30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 1

I found this on Pintrest a while back and I pinned it thinking, someday this will be fun to do. Well, someday always comes and goes. So, today's someday. Today is the day I start this challenge. And I'm excited. To work on my photography, to use my new camera, to play around a bit. So here goes...

Day 1 - Self Portrait

Some days I might caption the photo or write a little something about it, other days I might just post the photo. We'll see how it goes. But today, I wanted to write a little something. I have read several articles lately about self esteem and selfies (photos we take of ourselves, usually on our phones). Some think the practice is ridiculous. Some think the practice is empowering. I don't know exactly what I think about the practice except I do know that I take selfies. And I usually enjoy doing so. But I usually only post them if I'm looking my best, if I crop them and Instagram them into pretty hues and soft lighting. And in one of the articles I read the author talked about how we should take pictures when we're not at our best, when we're sad or mad or anything other than happy and doing something fun/exciting. And I like that idea. That most moments I capture are positive and I am looking my best. But that's not representative of my life every day, every moment. Most of the time I don't want to take a selfie. Or if I did, I'd hate the result. So today I took a photo of myself at work. Without makeup. Hair in braids. Plain ole black tee. No jewelry. Old stained Tigger mug of lukewarm, watered down tea. Messy desk. And I took it on my new camera so I couldn't Instagram it to make it look cuter. This is me. This is how I look every day. This is my self portrait.

P.S. - This was my first time using the self-time function on my camera and I took 10 photos in 10 seconds. The other 9 were mostly me with my eyes closed so I did choose the one with my eyes open, full disclosure. But I love that feature.