The Frame That Puts The Story Together

Last week, I had a photo assignment to shoot self portrait. I found this assignment to be a difficult one, for the reasons of; 1) I don't like being in front of the camera anymore 2) It's hard to focus on the image 3) Can't tell the actual frame and composition 4) Awkward stare from people passing by. 5) Time is always off. Thanks to Amy Oliver, my instructor, I was really challenged into a whole new level.

The images on this blog was my second attempt to capture a different look. I drove around and scouted for something that caught my attention. In my previous blog, you can see me in a natural element, such as the fog, shot late at night. While driving, I had ideas of shooting in the dark streets of the industrial buildings, next to the L.A. River in, Frog Town. While in route, I came across this empty frame, hung on the wall of a liquor store in York Blvd.

At first, I didn't know what I wanted, but as I tested some shots, and then creative juices started to flow. I've envisioned centralizing the idea of using an empty frame, and working my way around it. Instead of composing a typical, hold the frame, and stand inside of it, I wanted to go beyond it and use the frame as the central point to create a deeper story. On the top of my idea was to definitely have a post influence and manipulation with Photoshop. Because I was photographing myself, it took a lot longer than me being in back of the camera. I struggled a lot to get the right composition. It took several attempts to get the right shot. Once I had the system down, I challenged the idea with using various techniques in order to create a whole different look and feel.

Here are more examples of the self portrait shoot.

This next image took three different software to create the look, color, position, etc. After editing the image, it had a stronger impact on the subject, and the original story of the frame.

I have plans to shoot something like this, but on video. Check back here for updates.