Blog 5: Self-Portrait Assignment
The Colored Version:
The Black & White Version:
Location: Garcia Residence, Taguig City, Metro Manila
Equipment: Canon 550D D-SLR; Benro Tripod
Props: SM Bicutan turquoise acoustic guitar; Chris Sports dinosaur skateboard
Camera Settings for Photo 1:
Camera maker ~ Canon
Camera model ~ Canon EOS 550D
F-stop ~ f/5
Exposure time ~ 1/50 sec.
ISO speed ~ ISO-320
Exposure bias ~ 0 step
Focal length ~ 38 mm
Max aperture ~ 4.375
Metering mode ~ Pattern
Subject distance ~ 2.7 m
Flash mode ~ No flash, compulsory
Camera Settings for Photo 2:
Camera maker ~ Canon
Camera model ~ Canon EOS 550D
F-stop ~ f/4.5
Exposure time ~ 1/60 sec.
ISO speed ~ ISO-250
Exposure bias ~ 0 step
Focal length ~ 35 mm
Max aperture ~ 4.25
Metering mode ~ Pattern
Subject distance ~ 2.7 m
Flash mode ~ No flash, compulsory
First of all, the night before June 28, I already prepared my outfit for the next day’s “Gothic Self-Portrait Photoshoot”. It included my collared Gothic shirt dress from Bossini, plain white leggings from Fashion Market, black boots with studs and chains from B Club, and metallic grey spikey-beaded bracelet from Silver Mist.
When it was the day of the photoshoot, I had lunch first. After having finished my meal, I changed into my gothic outfit. Then, I brushed my hair, did my personal grooming, and let my mom do the make-up which included the foundation, blush-on, eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick, since I wasn’t into any of that girly stuff. I practically just use natural make-up whenever I go out of the house, using my Johnson’s make-up powder.
Next, when it was finally time to set everything up for the photoshoot, I placed the Benro tripod just a few meters away from our garden on the street but near the drainage canal, so that cars would not bump onto it. I set my Canon EOS D-SLR camera to the non-flash mode, since the sky was bright anyway, and when I set it to CA mode earlier and made it brighter, the result was way too bright.
I thought of some poses, and my mom suggested the first pose which was fine to me, so I went on ahead with it, and set the camera to a self-timer of 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…*the camera takes the picture* And my mom was not so satisfied with it, because my teeth did not show and I only smiled. So for the second take, I did it with a grin instead, with my left hand on my left hip and my right foot bent while holding my acoustic guitar. At long last, my shot looked better this time around! I was contented with it.
Now for the second pose, at first, I was not so sure of which pose to make. I thought about it for a while, and then came up with the lean-on-tree pose while holding my dinosaur skateboard. It was a success, although I thought I would have looked better with blackish lipstick rather than pinkish lipstick.
Anyway, after I was done with the photoshoot, I brought back into the house my tripod and D-SLR. My computer was already on since this morning for the resizing and post-processing. Thus, I opened Adobe Photoshop to resize them, plus Adobe Lightroom to add the coloring effects and black vignettes to make them really look gothic. The original shots made it look like I was a happy goth than a dark one which I was initially aiming for, haha!
When I was all right with all six photos, I immediately saved them onto my external hard drive. They were ready for upload and this photo essay was left. The question now is – Are they better in color or in black & white? I shall find out by posting my samples at a discussion thread in the course site, and hearing out from my fellow classmates! Actually, I have another gothic outfit, but a bright one, and I plan to use it for my next photoshoot with friends…