offering, 212/365

offering, 212/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

Yesterday's post at Shutter Sisters talked about the comic relief of the bathroom portrait, as an antidote to boredom.

I don't know about boredom, but I've resorted to the bathroom portrait more than once during this 365 project, partly because it's the one place in the house that has both a mirror, and rather nice natural, diffuse lighting. I've taken lots of previous bathroom shots not so much as self-portraits but of various knitting projects. Photojojo's suggestion to include self-portraits as part of your 365 project to see how you've changed over the year has given me a reason to take them of my actual self, not merely as an prop to drape knitwear over. Self portaits are always a little awkward for me, not just for the technical challenge of getting an AF lens to focus on the reflection in the mirror, not to mention trying to get a picture aimed correctly when you're not looking through the viewfinder. But it's also impossible not to be at least a little bit self-conscious. So it's a little bit of a leap of faith, to trust in the camera, and get an image that feels like a little like an offering, a little piece of self to share with the outside world.