Sarah Elizabeth Art

Continuing with Self Portraiture

                  My View


Enjoying the view

I have been working on some more self portraits for my Flickr.com 365 group. As some of you may have noticed I love taking photographs of hands and feet, so there are a few of those in this post. I have also included some other fun shots too as well as a number of long exposure captures.




Brush, Brush, Brush

One for fun.....Keep em clean!!




Foggy Reflection

This is one of my favourite self portraits on my Flickr project so far. I have wanted to take an after shower photograph for awhile but wasn't quite sure how I wanted to tackle it. I am very pleased with how this turned out.  I got just the right amount of my body in the foreground and just enough focal points in the mirror too. I love how the finger marks on the mirror turned out, they really resemble marks I make when I am doing an expressive painting. Its great when my photography and painting styles begin to come together.





Joints

Another long exposure shot.
I really enjoying doing these, I love how you can make certain focal points stay still and make others blur and seem real ghost like. It really conveys the sense of movement, it looks as though I am about to stand up and all my weight is pushing down on my toes.
And how weird does my knee look?!




Hold On





Trapped

This is sort of an after shower shot. Being in a hotel room the steam from the shower doesnt have much room to escape so all the windows get fogged up. So I made the most of it and played around with a steamy window.




Pull me through this

I enjoy making my hands look very animated and dramatic for these kinds of shots. It is up to the viewer to decide what I am trying to express.




Still Sporting The Christmas Socks





I'm still here

Again a long exposure shot. I had to keep my head extremely still and then move my hands around a lot. The camera captured the hands at the perfect point, they look quite graceful and delicate.





Point





Balance

I managed to get three hands in this shot. Its interesting how some fingers get captured really clearly and others stay pretty transparent.





Despair

This one is a very successful long exposure, it captured two poses very clearly.  I love where the body parts and hair overlap, its spooky looking.




Energy

I think 'Energy' is the perfect title for this photograph. It shouts movement and liveliness.
It has a very impressionistic feel to it, also echoing my painting style.





Slipping Away

I took this in Wyoming on our way up to Yellow Stone National Park. It was pouring with rain and I didnt have much to play with in the car for my self portrait.
The window, rain and condensation worked perfectly for it, I really like this portrait.





And we are off......

Its our last flight for the season =(  I have had such an amazing time traveling around with Brent in this Cessna 172. We were able to go to so many new places across the country that I would never have had the chance to go to.

I hope that you have enjoyed following my travels through the lens, I have really loved sharing them. I am off to England for the summer, I am sure I will find many great places to photograph over there too.

Keep checking back for photos from across the pond!!

My Arizona Boys........

Child Portraiture



I have recently become extremely interested in child portraiture. They are so innocent and honest therefore photographing them is really exciting and fun.
I was in Arizona for a little less than a week and I couldn't wait to spend time with my favourite boys. They are all gorgeous and very photogenic so I was extremely happy with the shots I captured of them.




I particularly enjoy using black and white when photographing children. Their expressions are so raw and honest that the black and white make it that little bit more dramatic.

I wish I could show you these on a much bigger scale with a black matting around them, this standard size and white background really doesnt do them any justice.




Mason's eyes are really gorgeous, he has very long dark eyelashes so I knew I had to capture them to make the shot really powerful. It is also one of his main features on his face so I had to enhance them and try to catch the viewers eye.





Colour photographs give a much softer feel to the shot, which also works well for child portraiture. They are so sweet and innocent a touch of colour really adds warmth.




I think this age group may be my favourite to photograph. They are so interested in everything and full of life and energy, this definitely shows in the photographs. It is also fun to photograph this age because they are still not old enough to be shy or insecure, allowing me to capture honest, beautiful photographs that are full of wonderful expressions and personality.





The shots below are of the younger guys, Max and Aven. They are gorgeous!!!








As Max was so curious about the camera I was able to get some great straight on shots, he kept staring right at it.




Adding a black background makes him stand out and become the focal point.
Look at those thighs, I just want to eat him up!
 



I have always loved photo's of baby toes, they are the only feet Ill go near!!
So I had to include some foot shots in this post, they are soooo cute.





I love this photo, his expression is really lovely. You have to love the drool too!

I gave this photo a hazy, dreamy look because that is how he looked and probably felt as he filled his little belly.

Aven is at that age where he wants to chew on everything especially his hands. I thought that this shot was really cute and captured him well. I love how his face is a little screwed up as though he is really chomping down on his hand.

