inspiration: self portraits

This was taken during my first solo shoot. It's one of the few that was in  focus and I had no idea why at the time.

I love getting the question "who takes your blog photos?" because the answer is....ME! Yes, almost all of my blog photos are actually self portraits and have been since last year. 

Before I started taking my own photos, I had a problem: I love photography and sharing my style, but there is absolutely zero part of me that relishes in modeling for these pictures. None. See Exhibit A below. That's pain on my face, desperate for the torture to end. 

I thought long and hard about why I hated taking the photos so much and how I could make it more enjoyable. I realized I didn't like the loss of creative control and the inconvenience of relying on other people to take the pictures. Cue these bad ass self portraits of Kyle Thompson that went viral around this time and I became very intrigued with the idea of snapping my own photos. If Kyle could figure it out, I could figure it out... I figured. I Googled "how to take your own blog photos," found this article on the topic, and became further encouraged to give it a shot.

One of my earlier shots. At this point, I hadn't figured out how to make myself in focus with out first focusing on a pole then standing in front of it. lol!

I bought a tripod that fits easily in my MG tote and started to experiment in London around my neighborhood last year. I forced myself to be patient and not set impossibly high standards in the beginning. I just wanted to see progress from one session to the next and that would be my benchmark for success. I may have cried once when it looked like I was regressing vs improving, but sure enough I started to show solid signs of progress. 

One of my more recent shots in San Francisco

Nine months later,  I can pop out of my apartment, take the photos in under 30 minutes, and go on about my day. The efficiency is important because I want to be out there really living!

One of my favorite pictures I've taken

I love to identify the root of a problem and systematically break it down to solve it. It's easy to feel a certain way, but not truly understand why so I analyze myself all the time so I can evolve. I tried 10 different ways to take photos (meeting blog friends, asking co-workers, hiring a professional etc) before finding my way. Once I found it, I put in  months and months of practice to get to a good place. Now here I am with photos I can post with pride, a renewed sense of creativity, and peace with my corner of the internet. 

There is always a way, you just have to find it. It's fun (besides the crying part).