Autoportrait - reading of caves

Funny how weird ideas come at four in the morning.

The book I'm holding is from Peter Gedei (you can order it, as well as view many beautiful photos, at his blog). The helmet on my head and the headlamp are both mine - used in climbing.

I actually started out with a completely different idea. I was going to go to sleep, but some ideas just won't leave you alone. But after trying one or two things, this was my favorite. In case you were wondering, yes, I have a thing for books. Perhaps I'll do more of these. Also, you would not believe how hard it is to find a decently neutral background - in the end, I had to take a painting of one of our walls.

Self portrait - the reader

Shit.

I'm not sure what just happened. I was sitting behind my computer when my brain (which has a mind of its own) decided to take a photograph. I rush out of the house, since my camera is in the trunk of my car (let me make it clear that it is two in the morning), then rush back in to find my tripod. My idea was to make a self-portrait outside (yes yes, night time, I know, I had a few creative ideas I wanted to try). But then my lazy side kicked in and I decided to do it inside instead, since one of my ideas did not require a background.

I setup the tripod in front of a chair and quickly focused manually just a bit in front of the chair (where I imagined my head would be). I grabbed one of the books I'm currently reading (I am always reading anywhere from seven to twelve books at any given time). This one, as you can tell from the cover, is Kurt Vonnegut's Bluebeard. I start the timer on the camera and hop in the chair, book in hands. This was to be a test shot, just to see where exactly the camera was pointing and where it was focused. To my surprised, it turned out great. Call it a moment of inspiration, I guess, though I'm still having trouble understanding it myself.

p.s. Searching through my books, I've realised that I can't find Kerouac's On the Road. Whoever I lent it to, please let me know (or I'll be forced to buy another copy).