Fireworks Self Portrait

I call this photo a "self portrait" because I both set off the fireworks and took the photo.

I set up the tripod and framed the shot by visualizing what the fireworks should look like. I had perhaps only once before set off these fireworks from this location, if ever. After setting the framing, I took a few test shots and dialed in the exposure using a 30-second shutter speed in order to ensure I got the entirety of both fireworks captured. I went down the hill and set up the fireworks. After lighting the fuses I ran up the hill with the wireless shutter remote over my head repeatedly pressing the shutter release button.

This image has had minimal post processing. Every so often I toy around with the idea of reworking this image, but I am generally quite pleased with how this came out and so finally decided to share it in its current form. I can't believe how well I framed the shot without taking any test shots of actual fireworks. I also can't believe I was able to get both fuses lit and the shutter opened in time to capture everything. This is the one and only exposure I took of fireworks from that location, ever.

It was just meant to be my Self Portrait, June 9th, 2012.

Misleading title.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17879880
Misleading title.

I think it's pretty well explained. Everyone I've shown the photo to over the past 3.5 years like the title. What did you expect to see? What would you prefer to call it?

gonzogolf wrote in post #17879880
Misleading title.

I agree. I guess I was expecting to see maybe the OP in front of some fireworks.

Title aside, it is a very nice image.

heldGaze wrote in post #17879925
I think it's pretty well explained. Everyone I've shown the photo to over the past 3.5 years like the title. What did you expect to see? What would you prefer to call it?

Its explained after you've suckered people I to see an image that doesnt deliver on its promise, and then the explanation is lame. I expected to see a portrait of a person, a self portrait. There is no portrait of any kind. Just a fireworks shot.

here's a photo of me and a firework, probably won't do much to relieve the angst y'all feel of being duped, might even make it worse.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1433782

gonzogolf wrote in post #17880150
Its explained after you've suckered people I to see an image that doesnt deliver on its promise, and then the explanation is lame. I expected to see a portrait of a person, a self portrait. There is no portrait of any kind. Just a fireworks shot.

Wow, Gonzo......a bit over the top there, buddy.

It's not all that big a deal.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17880150
Its explained after you've suckered people I to see an image that doesnt deliver on its promise, and then the explanation is lame. I expected to see a portrait of a person, a self portrait. There is no portrait of any kind. Just a fireworks shot.

I'm sorry you feel like a sucker. (Or to anyone else that feels the same way.) That was not my intention. This is the first time in 3.5 years anyone has had such a negative reaction this photo, or its title and the story behind it. I've certainly had criticisms, but nobody has felt suckered before. I would like to think that I am the first person to create a self portrait without a person in the image, but I'm hardly that creative. Heck, I've even seen competitions where that was the theme.

saea501 wrote in post #17880316
Wow, Gonzo......a bit over the top there, buddy.

It's not all that big a deal.

I agree. But everybody's feelings are valid, even when we don't agree with them. As far as art being there to illicit a response, I'd say this has been successful. I can't control people's reactions, only hope to incite strong ones. Everyone has their own reaction. The vast majority of responses I've gotten have been positive, oh wow that's cool type of responses. But I can take someone thinking that setting up the camera ahead of time, and getting the framing just right to go and set off fireworks while also triggering the camera is "lame". Or that doing it is the exact same thing as "just a fireworks shot." I don't feel that way, I don't call the photos I've created where I set up the camera, set off the fireworks, but have my girlfriend trigger the shutter a self portrait, and I'm not changing the title just because he thinks he's been "suckered."

Some people are just very literal, and he can't accept the concept the those specific fireworks are an extension of me. The scene representing me. The tripod was setup in my parents' backyard, where I grew up for 18 years and those trees and scene are something that I looked at my entire childhood. A place where I used to play hot box with the neighbors. So to me, it very much represents me and my roots. Even if were some other location, I'd still call this shot a self portrait. Some people like abstraction, others don't. Some people like jazz where you play the wrong note intentionally, others prefer classical music. I also have a photograph of a camera on a tripod, where I held a mirror in front of a camera that was on a timer which I call a self-portrait. But there is no "portrait of a person" in that photo, so I'm guessing he'd have the same reaction looking at the photo too, rather than appreciate the recursive, self-referential nature of the artwork.

gjl711 wrote in post #17880097
Title aside, it is a very nice image.

Thanks.

heldGaze wrote in post #17879877
I call this photo a "self portrait" because I both set off the fireworks and took the photo.

It was just meant to be my Self Portrait, June 9th, 2012.

As always, C&C is welcomed. Enjoy.

Sounds like you put a lot of time and effort into the picture. I think it paid off because I like it.
-mark

mark48 wrote in post #17886073
Sounds like you put a lot of time and effort into the picture. I think it paid off because I like it.
-mark

Thanks. It remains one of my favorite photographs.

It is a nice picture, but I have to agree with others that say the title is misleading as it is nothing like what I expected to see when opening the link.

The story adds to the interest but surely a photograph should portray the story without needing further written clarification (IMHO). Personally I would have titled it 'Self Portrait in Fireworks'

Maybe I could be as bold to suggest that those that know you and have passed judgement on it over the last 3.5yrs probably understand and realise where you was coming from with such an abstract title for this image whereas those of us on these forums know nothing of you or your personality so therefore it makes it harder for us to understand the concept and reasoning for the title.

birderman wrote in post #17886832
It is a nice picture, but I have to agree with others that say the title is misleading as it is nothing like what I expected to see when opening the link.

The story adds to the interest but surely a photograph should portray the story without needing further written clarification (IMHO). Personally I would have titled it 'Self Portrait in Fireworks'

Maybe I could be as bold to suggest that those that know you and have passed judgement on it over the last 3.5yrs probably understand and realise where you was coming from with such an abstract title for this image whereas those of us on these forums know nothing of you or your personality so therefore it makes it harder for us to understand the concept and reasoning for the title.

Now that is the kind of C&C I can appreciate. Thanks.

I agree, not what I was expecting.

idkdc wrote in post #17886921
I agree, not what I was expecting.

I also disagree that meeting a viewer's expectations is what photographic art is about. Generally speaking, opening a thread and seeing something you didn't expect would be a good thing in my perspective. If all we did was what was expected there would be no new frontiers in photography. I'm not aware of any other photograph out there where this has been done like this. I haven't seen it on POTN, so how could this be what you expect?

Edit: Seriously, that you expected to see a person, and didn't get it, but instead got a fireworks shot that was created in a way that, to my knowledge, nobody else here has done, is a good thing.