Selfies

I've never been one to take many selfies and whenever I did, they certainly did not turn out well. I wasn't sure why and figured I am just older than I feel and it just showed up when I pointed a lens in my direction.

Over the Christmas season, someone wanted to take a selfie with me and I cooperated. But before she pressed the button she gave a little instruction I wasn't expecting. "Look here," she said, tapping the corner of the screen. The picture turned out fine.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a photographer on Facebook was about to give a 5-day free course on how to take good selfies using our phones. Well, mine has a crappy camera but I was not about to pass that up!

The instructor, Sab Will, is a well-known street photographer and writer currently working out of Paris. He started us off by having us express any emotion other than the usual happy smile or dreaded duck face where you purse your lips like you are about to give a kiss. He told us to locate the camera lens and look at that instead of our image on the screen. Ah, so that's what my friend was having me do to get the shot she wanted!

Lots of people took the course but not everyone posted the results. Some of them were hilarious though so we were already having fun. Right away I started liking the pictures more than others I had tried to take.  I don't feel you get as much out of a course unless you work it. Sure some likely did the exercises and just didn't post because they are too embarrassed or something, but really, the community atmosphere of any course is what makes them so much fun.

On other occasions Sab had us doing things with reflections and frames and words. He even had us change our point of view at one point.

There was no requirement to use a mirror for reflection ones. Some used windows or other shiny objects. That sometimes distorted the image but that just made it more interesting. I tried a few such surfaces but even he preferred this one with the three-way mirror and the actual image in the phone all at the same time.



 







The lesson about being framed by something gave us choices to be within the frame, have it in front of us, or behind us. A doorway can frame you, but there are lots of more interesting frames to be found if you just look for them or make them, as I did with a belt.

One of my favourite photos resulted from a lesson about looking somewhere other than the camera. I chose to look at one of my own paintings.

Another fun lesson had us include words. We were supposed to find something with words on it that seemed appropriate. Many used a book or a sign.  I had a bit of fun with this one. I'm a housewife so I couldn't resist taking a shot with this can of compressed air in hand.

I'm quite pleased with some of the selfies I have produced while working though this wee course. Oh, by the way, what started out to be a 5-day course stretched to about 2 weeks but still only had 5 separate lessons. Some of the participants said it was hard to fit the challenges in every day with their work schedule, etc. Sab was quick to cooperate.

At the end of the course, Sab honoured some people by posting his favourites and asked the rest of us to post the pictures of others that we liked too, and to tell him why.  Apparently, me peeking through my hoya plant was a big hit. That was one of my framing shots and I started using it as my Facebook profile picture practically as soon as I took it.

The whole experience was well worth the time.

A Creative Smartphone Photography Masterclass will be made available starting in late February.  More info in the link.

Playing While I Learn

I often post my artwork online. I'm no pro but I'm having fun learning and discovering what I can and cannot do.  I have sometimes been called brave as I try so many things but really, I don't see the point of just doing what I am already good at. For instance, when I discover I'm having a problem rendering something in particular, the next several paintings will tackle that subject head on, until I feel more comfortable with it. Right now I'm working on my drawing skills.  I have always felt they simply do not exist. I've always been very open about not being able to draw, and have admitted that I often trace outlines from my photographs in order to paint them.

Recently I took a short course online aimed at people who think they can't draw called Drawing Without Talent. The first and last assignments were to draw our own hand, for comparison's sake. I'm amazed at how much better my drawing got in such a short period of time, especially since we had to draw in ink so there would be no erasing. The course gave me some insight on how to tackle difficult subjects and taught me drawing can be fun, especially if you don't stress about the results being perfect.

I had so much fun, in fact, that I will take another course from Sketchbook Skool. In the meantime, I decided to continue the process with a free 28 day challenge from Creative Live. Everyday I get a prompt and in no more than 20 minutes, I attempt to do what it says.

As we are supposed to post our results with the hashtag #28toMake I have been putting my renderings online. But really, do my usual followers need, or want to see this stuff?  Probably not. So, after just two days, I stopped allowing it to hit my Facebook feed. By day four, I was not liking the idea of cluttering up my Instagram page with this stuff either. As I am supposed to post my results, and I think hashtags originated on Twitter anyway, I may restrict future posts just to Twitter. They would be spaced out there anyway, but I could still see what everyone is doing easily by searching for the hashtag.

I do like to celebrate the "where I'm at" moments in my art by sharing though.  Occasionally I have been fascinated by the number of people who would like and comment on something I've posted that I wasn't particularly proud of.  I am, as they say, my own worst critic. So, there may be times when I still want to share on the other platforms. You guys can feel free to scroll on by if you chose to. I'm just playing while I learn. This was, after all, one of the promises I made to myself at the beginning of the year.