Photography Challenge Week #20

It's the final week of the photography challenge at A Step in the Journey! I can't believe it's over already!




The theme for the final week was - like the first week - self portrait, bringing the contest full circle.  I decided not to cop out this time, and therefore you can see my face instead of a shadow!

So here's my shot, plus a couple of extras, just for fun.

The hooded scarf is the one I made for the Pinterest Challenge! It's lovely and warm when the weather isn't! (As you can see, I like leopard print!)
Self portraits are definitely something I find difficult to do. All the important things that you'd usually do when taking a picture - checking the focus and lighting and so on - are completely out of your hands the moment you set that timer.
I know that certain professional photographers use assistants to do the actual pressing-of-the-shutter-button (one guy even had a video camera and a TV set up so he could direct the framing of the shot) but I don't have an assistant or fancy equipment that enables me to see what I'm doing! Still, it was fun. Normally if I take a picture of myself, I stand in front of the mirror and use the reflection to see what's on the screen of my little point-and-shoot digicam. But that means an untidy, unpretty background, no good for this challenge! Hehe.

Recently I saw a thing on the internet about how photographs are doctored for publication. So I decided to play around with Photoshop Elements and do a little adjustment myself. Digital rhinoplasty, anyone?
I think it's pretty creepy how easy it is to edit photos and change the way a person looks! Alright, so my edits aren't exactly flawless; I certainly wasn't using the right tools (a graphics tablet would be much better than a laptop trackpad!) nor was I putting in major effort--! But it is creepy, right?

I joked with the lovely Terry of These Peas Taste Funny, about wearing a mask for the self portrait. Well...I did. ;)

This challenge has been so much fun! Sometimes the themes have really pushed me to think of something, others were fully inspiring from the word go and I found myself spoilt for choice with ideas! Whilst there were a couple of times when I nearly forgot to take pictures, I've felt encouraged to experiment a little more with photography. I've enjoyed participating and have met some awesome people in the process!
So thank you, Laura Beth, for hosting the photography challenge :)