Here is my first finished self portrait of 2011. I was reading the first chapter, of Lewis Caroll's, Through The Looking Glass and as I was reading my imagination was finally coming alive.
" 'But oh!' thought Alice, suddenly jumping up, 'if I don't make haste I shall have to go back through the Looking-glass, before I've seen what the rest of the house is like! Let's have a look at the garden first!' She was out of the room in a moment, and ran down stairs -- or, at least, it wasn't exactly running, but a new invention of hers for getting down stairs quickly and easily, as Alice said to herself. She just kept the tips of her fingers on the hand-rail, and floated gently down without even touching the stairs with her feet; then she floated on through the hall, and would have gone straight out at the door in the same way, if she hadn't caught hold of the door-post. She was getting a little giddy with so much floating in the air, and was rather glad to find herself walking again in the natural way."- Source
It was this paragraph that inspired me. I knew I wanted to create a photo of myself using my unfinished staircase(which most of the time, drives me crazy to see!..and crossing my fingers, will soon get new flooring.) I wanted to attempt to be weightless, like Alice, as "she floated on through the hall".
I didn't plan this shoot very well and I never really do. They come very spur of the moment. Earlier in the day, yesterday, I had been shopping with my sweetheart, David. We were on a mission to find him a new office chair and to peruse through a thrift store or two before heading home. I was feeling slightly disappointed because I didn't find anything of interest at the thrift stores and I knew, if I came home empty handed I was going to be in an incomplete mood and bored.
I didn't want to go home. All of a sudden, I was feeling very creative and in the need to purchase something! A true shopaholic I am. So, I convinced David to make one last stop, Wal Mart. Now, I had a mission, I wanted a photo prop and I wanted to use it when we got home.
Lately, I have been intrigued with leviation photography, and any kind of surreal or "trick" photography. A month or so back, I attempted a few and loved creating them. So, last night I knew, I should try my "Alice" inspired photo.
Once, I get the idea, I am in a mad rush to make it happen. Once, I got home, I quickly found a dress I already had, threw it on, along with some white children's tights. My hair was left as is from the day and I had no makeup on. I grabbed my camera, my tripod and my sweetheart David. I had him help me with the setup and for a little physical support.
David and I don't always work well together. His patience was on it's end, so, I finished with more poses and props on my own. After taking all of the photos, I reviewed them and got to work. In the end, I photoshopped about 15 to 20 images together to create this photo.
The photo wasn't quite what I had invisioned but, it usually isn't. I visualized it being in color but, decided it was better in black and white. I wanted to attempt a different pose that just didn't work out. My lighting was alright. I almost achieved the mood I wanted. I needed to plan, and think this through. I have a list in my mind, for the next time. Everything, I need to work on and new challenges.
For now, I'll go along with it and hope for the best. I will definitely be attempting more of these in the future. Hopefully, I will have an assistant or a model or even better, both. Thanks for reading and viewing!
