The Creative SLR Selfie

Me and the Land that I love
 The selfie craze has been at times annoying. And maybe that is because it is really hard to do unless you own a smart phone. I have tried a few with my tablet but I am a DSLR owner and with the long lens on do not have long enough arms to photograph myself. Besides I am not that great of a subject. Why do you think I own the camera? If I am taking the pictures I am not in them.

There is something lacking about the basic smart phone selfie like context or content or just why. Here I am at the Arc de Triumph and none of it shows. So I set about to improve selfies and challenge the DSLR limitations. I wanted my selfies to say something about me and my life. Ergo the one of my shadow in a map of Colfax and Mora counties with mountains outside the windows also reflected really says it.


Me and my "Shadow"

I love playing with reflections so the obvious solution to the SLR issue was a good reflective surface. But I also wanted a surround or background which defined who I was. I like the rustic building in the one above. And I am not sure who the reflected spirit is in the other pane of glass but seems friendly. It also says I am not afraid to be out in snow.

I am rather afraid of all my wrinkles, however. My reflection in the bathroom mirror looks like my mother. I feel far younger and more vital than her and I am more active and older.


Me and  My Dreams

The one above is with a Victorian lamp. Boy, I would love to have that figure. Because I am short I never had it even in my slim youth. I love the colors in this selfie and the reflection of a painting in the background.


One of my first selfies

If you are not looking through the view finder of your slr it is hard to make sure what is in the frame. This was one of the first where the beloved camera was not in front of my face. You  take a lot of pictures and in post processing have to straighten and crop a lot. Practice has not yet made perfect but I am getting better. This was in September 2014.

Self Selfie

I took this one for me. It is me and the snow and camera and truck and a blooming flower. I was trying for the cat on the bench but she is camera shy and quit posing. Selfies are not just about a pretty picture to post on FB. For me it has become a bit like family photos. The you are here sort of shot. I am usually out on photography trips by myself and so nobody else is going to record what is important to me.


Self de Toilet

My tiny downstairs half bath is a home for many mirrors. In this Selfie there are four mirrors reflecting me and the bath and my keepsakes. The silver candlestick was given to me by a dear friend maybe forty Christmases ago. And I still know the beaches where the shells came from. Two of the mirrors are antiques I found at auctions and refinished. I no longer wear perfume but for a long time Charlie was my signature scent.


The Artist

This is a still life selfie. It includes a publicity photograph and part of the professional statement, a mask I used to make, an experimental acrylic piece and paint brushes. The silk orchid is standing in for the other flowers in my studio. It is sort of a photographic artists card. I never did those. I thought they were silly. Maybe you can say that about the creative selfie too. But I find them an interesting marker on my path.


At the AGNNM Exhibit

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