Portraits?

I started the month off with wonderful intentions of working on studio portrait techniques, but right away found myself distracted by other variations on the subject matter. It started with my brilliant idea to do a self-portrait since I didn't have another willing body around at the exact moment I decided to start my monthly challenge. As usual, this idea turned out to be more complicated than I had originally anticipated. There was lots of leaping up, spinning dials, then trying to reposition myself to make the picture look natural. I won't confess how many pictures I took before I managed to find a passable one, but I did learn a lot in the process! I continued with the same idea, candid 'portraits' of others in my family, using the various manual settings. Luckily this time my subject matter were distracted by the superbowl and willing to sit for long stretches while I futzed with all the dials on my camera. Again, MANY attempts later, I got a few that were decent.

I was on a roll, even if I was not exactly following my initial plan. I decided I would devote the rest of the month to my original premise of 'studio portraits'. Then I went away to Central America. Once again, I got distracted and went way off track. I guess you could say I worked more on 'public' portraits...

So in the end I did do some form of portrait work, though it was not the kind I had planned at the beginning of the month. As I continue to explore with my camera, I am amazed by how much I still have to learn! I think I am going to have to revisit this technique in the future as once again, I feel as if I haven't even scratched the surface.... perhaps next time I will actually manage to work on 'studio' portraits?!