MPC #83 - Of yourself, by yourself, in context; 4/13 to 4/25

[SchralphMacchio]

I have forcefully subjected myself to a happy feeling in my pants, and thankfully had enough Kleenex to deal with the mess. Thanks guys, happy to pick my first MPC topic, I hope you all find it enjoyable and creative!


MPC #83 - Of yourself, by yourself, in context; 4/13 to 4/25

The idea is that you should capture an image of yourself, by yourself, in context to something else.

I didn't want to say "self-portrait" because in general, portraits are intended to express a particular quality/feature/likeness/disposition of a subject. This idea combines the act of taking a self-portrait, with the goal of conveying a relationship to something else.

In context: can mean in an environment, or in relation to another more finite subject such as another person, or an object. The point is that you are a primary or secondary subject in the image, and the image expresses a relationship to another subject, which can be abstract or definite. The basis of the relationship need not be factual either - what I mean is, that if your image evokes an attribute or story about yourself, but that idea is not grounded in truth (such as, you are not a climber but you're on a mountain, or you are not an alcoholic but the image has something to do with booze, etc) then that is okay. The end result is what is important.

By yourself: electronic and mechanical aids are on the table. This may favor those with RF remotes and programmable triggers, but the 10 second self-timer can go a long way for those of you without these things. I will allow someone else to press the button, but they should not hold the camera - so you compose on a tripod (or against a rock, or duct tape, etc), adjust settings, and literally all you say is, "press the button 2 seconds after I stop talking." This neutralizes against those who have fancy RF remotes (like me) if a self-timer is really impractical for your idea.

I am really excited to see how creatively the collective responds to this, as I am hoping to see a wide variety of interpretations and styles. And I will probably find myself leaving out really well executed or really creative images from the 5 nominees.

Get to it, I hope 12 full days is enough!

(PS, I'm not a fan of "ineligible photos" taken before the theme was posted ... )


Examples:
Here is an example. Lonnie submitted this for the prior MPC. Had he used a different composition/focus/exposure and added lights inside his car to illuminate his face (or backlight only the outline of his head, etc), then this would be showing himself, in relationship to driving quickly through the environment. He fired the shot with a remote and set up everything on his own.


Lonnie S (hope you don't mind the repost)


Another example. I composed this shot, set up exposure etc, then got my ass as close to the ledge as my heart would allow and sqeezed off an RF remote. I'm clearly one of the subjects, and my relationship to the immensity of the Valley/El Cap is clear and can be interpreted in different ways by different people.


Schralph


Submissions must be captured by 11:59:59pm Hawaii time on Wednesday April 25 and posted by 5AM (same time zone) the following morning (since I won't look at them until morning anyways).

RULES:
1. Photos must be taken within the time period of the contest.
2. You may submit 3 photos during the contest.
3. The contest moderator will choose 5 photos to be voted on.
4. The winner will get a happy feeling in his/her pants. (That is a rule by the way, not an option.)
5. In the event of a tie, the contest moderator will have the deciding vote.
6. Winner will be the contest starter/moderator for the next comp.
7. The winner has 3 days to start a new contest or 2nd place becomes the new winner.

[SchralphMacchio]

