I shot this in my kitchen. I did not intend such a moody, introspective self-portrait, but rather, I wanted to shoot a kitchen scene while baking cookies. I goofed on my lighting but liked the way this overhead light highlighted my bone structure. A quick change of clothing, and I embraced a secondary self-portrait setting.
I enjoyed shooting this self-portrait much more than my previous one for a couple of reasons: (1) while Houston had yet another thunderstorm tonight, I did not have to run outside in the spooky weather, and (2) I finally replaced my remote switch so I could shoot from afar. This time, I did not break a sweat other than setting up the lighting which consisted of a beauty dish and grid placed on a boom stand. The remote facilitated the shoot, and after a handful of shots (16 to be exact), I went with the classic, “Good enough.”
Other than a little dodging and burning to bring out textures, I did not do much in post-production. If all self-portraits were this easy, I would shoot them more often. I do have some set-ups that I want to try soon—including the one I missed this evening—so please keep up the support as I fumble my way through these ideas. 
Houston, TX 2009
Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens
Lighting: AB 1600 Beauty Dish + Grid on boom
© Amy Dunn
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21 Comments
i love the light and the ambiance , nice selft portrait!
rub
I rub the rub. Thank you, Camille!
I like this much better than the pensive self portrait in the bedroom. This one feels classic and spiritual at the ame time.
I love that pop of color.
what happened to the cookies?
I think you’re pretty amazing Amy Dunn.
Beautiful photo of you Amy!
Fantastic….definitely spiritual/hopeful/wishful. Yes….if this is you “fumbling through it”, I wish I could fumble like you….
This is great. I really like the diamond shape the lines create and the contrasty-ness of the light vs dark.
me likey!!
Why, thank you! I wasn’t expecting this much love. ^_^
Tony, I threw this on because I honestly didn’t know what to wear. It ended up working, thank goodness.
Marc…I ate ‘em. I couldn’t help myself.
Spencer, thanks for pointing out that diamond shape. Now that you mention it, it reminds me of origami.
Love, love, love you all.
Amy! This is awesome awesome awesome! Not to shabby for not meaning for it to come out this way originally
) Hmmmm, I might have to try this lighting out one day (one day meaning when I can afford some lights! hehe)
You would think I would learn about those smiley things…I mean really….
Amy really like this shot of you, the lighting really makes your skin look amazing, and the colour of your top looks like something from an old silk cut advert! Great composition too, the pose really works somehow! Keep up the good work!
I really enjoy your blog btw.
I have just bought a 5dii in part due to your stunning portraits shot on yours. Hopefully I will find some willing models son so I can try something other than landcapes!
Hey, Tonya! The light is super-cool, but be sure to find your best angles. The lighting reminds me of Queens’ Bohemian Rhapsody, and those guys had sunken eye sockets and deep shadows. And they had bad hair. I wonder if I’ll say the same thing when I look back on this photo in 30 years?
Cool, Andy! I think you’ll really enjoy the 5Dii. I kinda wish I got commission now for my referrals, ha! Thank you so much for the feedback, on the photo and the blog. I had one of those days yesterday that made me go, “Is anyone even reading this or getting anything out of my posts? Or is it all for nothing?” I appreciate the love.
You’ll have to permalink all the referrals for next time you’re buying a new lens and scrounge a discount, or just buy a nice Zeiss 85mm 1.4! I would love to see you do some shots with one of those bad boys!! The DOF is incredible! It’s on my evergrowing wish list!
Your blog is certainly not for nothing and would be missed (by me at least). Your work will continue to inspire me to do more studio and portraiture. I get so sucked into the landscapes and avoid the people pics! Hmm, one day!
I Love this shot!! super moody really conveys awesomely well the message!! great work Amy!
Haha!
Yea, somehow I don’t think you will ever think you look like those guys! You are totally right though, it really reminds me of that lighting…I would say you got it just right though. It just highlighs all the good stuff! (which is what a good photographer does right?) hehe …and for everything else, there’s photoshop!
omg Amy. This photo gave me the chills. What a fantastic self portrait. You are so my hero.
Thank you, Andy, Eduardo, Tonya and Raven.
Andy, I have played with the 85 1.4, and it’s a sweet lens. It doesn’t quite do what I need it to do, and the distortion is a little obvious. You know I like to get CLOSE to my subjects.
Amy, your photo here is a great example of three things I love about photography: 1) self-portraiture (wish more photographers did this); 2) happy surprises (ending up with a different product than what we wanted to start out with); and, 3) getting it right pretty much in-camera. I just think this shot is brilliant all the way ’round! -Steve
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