Acting 101 And The Big Black Chair

There are three challenges in doing this blog. The first, of course, is attempting to come up with a well composed picture when I'm not able to look through the viewfinder. The second is coming up with something interesting to write for a caption. Sometimes this is about what's going on in the photo while at other times I use it as a starting point to write about something else. Lastly, since I'm in all the photos I have to pay attention to my pose and facial expressions. Like the caption, sometimes this fits right in with the photo and other times it's a complete enigma.

In the beginning most of the photos showed me looking at the camera, or at least facing the camera. I've experimented with profiles, and lately I've been playing around with my face in whole or partial shadow so you really can't see my facial expression. Up until yesterday I was making all horizontal compositions because it seemed best suited to portrayng myself in my surroundings.

As I was looking back through the blog I started to wonder what it would look like if my face didn't appear at all. Would they still be considered self-portraits if they depicted just the top of my head, with perhaps a cigarette visible? That seems best to compose as a vertical, with my surroundings showing in the top of the picture. Yesterday and today I've started working on this new direction. For now there are still plenty of my photos on hand awaiting their place here.

This picture was shot inside of Starbucks. It was raining, so I couldn't sit out on the patio and enjoy a smoke with my coffee. The rain seemed to discourage the usual crowd from showing up. I had nobody to talk with, and I'd already read the newspaper earlier. I sat alone in one of the big black armchairs. I decided to try to convey my lack of joy with my pose and expression, and the large distances between the few people that were there seems to reinforce the feeling of emptiness. At least the coffee was good.