Selphyfotophobia
Mar, 2014Views
170
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Awards
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Summer 2020
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Jaw Dropping
Exceptional Contrast
Superior Skill
Peer Award
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in my lounge room at home. For the image of me 'escaping' from the camera I took a shot of myself climbing out of my kitchen window which was perfect, this way my hands and fingers were in a realistic position to make it look like I was holding onto the edges of the camera. The background image is a simple self portrait.Time
I took this during the day at a time when there was no direct sunlight coming through windows, just a soft ambient light.Lighting
No lighting set up at all. All images were shot using natural light coming through my windows.Equipment
The two seperate images of me were shot with my Canon 7D with a 50mm 1.8 mounted on a tripod using a10 second timer. I intentionally set the background shot to out of focus to create depth of field.. Then I took a photo of my 7D on the tripod with my back up Canon 500D using same lens. All were shot using natural light coming through the windows.Inspiration
I'm a member of a photography group and the weekly challenge was to do a self portrait. So when I thought about it I decided a self portrait should reflect something about you, an interest or an emotion. The only emotion I feel at the mention of self portrait is fear and I just want to sneak away and hide. I don't do selfies! Once I recognised that, this idea came straight to me. I'm not sure the expression is quite right its supposed to say 'I'm trying to sneak away and oops Ive been caught' Overall though I actually enjoyed doing this self portrait, it took me out of my comfort zone and I survived. P.S. I tried to google the word for a fear of being photographed and there isn't an actual listed phobia, so I made up my own. Selphyfotophobia - the fear of self portraits.Editing
The final image is a composite of 3 photos. I started with the out of focus self portrait for the background. Then I cut out the camera and dropped it onto the background image. I made another layer using part of the background image to create the background on the camera screen and then I made a selection of myself, getting rid of the kitchen window and dropped that into main photo. All that was left to do was create some shadowing to anchor myself into position and a little dodge and burn.In my camera bag
Currently I have my 7D but about to take the plunge and go full frame. My go to lens is my Canon 24-105 when I go away for the versatility and ease of taking one lens, and then I throw in my 50mm cause its so little. But the lens I really love are my Sigma 85mm 1.4 and my Canon 200mm 2.8L it creates gorgeous bokeh, but don't use them nearly enough. I have some fun with my Tokina 11-16 2.8. My others are Sigma 105 2.8 macro and Canon 70-200 F4.Feedback
Start off by having a good idea of what you want the final image to look like, that way its easy to break it down and know what images will need to be shot to put it together. Think about the lighting and keep it consistent that way all the elements will gel together nicely. In this case all images were shot with the light source coming from directly in front the subject. And don't forget to think about point of view, all 3 photos were taken at eye level POV however some composites may require different elements to be photographed from different POV's. I am definitely not an expert when it comes to composites but I believe if you spend a little time planning the final shot you will get a much better result faster, with less time spent in post processing. Above all give it a go and have fun with it, let your imagination run free.
