I have become friends with many photographers around the world (in person and online) and I was a little curious to see what others were doing in the way of self-portraits.   So I shot message over facebook "shoot me your self portrait" and the next morning I woke up to an inbox jammed full of subject lines reading "selfie" and "self portrait."  

 

Watch in HD!!!

I was really surprised at the creativity and diversity in self portraits submitted.  Every artist has created a self portrait at some point;  I've always thought humans are inherently narcissistic and the self portrait is simply a way to show how we want ourselves to be perceived or demonstrate who we want to be.  Some of the submissions were much more than that.  CLICK READ MORE TO HAVE A CLOSER LOOK! 

I wish I could have posted all the portraits.  I can't thank everyone enough for their support.  It's all of YOU that keep Lightenupandshoot alive.  Enjoy!

 

John Cornicello - "Become one with your camera!"

 

Barnacle Bill - I think his image says it all

 

Julia Busato  - "I figured you were looking for funny"

 

Rob Rice -  Rob is a super talented dude and he was the first to join me in Colombia on one of my Tag Alongs.  Check his blog out iamrobrice.com

 

Adrian Acevedo - Her work is very conceptual.  "Inspired by Eraserhead"

 

Nidal Nasr - That day, I was sick as a dog, I had a splitting headache, and I felt like hell.

 

Chuck Jordan - Inspired by Rick Sammon (two people sent images inspired by Rick)

 

Angel Rivera Lugo - Dan Winters inspired.  "For me it was the lighting and how I can shape it" 

 

Jessica Lark - she does great work, period.  I think the camera got in the way...just sayin'

 

Finally,  here's a selfie of Michael Thompson  - creator of Lightenupandshoot.com

I had been traveling around the world for almost a year doing commercial photography, teaching workshops, creativeLIVE and presentations at B&H Photo.  For me, this photo shows a sense of pride for accomplishing so much in the world of photography in such a short period of time. The lighting was meticulous and my expression is exactly how I felt at the time:  tired and homesick... but content.