Mancina Rossa

600 entries today, folks. That's right. No blip balloons, but I'm celebrating on the inside. In fact, I even took a self-portrait today. Rare.. and I usually hate them, but since James fixed my hair up all purty, I figured I owed him at least a little pride in displaying my mane. I love the cut once again.
I also love the light that shines through the windows in my apartment.

A lot of people have been asking me lately what I like to take photos of and I've realized that I love capturing people's portraits. But not necessarily staged.. more like unstaged... if you will. Will you? Like yesterday's with James telling me a story. He is one of the most entertaining people to photograph because he isn't camera shy: doesn't make uncomfortable faces, doesn't throw his hands up in his face, and doesn't turn away from the lens.
My self-portrait, on the other hand, is staged - of course. I am uncomfortable in front of the lens; I prefer to be behind it. I feel awkward and self-conscious. Blah.
I just don't know how to make people feel comfortable with my camera in their face. If they aren't comfortable naturally... I just don't know how to ease them into it. Unless I shoot for a long time. Mmm. Anyway.
Moral of the story: I like capturing people's personalities with natural light .... because I don't have my own lighting system. (Recommendations on lighting systems to start out... Please?)

Now I have to resign myself to studying all day today and tomorrow. First big exam on Tuesday night (lame).