Valeria_kalabina

Inside of my Caravaggio's inspired portraits

Added 2022-10-17 18:42:10 +0000 UTC

Living in small place with limited day light is not easy when you are a self-portaitist. Before my divorce and need to move I lived in a large one-bedroom apartment filled with day light. There was nothing easier for me than playing with different types of daylight. I was very emotional and rushing when signed a lease to this apartment, I haven't even noticed that even though I have these large windows - there is a wall right in from of them, blocking the light. Soon enough I learnt, that morning indirect light near my bed will be my favorite spot to shoot for natural light. However, I do not see well (literally, I need to wear glasses in order to see from far) that is why I expose my camera and shoot directly through it rather than using a timer, because I do not see the screen anyways.

So how do I do it? One answer - mirrors. I have a few full size mirrors that I move around along with portable mini ones that help me with light reflection and detail shots. The smaller mirror is - the easier it is to place it whenever I want. Besides, sometimes it's an inception moment - a mirror inside of a mirror. I will not lie, some days I do feel trapped and that I do not have enough of space for frames diversity. Nevertheless, purchasing more mirrors did solve this issue, at least for now. It allowed me finding new corners and perspectives.

While I am writing this article on vacation I reviewed my approach to self-portraits and want to go out of repetitive looks. Let's see how I'll do!