today was another hard day at work. so i needed rewards. i would have done something spectacular, like monday night cocktails (which i used to love but ever since the sunday star times has put this on the going up list i'm kind of over it) or a swim in thorndon pool. but i couldn't because we had the shanghai relatives to visit which meant playing happy families - which is easy since we have ryles in our family now - one and a half year olds equal delight in a jar.


so i gave myself another reward... i took like a hundred selfportraits.

here are two. selected because the are two separate looks. look one: i'm lying on my bed willing my eyes not to squint. the concentration pays off because, hello, it is selfportrait perfection.


this next one shows that by altering the contrast on my digi cam my skin looks like it is glowing. in this instance willing my eyes not to squint hasn't worked, but i like to think it makes me look coy in a lady diana type way.

the only downside of the selfportraits was discovering that if i alter the contrast enough you can see every single pore in my skin and they are all giant. but i have decided that is probably just a dirty lens or something.

what i like about self portraits is that you are in control. unlike, say, when you're walking around lake taupo - carrying the team - and someone yells "smile" and takes a picture of you sweating. but also, don't let my attempts fool you. self portraiture is an art form. one day i will become so great at selfportraiture that i will submit to this site. and will probably become world famous***. or rather world famouser, because famously others have copied my awesome self portrait styles. see an example here (scroll down). and here (scroll down even further).

***and then people will want to take photos of me. and i will get angry about how they don't know which angles work for me. and i will probably combust from the stress of it all. maybe it isn't such a good idea.