Me, Myself, and I

[drivebyshooter]

I took this in August 2006 at a small party at my friend's place. I used a Canon 350d with the kit lens. Prior to this shot, I was trying to shoot with (very little) available light - so my ISO was maxed out at 1600.

Eventually, I gave up and decided to try playing with my flashlight instead. The idea of drawing a stick figure in the air popped in my head. I set the camera on a chair, pressed the shutter release, and started drawing.

My settings?

• Tv @ 20 seconds: I needed time to draw the stick figure. I decided to just let the camera decide on the aperture.
• ISO 1600: my camera was having trouble focusing in the dark, so I wanted to aperture to be as small as possible. This way, I could set the the timer and not worry about focus.
• 2nd curtain sync: I wanted to be seen in the shot - I just waited in the frame until the flash popped.
• timer: This was a self-portrait, after all.

I tried again after setting the camera to manual mode and stopping down the aperture and ISO a few notches. The thing is, I couldn't get the figure right after that. I ended up keeping only this first shot.

As for post, all I did was crop the sides away in PS.

I want to try a similar shot soon with props, a cleaner (or darker) background, off-camera flash, and an actual tripod.

What do you think?

[Michael Brown]

Another very cool shot!
You guys have my brain churning right now with some ideas!!

[beckywithasmile]

Neat idea!

[purplepixie]

Interesting experimentation

[BlueEyedNanuk]

I like it! Very creative. Must of been a fun party. I like the shape you were able to draw of the imaginary friend. Good characature.

[desgun]

very interesting - gives me an idea to try.
thanks,

desgun