MMS 173 - Assignment 5b: Self-Portrait

As a proud enjoyer of Original Pilipino Music (OPM), I wanted to do a photoshoot that would look like I am an artist in the OPM scene. One thing I noticed in their photoshoots is they typically opt for a plain background. Here are some pegs I had before doing the shoot:

I thought it would be simple to follow these pegs, but it surprisingly wasn't, especially for a first-timer with limited resources. For one, I don't have lighting equipment so I relied on our ceiling lights instead.

Here is a short vertical vlog I created to share how I did my self-portraits:

Assignment 5b Short Vlog

Headshot

Raw

There were evident cloth wrinkles on the lower left portion of the photo.

Edited

I borrowed my sister's Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to take advantage of its remove object feature and eliminate the cloth wrinkles.

I also noticed that the raw image looked quite dull, so I made the necessary adjustments on Lightroom to make it look a bit brighter.

Camera Settings

Candid Shot

Since I already had a music theme in mind, I decided to feature my keyboard for my candid shot.

I quickly realized, too, that I've been playing this instrument since I was a kid, but I still don't have a decent picture with it. I found this assignment as a perfect opportunity to play and pose with the keyboard.

Raw

It could be said from the vlog that I easily got tired of the heels and took them off for my candid shot (Funnily enough, I don't even know why I wore heels in the first place!)

It's just a bummer I forgot to remove one more thing: the cloth behind me. Upon seeing the photo, I thought it would look better if the television was shown in the background.

Edited

Through Adobe Photoshop, I removed the wires and replaced the cloth with a television.

Additionally, I cropped the image to make it look less messy and adjusted the brightness and colors to make it look brighter.

Camera Settings

Conclusion

I think I'm now more confident posing in front of the camera — or maybe it's also because there was no one else around while I was doing my self-portraits. Either way, I definitely enjoyed the activity, and I'm honestly tempted to post these photos on social media to have a new profile picture.

I'm glad I chose to do this assignment despite my worries about feeling awkward and not knowing how to pose properly. I believe my photos turned out great, and with my experience, I'd surely love to do more self-portraits in the future!