This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge has had me on the run. This is what Cherie over at the WordPress Daily Post says:
‘…whether you love it or hate it, selfie-portraiture is indeed a thing, and an expression of our ever-evolving culture in our digital age.’
Very true, but I don’t make a habit of taking photographs of myself! I know that others taking part in this challenge will be much more creative and cleverer than I, suggestions of silhouettes and shadows abound in this Challenge post.
Then it came to me. A photograph I took when on holiday in France in 2012. I remembered a day when I was upstairs in the bedroom of the farmhouse where Hubby and I were staying. I was faffing about with my camera because I was having problems with a couple of its settings.
There was a full length mirror in the room and at last, having fixed the problem, I remember looking up and noticing I was standing in front of it. For some unaccountable reason, I decided to test my camera, using the flash, by taking a photo of myself standing in front of the mirror to see what would happen, what it would look like. I liked the way the flash ‘bounced’ off the glass of the mirror.
Who knew that I would be using that very photograph for a blog post sometime in the not too distant future…
Problem solved then! Here is the end result, my selfie, after some heavy editing of brightness, contrast and cropping which I did for the purposes of this post.
France, 2012
(c) Sherri Matthews 2014
A View From My Summerhouse 
Clever, Sherri. I like it. I can identify with you on not being in the habit of taking pictures of yourself. Even, when I have pictures taken of me for profiles and such, I don’t like them.
I guess selfies are a way for you to practice and get the kind of photo you like instead of relying on someone else to capture the right expression.
LikeLike
Thanks Pat!! I didn’t have the time today to be creative with this post and I was panicking. Then I remembered taking this photo a couple of years ago and I thought with the way the flash ‘sparked out’ as it bounced off the mirror’s glass, it would be a good disguise, of sorts!! It hides my expression which is quite stilted and odd! 🙂
LikeLike
hahaha — still dodging your picture. I can totally understand. I’ve just been updating profile pictures in Twitter and LinkedIn and can so identify.
LikeLike
Never the easiest job in the world, that 🙂
LikeLike
No, it isn’t at least for me. It probably doesn’t matter to some, I suppose. 🙂
LikeLike
These kind of things take me absolutely ages! Everything is a learning curve 🙂
LikeLike
I agree, Sherri, though don’t think it’s something I’d easily get used to learning curve or not. 🙂
LikeLike
😉
LikeLike
Funny how teenagers are so adept at them and I only manage out of focus, with a double chin, face totally in shadow. I guess it’s an example of youth having the advantage.
I do think that when I do manage it, it’s strangely usually the first one that is the best and they get worse after that. As with this selfie that’s not meant to be a selfie, it’s actuallyquite intriguing! You look like you are starring in a sci-fi film.
LikeLike
Ha ha! I guess so! Young people today seem to be so adept at ‘selfies’. You see them everywhere, posing for them.
I do remember liking the way the flash looked when it bounced off the mirror’s glass. When I edited this photo the flash showed up even more, and I liked the way it provided a semi-disguise!!!! I like what you say about a sci-fi flm though…maybe I should audition for Dr Who, ha 😉
LikeLike
I like what you’ve done with the contrasty thing – very artsy! Hate selfies though – I look awful in most photographs so to take a picture of myself would be just mad.
LikeLike
Thanks Jenny, I like that you said about it being artsy!! If it hadn’t been for the flash in this photo I would have been stuck as no way would I have used it! It hides my very weird expression, ha 😉
LikeLike
I think you look rather nice in your profile photo – or maybe this isn’t you 😀 😀
LikeLike
Aww, thanks Jude!! Ha Ha! No, I can assure you, ’tis me…or is it, lol 😉 😉
LikeLike
Haha! yes, it is me – and thanks Jude for the vote of confidence. My husband took this long distance snap of me when we were walking around a crater on Vesuvius – he was miles in front and I was chatting to our friend while the pair of us were bringing up the rear 🙂
LikeLike
Ooops, sorry Jenny, I answered Jude’s comment in the wrong context! But I agree with her, I think you have a lovely profile pic too 🙂
LikeLike
I agree with Denise, you look as though you are in a horror film or something – those eyes! Good post though – though I think your profile picture is the better selfie 🙂
LikeLike
Ha Ha!! All good sci-fi stuff! Thanks Jude, but my profile pic wasn’t taken by myself so didn’t think it would qualify 😉
LikeLike
No, that would have been cheating and we can’t have that on here 🙂
LikeLike
That’s what I thought 🙂
LikeLike
This makes me think you are cooking up some magic. Don’t you think?
