to the point that I was becoming stressed.

See more amazing photos, follow sierrabruggeman

sierrabruggeman

sierrabruggeman

Through the Looking Glass

A creative self portrait taken in studio!

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow sierrabruggeman

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