Submitter's name:	Tris Schuler
Title:	Self-portrait in a mirror with Chance
Gear used:	OM-4Ti, Zuiko 100mm 1:2, B+W 080 (light blue) MRC, tripod, cable release, mirror and diaphragm prefire by use of self-timer.
Diaphragm:	f5.6
Shutter speed:	~1/2
Film used:	Kodak Tri-X Pan ISO 400 (new version).
Technical information:	This picture was made about three weeks ago, call it the end of March 2003. It's a little soft due to a relatively slow shutter speed combined with movement of the subjects--when the shutter tripped I was fighting off our conure, Chance, as he grabbed my glasses; I think I also missed the focus a mite. The cup in my right hand holds morning coffee--I like mine strong with half & half, and sometimes honey. Lighting consists solely of morning sunlight filtering through the dining-room windows, then reflecting off the mirror, in which you see our reversed images. The light-blue filter was employed to darken my skin tones--it also works to darken my faded-red shirt, brown hair, etc. All in all this is a rather poor photograph, but as I rarely indulge in self-portraits I thought I'd send it along to TOPE both in order to support Olaf's project as well as to help others learn from the mistakes I made rendering this image. (Darkroom work was performed in Photoshop v6 and included: an adjustment to correct a minor image tilt followed by a crop; adjustment to contrast in levels; slight tint introduced; finally, USM treatment using Fred Miranda's IS Pro v2 action.)
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

This shot was done well, not only did you nicely control the backlit situation, but also you managed to hide the camera such that it seems this is not even a self-portrait. Nicely done!

Comment left by: Tris (tristanjohn@mindspring.com)

Wish I could agree. You got the camera part right, though. :) Lack of contrast might be attributed in part to the back-lit setting, but the composition sucks big time, the focus is just off and, as I noted in my notes, there's some blur due to motion of the subjects combined with the slow shutter speed. Otherwise . . . great job, Schuler! Oh, well, back to the drawing board.

Comment left by: Donald MacDonald (donald.macdonald@care4free.net)

Oh I dunno though. Anyone who's ever tried to photograph a pet, or themselves with a pet, knows the difficulties! Technical considerations aside, it's a fun and telling portrait. Says something, which is more than a lot of photographs do, IMHO. So I like it...

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