Who knew you’d use this photo n.o.w.?
LikeLike
Ooooh….well now I’m busted, you found me out Tess, ha 😉
Yep, strange isn’t it? I don’t even think I knew what a blog was when I took this photo, never mind using the pic for a selfie on a blog post!!!!
LikeLike
Life is full of surprises. How can we EVER say life is dull or we are bored. UGH.–not YOU, though. Whew and I KNEW that.
LikeLike
Boredom? We fear it don’t we Tess? Not going to happen…and you are awesome 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t have time to be bored. I just want to slow down. 😀
LikeLike
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Selfie 2 | Khana's Web
You look like you’re barely 23 in that photo! How old are your kids again?
LikeLike
Well thanks Nav, you’ve made my day, but trust me, my kids are old enough, lol 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: SELFIEBABE! Weekly Photo Challenge | alienorajt
I think with the flash showing the way it did, it makes it look “arty” — like you were trying to make a special effect! Ha-ha!
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Thanks Bev, but I can assure you I am not a photo whizz by any stretch of the imagination. That ‘special effect’ was not my doing, just the way the flash sparked off the mirror glass. Still, glad it worked and you like it 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, reminds me of a Stephen King movie, Sherri! I’m with Jenny, I don’t enjoy having my picture taken, so a selfie, not going to happen.
LikeLike
Ha Ha!! Very spooky…!!! Yes, I’m with you on this ‘selfie’ thing but Jill, your profile pic is really lovely 🙂
LikeLike
Aw, thanks Sherri. That was a lucky shot, usually my eyes are closed. 🙂
LikeLike
Well, whoever took this one did a fabulous job 🙂
LikeLike
Ha ha, love the selfie Sherri! I agree that it’s a fast changing world with all the new technology. I love the artistic twist to your picture, very creative 🙂
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Thanks Heather! I’m glad it turned out the way it did with a few tweaks (purely experimentation, I can assure you, as I am no photo editor!) and glad I had the flash effect. Purely coincidental 🙂
LikeLike
That’s a cool pic, Sherri. Very artistic and quite sexy too.
LikeLike
Well, thank you Rachel, I don’t quite know what to say…lol 😉 *blushing*
LikeLike
Quite clever. Really like the pic. Next time I need a selfie, I’ll try the flash!
LikeLike
Thanks Susan! Ha Ha, yes, go for it, but make sure you are standing in front of a mirror when you do it 😉
LikeLike
And now we have it, the poster for the female remake of THE OMEN…
A few years ago, Sherri, on a friend’s 50th birthday, her husband had given her a new camera. To capture forever the celebration, we all lined up front to back–all 17 of us–and we had to quickly bend over, shoot a picture between our legs (we were all in jeans or shorts) of the person behind us, and so on, reaching the end of the line in hopefully 3 minutes or less.
If any of us ever wanted to run for public office, these pictures would end the possibility, but we had a lot of fun. I doubt any of us would do it again, though.
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Yep, that’s me, scary as hell… 😉
That sounds like a blast, hilarious, and what a fantastic idea! Oh I would love to see those photos Marylin, but I know I never will, lol!!! What a great way to commemorate your friend’s 50th though, just wonderful.
Definitely one for the album (private, of course!) 😉
LikeLike
This is a very lovely selfie, Sherri. So creative. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you so much Sylvia, so glad you liked it! I had fun with playing around it that’s for sure 🙂
LikeLike
That is a cool photo. The flash looks like you threw a snowball at it. It seems kind of artistic 🙂
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Thanks Robin and yes, now that you mention it, I can see the ‘snowball’ effect! I was really happy with the way the flash scattered off the mirror, totally unexpected and even better when I cropped the photo and edited the brightness 🙂
LikeLike
What a great photo… looks like some one threw a snow ball at you and it exploded on a window behind which you stood… I love it..
LikeLike
Love that Bulldog, thanks so much! Interesting that you and Robin above both saw this ‘snowball’ effect which is purely the way the flash exploded against the glass. I’m so glad I remembered taking this pic as I had no idea what to use, but really glad you like it 🙂
LikeLike
Wow – i can almost feel texture and heat – a very creative image!
LikeLike
Ha ha! Yes, I see what you mean about texture and heat…gotta love that flash in the mirror effect, totally coincidental but so glad I experimented! Thanks CM 🙂 xx
LikeLike
Love your version of the theme. Indeed Selfie is a “thing” now and half of the planet are into it. The other half like me wished there’s a way to evade taking one’s own picture. Good thing there’s photo magic now. We can take selfies and still retain that mysterious self we keep to ourselves.
