Stepping in front of my camera

What do you do when you want to practice portrait photography and your muse of the day reschedules?

Be your own muse!

That’s what I did last week. I figure if I can get the lighting, the camera settings, and some of the poses correct on myself, hopefully, it will help me greatly when photographing others.

I started by wandering in and around my house with my iPhone taking selfies while looking for the best light. Note to self: time to declutter, and wash those windows, again.

Found some good light outside - iPhone selfie

I ended up in my backyard in open shade with my Canon 7D on my tripod and my remote in hand. I practiced posing and talking to myself to get some natural expressions. Yeah, nothing unusual here. I am impressed at how I set up my gear and then managed to get front and center of my camera almost every shot. 

Second outdoor location set-up

This was fun! Well, whenever I get to play with my camera, especially trying something new, I get totally energized and in the zone. My happy place. 

Like a lot of people, I’m my own worst critic and it’s not easy looking at pictures of myself, but I did get a few photos I’m okay with.

Canon 7d self-portrait

I still need and want to practice, practice, practice. I gotta work on my muscle memory so I can eventually set-up and adjust settings as needed on my gear, with my eyes closed.

Still, lots of hesitation here about sharing these images and my rambling thoughts (always!) but,  I decided that I need to take the advice of this quote I found recently...

Darling, just fucking own it!!