I am definitely going to continue with child photography. It is really fun and seeing the parents faces when they collected the prints made my day. If anyone is interested in having some photographs of their little loves taken, please do not hesitate to contact me for a full list of prices and sizes.
This is just a sample of my work, much more to come =)

Continuing with Self Portraiture.....

Put one foot in front of the other...Just Do It!

Here are some more of my self portraiture photograph's. I mentioned before that I am part of an online photography community called flickr where people go online and share their work with other artists. There are different groups that you can join, 365 is one of them. The aim is to post a self portrait each day for 365 days, it can be a full face portrait, different body parts, your shadows or any other means of putting yourself into a photograph. The photo's are all taken by me....you definitely need a tripod and a self timer on your camera for this project.

               

Pressure

                                                                  

See What I See

Brent's aviators are great for reflections, this was in Shreveport Louisiana. They warp the landscape slightly making it more interesting as well as capturing great colours.

Don't Let Go

I have been taking a lot of photographs of hands lately. I love how versatile they are. They can be portrayed as either soft and gentle or much darker with a powerful, dramatic look.

Blue Bra

Tear Apart

This is it!

 

On My Own

Southern Texas Art Museum. I literally was on my own, I went into the city for the day and it felt great to explore and take photo's of Corpus Christi. I like how my eye seems to lead the viewer across the bridge, down the wall and back around to my knee.

 

Your only hiding from yourself

I have been experimenting with multiple exposure, you can get some cool, unique shots with it.


 

Le Bon Temps Roule

Louisiana...Let The Good Times Roll!!!!

                                                                 

Comfort

I have noticed that my ring has appeared as a main focal point in many of my shots lately. It hasn't been my intention every time, I guess it has really become a part of me now.
The photo above explains exactly how I feel about my ring and what it represents...I love it!!




Palm Readers Nightmare

A couple of palm readers have commented on all the lines on my palm. They say it will be hard to read my fortune..... I think it means my life will be very interesting and exciting!! =)




Protect Me




Give Me Your Hand





Lean On Me




Imagine Your Touch




Sheltered




Don't Blend In

Multiple exposure mixed with the movement of my head created the above shot.
I think the movement adds to the intensity of my expression.




 Together




Here I Am

Fun with reflections and hotel mirrors.




Dancing In The Shadows,

St Patrick's day celebrations...in our hotel room.




I Think Of You Always

I hope you enjoyed my self portraiture shots. I am liking this project more and more. When I look at them I really don't see them as me anymore, I become merely a subject matter. I am very interested in the development of the photo as well as the mood and tone that I am trying to express, my body is just a tool for this creative process. My self portraits definitely do represent me and the way I am feeling at the time the photograph was taken.
This is only a portion of them I am up to number 78 on Flickr, I will post more soon!!

Experimenting With Self Portraiture

Spend time with the one you love 

Me and My Man

I mentioned earlier in my blog that I am a member of an online community called Flickr. I have been working on a project with a group on the site called '365', you have to take a self portrait each day for 365 days. It's pretty challenging and much harder than you may think.

The tough part is trying to be original with each shot.
I started on the first of the month so I have 32 so far. Here are a few examples.

               

You are allowed to use shadows and reflections too. This one reminds me of a flag.

                           

Day Dreaming                                                                   Self Portrait

I CAN'T STOP TYPING

This one came out really cool. I put my camera on the tripod, set the timer and then moved my hands around really fast. Making sure the keyboard and writing were in focus made this shot successful.My hands almost look fake like clay. It's interesting how you can see through my thumb on my right hand, the keys stayed so clear right there.

 

Peek-a-boo                                                             Laugh til you pee your pants

And....Freeze

Looking through a kitchen roll. It is appealing because the inner circle is very focused but the outer circle is blurred. This pulls you into the eye.

                             

                          

                           Find your love                            

                          

                          

Embrace Life

I had a day of experimenting with hand photography. I am really happy with the way the three below turned out. I wanted to keep them delicate yet add a dark dramatic atmosphere.

Serene

I used Serene for my 365 self portrait project. The two below were just for fun.

                            

                            

Open your hands
                            

Touch

The three above would look great together as a series.

Snuggle, Snuggle

The mood and lighting in this one is completely different to the hand photo's. I guess it depends on the mood I am in. That's what is great about this 365 project, it's takes the form as a diary.

The way I created a soft, warm skin tone throughout the photo makes the scene look so cozy.

Have a good night!