While cruisin’ arount Pinterest this morning, looking through all the photography tips and tricks, I came across a pin entitled:

101 Extraordinary Self-Portrait Ideas to Spice Up Your Facebook Profile

It intrigued me. While “spicing up my facebook profile” is not my primary concern, I was interested in seeing other photographers’ “selfies.” (Check out the link above).  Being overly self critical, it’s not often I take (or anyone takes) a photo of myself that I deem “post-worthy.” “DELETE!!!!” I usually scream.

I would like to be able to take better photos of myself for my blog. Looking through the photos, I thought- “ok- I have the tools to do this, too. I can at least get one decent shot.”  1. I have a camera. 2. I have a tripod. 3. I have a self timer. “What the hell. . .” I thought. I’m going to give it a whirl.

I went upstairs to my make-shift studio (a spare bedroom) and set the tripod up in the window seat. I cant stress enough how much easier taking photos can be when you have NATURAL LIGHT!!! ( I took these at about 2:30 in the afternoon, next to a West facing window). Find a window! I am embarrassed to admit that I don’t know how many photos I took- because I deleted them as I went. Sneering at a lazy eye here, growling at my nose in others. I’m willing to bet I took at least 50? And out of those 50 I only “approved” three. WAH WAH WAH. . .

Anywhoo- here they are:

I did minimal adjustments in Lightroom 5. I did a teensy bit of eye enhancement and and upped the exposure to 1.10. I also added a tad of airbrushing in Picmonkey. Pick monkey is uber user friendly and I like to use it for portrait “touch ups” on the face. Of course you can use lightroom or photoshop, but if you’re a beginner I think Picmonkey is an easier route.

I also found  a link on Pinterest for 100 Free Presets, from Camera Stupid, that I’ve been playing with. I used them on these photos.

I’ve really been eyeballing the packages from Pretty Presets for Lightroom. Literally drooling. It’s like any minute, I’ll give in and press the button! Has anyone purchased from them? What are your thoughts?

Obviously, the composition on this last photo isn’t great. I just wanted to see if I could actually use the self time and produce some results that I liked. All in all, I think I’m slowly but surely improving- and having fun along the way!

Until my next camera project, bloggin’ friends. . .

xo Kelli