Lockdown. It’s been several weeks now since the restrictions were put in place, and I for one am now definitely feeling it, but it’s also given me time. Time to update this part of my website!
I, like so many others, love the outdoors and have never felt a craving so badly to get out in to some open spaces. Currently all I have to use for my daily exercise is the local park about 5 minutes down my road, which I must admit I am very thankful for as I know there are so many other people out there who don’t have the same privilege. Yet as the days and the weeks pass by, I simply cannot wait until the time I can go and disappear off to somewhere with some fields, forests and peaks to explore and enjoy the fresh air. Not only that, but to meet up with some familiar faces and enjoy some much needed time with friends.
I must admit though, it’s hard to stay creative. The bursts of creativeness seem to come and go like the days. I find myself watching films in the evenings and procrastinating during the day when I feel like I could be much more productive. Don’t get me wrong though, I do have some productive days. At the beginning of lockdown, I put up a piece for Sidetracked Magazine about 50 adventurous films to watch (https://www.sidetracked.com/fieldjournal/50-adventure-films-to-keep-you-inspired/), and have also been reviewing some films for a festival, so that’s been keeping me entertained.
However, I thought I’d actually do something productive with my camera. I recently purchased a new flash for my stills camera in the hope of being able to take some adventurous location portraits. Watching a lot of YouTube videos and how creative a flash can be used got me inspired. So as uncomfortable as it is as I have no one else to shoot, I thought I’d turn the camera onto myself and take some self portraits in order to teach myself some new skills in my own back garden. Not only that, but to show some of the things that I’m missing.
At first it was a case of learning how to use the new flash in the setting outside, to see what I can and can’t do with it in order to learn how to use it effectively. After about an hour of playing around, I set up a simple lighting setup using 2 lights (my new one, and an older less powerful one), and shot some test shots to see how they’d come out. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with how the shots were turning out! Initially I was only aiming to do some testing, but then I thought I may as well use this setup to take my self-portraits.
Grabbing some of my outdoor gear that I have stored away, I decided to have a bit of fun showing a hiking, paddling and climbing setup using items associated with each activity. I shot several different portraits, and actually had quite a blast messing around, pulling faces, looking serious in some shots, not so much in others, and even laughed out loud in the back garden to myself! I mean, if you can’t laugh at yourself, then who else will?! Even the neighbours were curious what I was up to!
Out all the photos I took, these 3 photos I think are the best of the bunch (tap photo to enlarge):
But if you fancy a laugh at my expense, then feel free to take a look at some of the other shots (and the funny faces you can make apparently putting on a drysuit!).
