A portrait of self – behind the scenes
The first challenge in the 52 frames project for 2024 was to create a self portrait. I wanted to do something different from a standard selfie, so went back to playing with a composite. Here is a behind the scenes look at how I created a portrait of self!
Self portrait composite
When I was considering my self portrait I asked some questions. Who am I? How can I represent me? I wanted to show my life, but wasn’t sure how I was going to do this.
I started off by assembling some objects which reflect different aspects of my life. Once collected together it made me reflect on how jumbled it looked and how at times my brain feels like that! This was when I thought I would put the objects in my overwhelmed head!
Here is the raw image taken straight off camera. As you can see I needed to cut out the bowl of obects before I could insert it into the final image.
Capturing me
Then next step was to take the self portrait. As I was going for a theme of being overwhelmed, I opted to not smile! I wanted to look serious!
Using natural light in my conservatory I captured a basic image. No frills!
Editing and setting the mood
The next step was to resize the bowl of objects and blend it to the top of my head using layers and masks.
Next, I added a textured background.
Once I did this I realised that the brightness and hues were not quite the same across my three layers. Using a variety of adjustment layers I tweeked each one to make them look seemless.
Finally, I overlaid some colour layers to created the over all mood.
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I am a fine art photographer based in the South of England. I enjoy sharing my photographic adventures, hints and tips.
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