At Second Glance

I usually like to group my self-portraits into a series of similar shots, but so often there's one or two that don't make the cut.  These might be shots that either don't fit in with the general aesthetic or theme I'm looking to achieve, or the actual technical quality of the photos themselves don't meet my standards.  Whatever the case, these extras are often left on the cutting room floor and don't see the light of day unless, by some chance, I revisit them later.

I've mentioned before that the process of taking self-portraits requires a lot of trial and error.  Acting as both model and photographer simultaneously is not an easy task and takes patience and resilience to get just right.  I often take hundreds of photos in order to get just the handful worth sharing and for every beautiful shot I manage, I probably get 10 to 12 horrible ones.

Take for instance my recent Self-Portrait Series #3 post where I shared a total of 12 curated photos.  In reality, I started with 123 shots from that specific set-up and, over several passes, refined the lot down to just the best of the best.  It's a somewhat difficult and time consuming process but, in the end, I'm always happy that I put in the effort to create a cohesive series.

With this specific case, there were two additional photos in the batch that, although great in and of themselves, didn't match the rest of the series visually as the light had changed.  When shooting outdoors in natural light, the unpredictable nature of sunshine can be frustrating when trying to achieve consistent image quality.  A stickler for details, consistent light and shadow is definitely one of the things I look for when reviewing photos for collections.

Since I archive all my photos, even the mediocre ones, it allows me the opportunity to eventually share some of these previously unseen shots instead of hiding them away forever.  Such was the case with this previous post and today I'm continuing the tradition with the release of these two photos.  I'm happy to have an outlet to continue sharing this bonus content with you!

See below for links to the high resolution files if you'd like to download them.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

- Michael