NY Through the Lens - New York City Photography

Self-portrait. Lower East Side, New York City.

As a photographer who doesn’t primarily deal with portraiture in a major way, I find it really intriguing to dabble with light and self-portraiture because it’s a puzzle I am endlessly trying to figure out.

I mentioned in my earlier photo-post today that I have had the pleasure of using a Sony SLT-A77 this week and so I decided to experiment with self-portraiture again. I decided to give myself the challenge of relying on the camera and lens (Sony Carl Zeiss 16-80mm ƒ3.5-4.5) and the light from my trusty desk-lamp solely rather than post-processing. I didn’t even apply any makeup because I wanted to keep everything as close to imperfect as possible (if that makes any sense?).

I was inspired by the rigid rules of a self-portrait photo challenge earlier this year where the stipulations were that the portraits had to be straight out of the camera with no processing whatsoever. I really enjoyed that sort of challenge especially since I don’t own any dedicated studio equipment (you can see the results here or the first 9 photos here if that first link doesn’t work). It forced me to focus on the available lighting and really learn the limitations of the lens I was using.

It’s always good to step out of one’s comfort zone.

—-

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

—-

My regular photography for sale here, email me, or ask for help.

Hopeful zombie. Part of the #gplushalloween event. Lower East Side, New York City.

Google Plus released limited-edition Halloween effects to the new Creative Kit in their photo-editor on Google Plus and invited people to join a “ghoulish (and good-spirited) photo competition” using the kit on their own photos. All you have to do is have fun using the Creative Kit on one of your photos there and then tag your entry with #gplushalloween.

This is my first entry for the competition using a self-portrait I took of myself recently !

View this photo larger and on black on my Google Plus page

Happy Halloween everyone!

—-

View my store, email me, ask for help, or subscribe to the mailing list.

Self portrait. Lower East Side, New York City

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (or so it seems) I had a LiveJournal. It was my first foray into the world of writing online. In addition to writing, it was also an outlet for some of my earliest experimentation with photography, namely self-portraiture. I would post my self-portraits, sometimes with writing and sometimes not. It was pre-Myspace (yes, that world existed) and it was an interesting era. Somewhere along the way, through many years and through a multitude of life changes, I stopped taking so many self-portraits for a variety of reasons.

Google Plus has an ongoing project called Selfy-Sunday which takes place every two weeks. Photographers and non-photographers are encouraged to post a self-portrait and it is shared in a global album. I have found it immensely intriguing to follow this project. Earlier this week, I read an interesting post by someone who I have circled there discussing how self-portraiture is a way of expressing who you are and not what you are. That thought resonated with me.

Now that I have years to ruminate about the complexities of self-portraiture, I realize it’s far more complicated than just merely taking a photo of oneself. It’s a way of constructing one’s self-mythology. In some ways, it’s a window into the deepest parts of the self in that it’s not completely candid. It is a reflection of one’s own perception of oneself.

This is a self-portrait taken earlier today of myself looking out of one of my windows in my apartment. It feels good to go back to some of my earliest online ‘roots’ in this way :).

—-

—-

View my store, email me, or ask for help.

It’s actually my birthday today and so I am off to do birthday things like eat cupcakes and marvel at the passage of time (not necessarily in that order).

I leave my Tumblr for the day with a self-portrait taken late last night with my muse and one of my favorite beings in the whole universe.

Edited to add (in response to messages): No, I don’t want to divulge my age. Let’s just say I am old enough to want to not discuss my age on Tumblr. :)

Tribeca, Manhattan.

Self-portrait (of sorts). :)