23 Nov
November ’09 Self-Portraits
A few weeks ago I begged asked you to take the time to vote for me in a little contest I was entering. Turns out you guys are the coolest ever and I’m still 40 or so votes ahead of second place, which means I have a really good chance of pulling in $500 from Tulle in the near future. Dang how I love each and every one of you for taking the time to deal with that crappy site (it’s actually all fixed and pretty now) and register to vote, something I almost never do for anyone else. The contest is still running (it ends on December 2nd I believe) so you’ll probably hear from me one more time about it because I’d like to secure the biggest lead I can in case one of the other entrants is planning an ebay-style last minute bidding sneak attack on me, but for now things are looking pretty good and I have all of you to thank for that! (Also my Facebook friends have you to thank because I haven’t yet resorted to mass messaging everyone I know in real life and begging for votes, which is the kind of message no one likes to receive.)
The photo that I used for my entry was a self-portrait, my first time doing a set like this, and I realize how fun they are. It’s difficult to say you like taking picture of yourself without sounding like you love yourself a little too much, but it’s not just about the subject, it’s about the challenge.
Actually the more I think about doing self-portraits the more reasons I come up with to do them:
1. I own thousands of dollars worth of photography equipment and I like having good, quality photos of myself. Unfortunately husband hasn’t quite yet caught the photography bug and so he doesn’t get excited when I plead him to come outside and take pictures of me (for whatever reason, but usually for a blog post). Self-portrait shoots give me the chance to be in front of the camera instead of always behind (nothing makes you want to exercise and stay fit like seeing photos of yourself) and I don’t have to pay someone to get said nice pictures.
2. Doing a shoot where I am both the photographer and the subject gives me complete control over the shoot. I LOVE having control over things (hello, why do you think I’m doing a home birth?) and I’m already starting to dream up ideas for my December “session”. I’m going to plan a crazy awesome outfit (well, as crazy awesome as you can get with my wardrobe), choose the surroundings to match, storyboard the poses (I’ve heard of photographers doing this for shoots they are really excited about and I think it will help.), and edit the finished photos however I please.
3. Acting as the subject reminds me how my clients feel, why most of them want more direction. I can also try out different poses and see how they look.
4. It’s technically difficult. I can’t meter off my face like I would like to do so exposure is difficult. I want to shoot as wide as possible but I don’t have a subject to focus on so I have to turn my camera on manual focus and hope I’m getting close. If I shoot at sunset or sunrise (my favorite time), the light is always changing and I have to plan accordingly. I enjoy the challenge.
5. It’s good exercise! Because I don’t have a wireless remote I have to run back and forth each time to depress the shutter. I was breathing pretty hard by the end!
My favorite “maternity” shot, although I admit I was pushing my belly out as far as it would go so I would have something to cup my hands around. 
My favorite shot.
Anyone have any ideas for my December shoot? Locations? Remember we don’t have snow so winter wonderland shots are out. I’m excited to start planning this one out.
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
These are super - I can’t believe you were subject AND photog.
How about a Christmas tree farm for your December shoot?
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1You are too cute! and love seeing belly shots finally!
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2You look so great!! Your red coat really pops in these photos!
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3These are so fun and beautiful! Last year for Thanksgiving we visited my fiance’s family in Dallas and went to the Gaylord center that was completely awash with holiday lights. It really was a winter wonderland inside!
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4I’ve tried this but I find it nearly impossible. It takes some skill do have such beautiful self portraits! My fiance is mostly useless with my dSLR and most of his shots are hopelessly blurry. *sigh* Come to Vancouver one day and shoot me ok?
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5It’s the first time I am posting a comment but I have read your entire blog over the last couple of weeks and I am very impressed both by your personality and professional qualities
You inspire me!
You are doing such a great job with your self-portraits! The tree farm idea sounds wonderful
I would probably stay away from places with people though given that you have to spend so much time and energy setting things up, so you wouldn’t want someone accidentally ruining your shot. How about an all-white session? Sort of bringing the symbolism of snow into the photos?
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6hmmm, that’s a hard one, because something like what you did for this month is how I picture our winters down south - brown.
maybe you could do a play on winter wonderland by taking pictures in a Christmas tree lot? but don’t try to make it seem like it’s really a forest - just make it like a shot of you doing what you do during the holiday season. Or, along those lines, fill up some pretty shopping bags and do one walking down those cool streets you have in Dallas.
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7This is such a classic TW post. Love it. Thanks for sharing
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8somewhere with gorgeous lights!! love your red coat : )
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9Great photos. I especially like the mommy shots. Tag your it…Please tell us 5 things that you are thankful for. Check out my blog tomorrow to see my list.
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10I like the idea of the Christmas tree farm!
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11I love those pictures. When I first saw them on the side I though Kelli Nicole took them since you had her pictures up at the same time.
Definitely a difficult exercice.
As far as your pictures for maternity. Personally I love bare trees. There is a place where I live close to the river and when the light is right you get all those fun thin shadows from the thin trees.
Something that could be interesting to is maybe a playground. It is a kid’s theme after all…
Oh and question that has nothing to do with the matter. I remember that you mentionned that LDS members don’t drink coffee because it’s addictive and because of the caffeine. So I was curious, do you not eat chocolate either?
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Jenna Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
The coffee thing isn’t so much about the caffeine, more about the effect it has on people. Alcohol, coffee, tea, and tobacco are things we are commanded to abstain from because they are all highly addictive. They cause us to form a dependence, weaken our ability to make the choices we want to make at any given time because of our dependence on a given substance.
Although moderation is key to all things, as anyone can be addicted to anything if they don’t exercise self control, we believe the substances I noted above are harder to prevent addiction to. The law that tells us to abstain, known as the Word of Wisdom notes that it was given for “the weakest of all saints”, which I interpret to mean that we aren’t forbidden from these substances because partaking of them makes us evil, but because those of us with the least amount of self-control would not be able to resist letting it take over.
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Love the spinning shot
You look GORGEOUS!
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13What a great dress, or maybe it’s the light, but from straight on you don’t even look pregnant - but then what a great preggy belly from the side.
Sounds like self-portraiting is great exercise - maybe you should market the idea. As for your december shoot - are there any parks in your area that have an outside Christmas tree?
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14Driving home today, I suddenly thought “I wonder if Jenna has any interest in homeschooling, seeing as she likes control.”
Oh yes, I think about blog strangers while I’m driving. What a wacko I am.
(Also, control sounds so negative in this comment. Let me assure you that I am your oldest child, Type-A, control freak, perfectionist model right here).
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