Cacti Self-Portraits

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA 

I was inspired by a senior session the night before (photos to come) to return to this spot and take some self-portraits with these cacti. Aren't they cool? It's all around a great spot because there aren't many people around (the most awkward part about taking self-portraits), and it's right by the UCSB lagoon – you don't have to go far around here to find a variety of biomes.

Also, I'm not a fashion blogger, but I just have to say that this whole outfit was purchased at Crossroads (at different points in time) for less than $20. That's a Lucky Brand shirt and a J. Crew sweater right there. Boom.

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Cavewoman

GOLETA, CALIFORNIA

Self-portraits are one of my favorite things to do because they're challenging. They require thorough shot-planning, tripods, remotes, and a certain degree of discomfort (carrying all the gear, running back and forth, people walking by, etc.). I committed myself to going out to this beach cave today around sunset to get these shots, and I almost backed out a few times. But I'm glad I didn't. Luckily, I pretty much had the whole beach to myself, and the few people I did see just smiled and said, "Hi." You can get away with lots of weird things in a college town.

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Self-Portraits | A Study in Orange

CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA PHOTOGRAPHER // CHRISTMAS EVE 2014

In September, the vision for these photos came to me in the form of a fine art painting. I pulled out an old dress that my mom wore to a wedding once, and the colors beckoned to be combined with the wall in their bedroom that we had just painted "Cavern Clay" in September. It may have taken a few months to materialize, but here it is: a study in orange. (Or, more accurately, Cavern Clay.)

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And some "behind the scenes," because you can only have so much seriousness.

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Pyracantha Self-Portraits

I wanted to plant succulents to take to my apartment at school, and I had to trim the burro tail one to transport it. Since there were these pretty long strands of succulent, I couldn't let them go to waste. I also didn't have a model handy, so I decided to wear a succulent crown myself. However, the self-portraits were much easier said than done. I haven't taken outdoor self-portraits for a long time, and when I last did so, I was shooting on automatic, which was way easier. But shooting manual to get the exact effect you want requires you to be constantly adjusting settings, so even with a flip-screen and a remote trigger, it was a struggle. I even decided the crown looked kind of dumb, but here are the few surviving images.

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Milkbath

Well, this afternoon I was struck with another photo idea, based off of some other milk bath portraits I had seen. I asked Padraic to help me with it, and of course he said yes - even volunteering himself to be the recipient of the milk bath portrait. But instead I wanted him to assist me with some self-portraits, which you could technically just call portraits now, since I wasn't the one pressing the trigger. (I didn't think that attempting to suspend my camera over a tub of warm milk and pressing a remote trigger was a very good idea.)

So off to the store we went for a box of powdered milk and some cornstarch (one recipe advised the use of cornstarch for increased opacity...but it didn't end up contributing much). I filled the tub with as little water as possible - after all, we are in a drought - and figure I've made it up by not showering for the past 3 days (TMI?).

Though there was nothing inherently provocative about this shoot, I guess the whole in-the-bathtub-not-wearing-too-many-clothes thing may give that impression. Just to clarify, as you'll see in some of the shots, we were each adequately covered. Next time, I think it would actually be cool to wear MORE clothes. Think about it: clad in a floral button-up with pearl earrings & swimming in milk. I might just have to do that.

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