Janurary 2014

On December 31st I decided to take a self-portrait. 2013 was, without over-sharing, a horrendous year. It started badly and it kicked me down for the rest of it. The only highlight to this parade of doom was photography. I won't wax poetic about how it makes my life worth living (who's got time for that), but I will say it kept me afloat. I've found my "photo" stride over the past two years and I'm consistently producing images that I can look back on and feel proud about. My style is actually coming through and my directing and producing is improving with each shoot. Yay for me, right? Pat on the back.

So, back to the self-portrait. I stopped taking many of those after my 365 ended and I discovered how much fun it is to photograph other people. In the interim I also ate a lot of my feelings (bad year, guys) and I started to hate the way I looked. As is usual on New Year's Eve one is full of the best intentions and daring plans. I decided to start taking care of myself, physically and emotionally, and to document that journey with photos. I'd like to be able to see myself in a photo and love what I see.

Ella happened to be around during this time and I bullied her into my journey of self-portraits. The rest, well, is history. Below is the photo the started it all and became the first theme for Let's Get Creative 2014. I've added a couple of out takes, which is rare for me. I've also gone back and re-edited as I felt the first one wasn't really in keeping with my style. Onwards!






Oh Red week, how I loathe you. A classic case of me trying to be conceptual and failing miserably. Simple, pretty things, that's more my thing. I've managed to salvage two out takes as well for the heck of it. Let's just move on, shall we?





Books! I like books. Like, a lot. And I've taken many a self-portrait with them. This photo evolved as it went along, including wardrobe and over-all theme. It was meant to be a really simple photo of me holding books (as you do) and I just couldn't resist a bit of tulle and a crown. Because I'm human.







I'm outside! At a cemetery no less. In the company of my mother and a few grave diggers. I also did that to my hair, which was amazing until I tried to wash it out and failed. I do like being on location, and I hope more of my photos are outside. Also, I seem to be hitting my stride with the self-portrait game, feeling more confident in front of the camera.







Horse! And boy does that photo look a million times better on my blog than teeny on Facebook and Flickr. Hat week is a small tribute to the awesome dude who's hat that was, my dad, the real-life cowboy. I'm rather annoyed my hair is that mint color and fully expect it to be gone before street week, which I am dreading. I am also dreading sky week. Why did I come up with these themes? Blame Ella....  Also, KITTEN PHOTO! Kittens are the best.







All images are MINE you hear?! ©Nathalie Donado

Madonna

One of the things I miss most about England is my collaborations with Ella Ruth. We've decided to keep the tradition going despite being thousands of miles from each other and in different time zones. For our first cross-Atlantic collab we decided on a concept and gave each other the freedom to take it in our own personal directions. Stipulations: shoot is done inside, and it was meant to be a self-portrait. Ella left her remote in Sheffield, so she cheated and used her sister instead. Since it's the first time I'll let is slide. I was inspired by catholic representations of the Madonna, though I'm afraid my glittery head-piece is more Lady Liberty than Renaissance doll. Look out for another collab next month and check out Ella's photos here.

Also, I'm working on my blog's design at the moment so I apologize if my menu isn't working properly.

Dying roses

I'm going through a very dry patch when it comes to my photography. My usual models are gone and my facebook prompts have led to zero photoshoots. It looks to continue for the next couple of months until I make my way to Portland, Oregon once more and hopefully get my mojo back. Ella Ruth and I ARE planning a special little collaboration in the coming weeks so there will be something to look forward to. Also, I found some expired film that I will be shooting around town but I won't be able to develop it till summer.
In the meantime here are some self-portraits taken on a very boring Sunday afternoon.

images ©Nathalie Donado

Self-portrait week - Day 4

I'm doing three posts in day, not because I've forgotten to take the photos, but because I've had a Lightroom meltdown. It brought my editing to a screeching halt and kept me from getting these up on time. Why no just use Photoshop? I normally use a combination of the two. I'm just more comfortable with the smaller tweaking in Lightroom. These photos where taken before I had my first mini asthma attack in over a decade. Not fun. Day four was one of those days where your original concept is just thrown out the window. Courtesy of the vintage jumper that upset my lungs.




Outtakes






images ©Nathalie Donado

Self-portrait week - Day 2

Pushing the comfort level. Being outside always feels very vulnerable even though I was by myself.



Outtakes







all images ©Nathalie Donado

Self-portrait week - Day 1

I am woefully out of practice and it shows. During my 365 I could whip out a half-decent self-portrait on a daily basis, now it's like removing a splinter: painful and annoying. I do want to get my groove back though, and as I have a free week I decided to do seven days worth of self-portraits. An easy task. I hope.

This first one is safe. I can admit that. It's familiar and comforting. I'll be trying to push my comfort levels the rest of the week.






outtake

all images ©Nathalie Donado