Past MPC's:
MPC# 82 Long Exposure: Urban Edition
MPC #81 Old School
MPC #80 Energy
MPC #79 Need
MPC #78 Weather
MPC #77 Action Sports
MPC #76 Stress
MPC #75 Anticipation
MPC #74 Foliage
MPC #73 Unreal
MPC #72 Speed
MPC #70 Old Technology
MPC #69 Plan B
MPC #68 Atmosphere POLL
MPC #67 Plants
MPC #66 Patterns
MPC #65 Weathered
MPC #64 WINNING
MPC #63 The End
MPC #62 Food
MPC #61 Seeing Double
MPC #60 Normal
MPC #59 Tranquility
MPC #58 Silhouette
MPC #57 Waiting
MPC #56 Night
MPC #55 Fire
MPC #54 Wheels
MPC #53 Small Sensors
MPC #52 Blur
MPC #51 Found Faces
MPC #50 Portraits
MPC #49 Panoramic
MPC #48 Light & Shadow
MPC #47 Timing
MPC #46 Coffee & Beer
MPC #45 Community
MPC #44 Potential
MPC #43 Solitude
MPC #42 Holidays
MPC #41 Ominous
MPC #40 Imbalance
MPC #39 Transition
MPC #38 Unsightly
MPC #37 Self Portrait
MPC #36 Music
MPC #35 Summer
MPC #34 Passion
MPC #33 Home
MPC #32 Electricity
MPC #31 Bridges
MPC #30 Old & New
MPC #29 BW
MPC #28 Winter
MPC #27 HDR
MPC #26 Shadows
MPC #25 Circles
MPC #24 Bars
MPC #23 People
MPC #22 Architecture
MPC #21 Wild Beasts
MPC #20 Water
MPC #19 Bulb
MPC #18 Celebration
MPC #17 Sunrise & Sunset
MPC #16 Out of Place
MPC #15 Altered
MPC #14 Angles
MPC #13 Pain & Suffering
MPC #12 Unusual Perspective
MPC #11 Depth
MPC #10 Contrast
MPC #9 Festive
MPC #8 Reflection
MPC #7 Leading Lines
MPC #6 Minimal
MPC #5 Abandoned
MPC #4 Perspective
MPC #3 Airborne
MPC #2 Straylight
MPC #1 Motion

[outabounds]

like this?

[SchralphMacchio]

like this?

yup, just like that

[Tippster]

In some instances this is called the "Self Reflexive" camera. Documentary filmmakers use it quite a bit, since it places them into the narrative. It usually involves showing the production process, however, such as Lights, tripods, microphones, etc.

In photography an example would be a shot of a landscape out of a car window, with the side mirror in the corner showing the camera/photographer. Outabounds' kettle shot works too... NSFW: http://msgboard.snopes.com/photos/ri...ics/kettle.jpg

[BigDaddy]

Nice Yosemite shot SM.

Just happened upon this shot this morning, and I think it qualifies according to SM rules. I'll throw it up in the hopes of entertaining (or at least making you jealous)...

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I'm on the right.

[Altmanator]

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

^^^^^ What an AWESOME shot and idea! Really cool.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

^^ Ooooohhh, I like that.

[Fuzz]

^^ Altman -- that is awesome!

[Altmanator]

Thanks guys!

[Ted Striker]

The bar has been set high with Altman's pic.

[vanisle]

brilliant..

[Lonnie]

It looks like it's in the bag...

[supermodel159]

Hey Alt, is that a 200L with a tripod colar?

[Altmanator]

Hey Alt, is that a 200L with a tripod colar?

Nope, it's an 80-200L aka magic drainpipe. Absolutely love that lens

[powdork]

energetic new relationship in the foreground, decrepit and deteriorating one in the back

[JayPowHound]

1. It's a tough life.

[Fuzz]

I have 3 in mind -- they're all experimental that I've been meaning to try out for a while (and all coincidentally fit this theme). But weather plus out-of-town travel have conspired against me so far. May be able to try one tonight.

[SchralphMacchio]

Fuzz, that was the whole point of this MPC, to get experimental and make people think about their shots. I'm looking forward to it, hopefully you have time in the next few days to get er done!

[Wiilbert]

Have a couple more in mind, but as with Fuzz I might get hosed by weather and work.

[bad dancer]

First time poster, long time lurker.
Hope I caught the essence of this MPC.
10 seconds is NOT a lot if time to get this shot.
Took about a dozen tries to finally get something I was happy with.
With no tripod, I had to set my borrowed camera on a rock precariously and
then run like hell in bare feet to get it off. This is about 15 metres from my back door and my
wife was wondering what the hell I was doing. Pretty fun all in all.
I cropped it and screwed around with the colour with windows photo editor.

Enjoy

[powdork]

#2

[BigDaddy]

I feel like a 14yo girl on facebook taking pics of myself. But it was fun playing around a little. Not really stellar material, but different... for me.

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