LikeLike
I’m with you on that about the ‘selfie’ Island Traveler. I, too, wish it were not so! And yes, thank goodness for ‘photo magic’. If it hadn’t been for the flash in this one (and the editing) I would never have put it up there. As it is, I took it standing in front of a mirror just for fun rather than looking right into the camera while holding it which I suppose is a ‘true’ selfie!! No way would I put one of those up here! Important, absolutely, to keep some mystery…thanks so much 🙂
LikeLike
This looks more like a painting than a photograph. Very nice, Sherri!
LikeLike
Thanks Dylan!! Amazing what a little trickery can do isn’t it 😉
LikeLike
Fantastic shot Sherri! So creative as usual! Love it! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks so much Steve, so glad, loved yours too 🙂
LikeLike
😀
LikeLike
Looks like your a magician throwing a light ball at someone. Hope it isn’t me.
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Now why would I throw anything at you TB…other than every good wish for every success 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t do selfies, either. I hate the exposure. Clever you, to find a way to show and hide yourself simultaneously–most writing does that, I think.
LikeLike
Thank you Tracy, and so very true, love your analogy with a half-hidden selfie and writing…
LikeLike
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Selfie | Pilot Fish
Oooh, now I do like this! 🙂 Very moodily-lit and artistic, as people have said. The best artworks come from accidents/messing around, I find. Maybe I’ll consider reopening negotiations about that graphics assistant job 😉 I do not see myself as an oil painting and don’t really want to inflict myself on others, so as such I don’t feel the motivation to ‘selfie’; even the word makes me cringe a bit… God, you can tell I’m in my 40s now.
LikeLike
Oh I’m so glad you like it JG! Do I get the job NOW????? 😉 I think you should do a selfie, you are so creative and inventive I just know you could come up with an excellent take on this. When I first saw this theme I cringed and thought ‘oh no’ so I was glad to remember this photo 🙂
LikeLike
Ha, that’s very kind of you to say, but I am a really lousy photographer, selfie or otherwise. Maybe I’ll have a look for an old one, or just wait for Halloween to come round again… 😉
LikeLike
I put mine down to luck 😉
LikeLike
Haha, me too!
LikeLike
Very resourceful, Sherri 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you Jo 🙂
LikeLike
should be in “Vogue”- a selfie with panache! I really like it, someone should paint it.
LikeLike
Ha Ha! Thanks so much Willow Marie, but Vogue, wow, now that would be something…
😉
LikeLike
I really like the effect you got. I know prisms can do things like that but I didn’t realize a mirror could.
LikeLike
Thanks Glynis, no, nor did I! I was very pleasantly surprised 🙂
LikeLike
Love this blog with the starburst effect and colours of the picture. It is very fetching, if a little spooky. Brilliant, yet again!! lol M xxx
LikeLike
Thank you MP…glad you liked it, strange effects and all 🙂 xoxoxoxox
LikeLike
Very cool selfie Sherri! I think that the flash hit the mirror at just the right spot. I agree with the people who think it’s artsy 😉
LikeLike
Thanks so much Theresa, I’m really glad that you liked it! I was really surprised when I took the photo at the way the flash looked but it wasn’t until I cropped and edited it for this post a couple of year’s later that I saw it for its full effect 😉
LikeLike
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Selfie | Through the Eye of Bastet
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Selfie | Highlights and Shadows
Interesting shot, Sherri. It must have been tricky to adjust the light balance. But you got it just right.
LikeLike
Thanks so much Patricia, really glad you liked it! I played around with the brightness and contrast a bit and really liked how the flash looked. My first attempt at photo editing like this 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Selfie, How Should I Say It? | this man's journey
Thank heavens for old photos that we took of ourselves in the past. Being a non- selfie, I was planning to use old shots too but Valentines came and I got a chance of a lifetime. I was anxious and nervous but it’s called a challenge for a reason, right? Take care and have a great week.
LikeLike
You got that right IT!! You did a marvelous job, and as you say, the perfect excuse it being Valentine’s! A really wonderful post, and despite your nervousness you rose admirably to the challenge.
I love these challenges for this exact reason, they really get us to ‘think outside the box’ and I find it a great way to unleash that creativity!
Thanks so much and you have a great week too 🙂
LikeLike
Great effect Sherri, there’s something sepia-ish about it but also something psychedelic there too. Looks like a piece of art, rather than a selfie 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks so much Andrea, so glad you liked it! I’m not one for editing photos like this but it was great fun having a bash at it 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: obscurity [a series of hipster selfies] | Ramisa the Authoress