I love self-portraits because I get to really play; I have full creative control, and I am free to explore crazy ideas I might not want to ask of someone else. Looking back on these images, by crazy ideas, I apparently often mean getting naked outdoors in the freezing cold. But so far, it's been totally worth it. (I'll be writing more about some of these images in future blog posts).
First of all, you should know that I don't do vlogs. I don't do Black Friday. I do, however, enjoy long showers, particularly for the Shower Thoughts.
I spent Thanksgiving with my sister this year in Williamsburg, Virginia, and let me tell you, if you're a local, there's not much to do. I was starting to get antsy, I hadn't created anything for myself in a while, and I really wanted to get out of the house. But since it happened to be Black Friday, neither of us wanted to deal with the crowded holiday tourist drama. So I hopped in the shower, marinated in the Shower Thoughts, and came up with a game. I thought it would be a fun bonding activity to skip the Black Friday lines and head to the Dollar Tree to see what - if anything - we could find that might make for an interesting photograph. Unfortunately, the Dollar Tree doesn't offer any Black Friday discounts - we checked.
Check out the video below to see how I created this image. It was shot on a Sony A7iii in natural light on an icy cold morning at the crack of dawn in Central Park on zero sleep. I knew that the location I'd chosen would be picturesque at sunrise and that the color scheme of my purchased materials would fit with the rocks and the dead grass, but I had no real plan regarding styling or posing. Or breakfast. I couldn't have gotten through it without help from my friend, Lamont, who woke up ridiculously early to meet me and play along. By the end of it, we were both lucky enough to keep all of our toes. It's no secret that I'm wearing non-slip shelf liners and a plastic party tablecloth, which set me back $4.28.
I hope to make more of these videos, so if this type of content interests you, please like the video, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and hit the notification bell to get updates when new videos are posted. You can also sign up for my mailing list at the bottom of the page if you'd like to read more of my blog posts, or you can hit up my contact page and send me an email just to say "hi." And if you're feeling extra saucy, you can slip into my DMs on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you to Trista Polo and Lamont Richardson for putting up with me.