From front to back this photograph shows:
1. The necklace given to me by my daughter. With rare exception, I am never without it. She is my heart, and this necklace is my talisman.
2. The bump in my left breast bone caused by my enlarged heart from my congenital heart defect. A fact of life I live with every day.
3. The lump of my pacemaker resting on my left breast bone and which quietly allows me to live a life wherein I am not in danger passing out every time I pick up my walking pace.
As I mentioned in the comments in Day 70 – Scars, I have a much larger heart surgery* scar than the one shown in that post. I’ve been wanting to photograph it for quite some time and tried to do so in my Intro to Digital Photography class last semester. At the time I had no clue on how to light it so to show it effectively. I’ve learned a bit since then, and so this morning I gave it another go. My goal was to show my entire scar, and these two photos pretty much do so. And I wanted the shots to be artistic, not clinical.
At some point, I’d like to do a series of photos of scars (mine and others). I’m fascinated by them, and the stories they tell.
Lighting was my two soft boxes on either side of me. The one on camera left faced completely right. I place the light at camera right slightly forward of the other and faced it slightly back. ISO 100, f/8, 1/50s. I would have liked the photos to have a bit more contrast but for a first try, I’m okay with these.
* For those of you new to the blog since Day 70, if you are interested in my congenital heart defect history, I’ve covered it at my other blog. You can find all posts HERE, but the main explanation of my defect is HERE).
Carissa Snedeker Photography 