I got inspired by Fergus Ford (and if you want to see a real pro’s results, take a look at his latest – awesome work).   In this post he offers his “how-to” and I used it as jumping off point. Sort of. I didn’t use a flash through an umbrella.  I was on the north side of the house in shade and I shot this at noon so the sun was high and bright and bouncing off our yellowed winter grass to camera left and the white of the house acted as a reflector.  ISO 100, f/2.5, 1/1000s, 85mm.   My tripod was perched on the dog house, and I’m pleased with the perspective shooting down provided.

And this is the result. Pretty much out of the camera. I brightened my eyes and teeth and added a light blur vignette, but I didn’t touch my skin – this is how it came out. My skin is creamy and smooth, which is exactly what I was going for.    I’ll keep working on this.

Needless to say, doing this as a self-portrait was quite hard, and I can’t wait for the opportunity to photograph others.