Thursday, January 13, 2011

This is me too, 7 years later, self-portrait


(Click for big pic, should anybody care.)
(Pentax K-5, interval shoots. Photo by me.)
(Rather perifiral, but the T says: 665, the Neighbor of the Beast)


(It's "seven years later" than this: 
(photo by Laurie Jeffery, thanks friend.)

38 comments:

dave_at_efi said...

Congratulations on your spiritual and emotional progress!

The first picture looks like a serious constipation problem, on some non-physical level.

The second picture looks like somebody I'd love to have a conversation with, maybe over magical versus non-magical thinking.

C'mon out here to Hawaii and check out the coffee. Or

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks, Dave.
I have realized that both the pleasant guy and the emotionally constipated guy is me, somehow, that's why I include both pictures, for honesty's sake.
(Though being even more honest, I'd hoped it looked more "thoughtful" rather than being so revealing, haha.)

Tommy said...

OK, I'll bite... seven years later than what?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Ooops, sorry, seven years (about) from the BW pictures like in my Blogger picture, these were taken by Laurie Jeffery and I was and am still very pleased with them.

(See them here, if curious:
http://thurly.net/0man
)

ttl said...

Funny T, hehe.

Joe said...

So.... Just how long have you had that beard?
Joe

AnotherAnonymous said...

Hmmm. Get a shave, it's not a look that does anything positive for you. Seven years older and a little slimmer, but it looks like the result of an illness that you are still enduring?
I'm afraid to say you looked healthier back then.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I've been up and down on the shave and hair thing, but I always get compliments from the ladies when they are longer, so heck.

Irv Thomas said...

Hi, Eolake...

I think your readers are essentially reflecting on themselves . . . so I'll do the same: The first pic looks serious and hence thoughtful; the second looks rather silly to me - like life is nothing more than a game. Games are fine, but I happen to think, as you do, that it's a lot more than that. I hope I've contributed to that thoughtful look.

Irv

Miserere said...

Wow, 7 years? It's like time never went by. Even your T-shirt is the same!!! ;-)

Joe said...

Think the beard adds a few years to your appearance. But it would be a strange if you were to shave it.

Just occurred to me that you are approaching your mid life years. Most guys have some type of *crises* and buy a motorcycle or a small fast sports car.

But then, you are not most guys.
Joe

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Joe, I'm not sure. Maybe my midlife crisis is a bad iPad addiction.

Miserere, don't tell anybody, but I cheat: when I like a t-shirt, I buy ten at once.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Irv,
Well said. Reflecting themselves.

I put up both pictures because sometimes I feel like one, sometimes the other.

But I think I'm generally moving towards the happy-go-lucky thingy. Which I like, for it's really stressful to be serious all the time. (Of course if it was easy to change one's nature it would be a very different world.)

oudvit said...

Not only are you a stunningly handsome dude, but you may be the only person in the known universe clever enough to answer a question that has troubled me for... oh, around the last three minutes: if I am given a choice between two versions of a movie, and one is billed as a 'Director's Cut', who did the other one? The cleaning lady? As if I didn't have enough to obsess about already.

oudvit said...

...and another thing: did the word 'koumpounophobia' exist before Neil Gaiman wrote "coraline'?

Joe said...

Rare for you to make the subject about yourself.

I think this is the most that you have talked about yourself.

Thanks for some of the insight.
Joe

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks, Joe.

oudvit: it seems to me that directors are often forced by the investors/studios to change the film, otherwise they won't back it or release it. There are often battles thusly. And later if it becomes a classic, the director may have more clout and can release it like he would have liked to originally.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I've had a short beard since age 30. A couple years ago I tried shaving it off again, but I went back, because I still felt like I simply look better and less "severe" with the beard for some reason.

oudvit said...

"...release it like he would have liked to originally."

You're saying directors kowtow to studio bosses and compromise their artistic integrity just to earn a crust? Frankly, I'm shocked.

"...when I like a t-shirt, I buy ten at once."

Here's a tip: buy them in dozens; that way you can wear a clean one every month."

Jes said...

"when I like a t-shirt, I buy ten at once."

I usually go with the cheaper alternative. Wear one shirt for ten days.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Sure, I do that too. It means I don't have to worry about what to wear for three months at a time. That's a load off.

Anonymous said...

You look great. The longer beard is better, I think.

'Thoughtful' comes through in both pictures. Looks like a nice guy, with a good heart.

Richard (rcatalyst@mac.com)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

So kind.

(I've added a bigger version of the older pic to the post, to help the confusion about the title.)

Nella said...

I still remember the sencond picture as the one i saw on your domai sight, but 7yrs later you dont look much older, maybe a bit more artistic though.

TC [Girl] said...

Nice self-portraits, Eo! I like the bokeh on them! Cool! :-)

Anonymous said...

I really, like number two!
Sally

neeraj said...

Thanks for the pictures ... in my view the newer ones show more of personal aspects ;-)

(And I'm sure there are many more aspects of the personal universe ;-))

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks to all.

Neeraj, I agree on both counts.

TCG, Yep, it was evening light, and a "portrait", so I changed from the usual standard zoom to my 50mm F:1.4 lens, and this is a really great lens, and surprisingly compact. (Although not as cheap as a 1/8 lens usually is.) On a not-full-frame sensor, it has a great focal length for photographing people, and good bokeh (background blur).

Firebird said...

Yes, that top one looks very much better. Healthier because more relaxed.

Your teeshirt (which makes no allowance for street numbering being odd on one side and even on the other) is derived from a Stephen King article in Playboy about 20 years ago about his stint in a band on the road (The Rock Bottom Remainders accompanied by the Critics Chorus - all professional literary folk). He saw graffiti in a toilet: "664-668 Neighbourhood of the Beast".

But console yourself: the Australian Number of the Beast is 999! :-)

Firebird

Coilin MacLochlainn said...

Eolake, – You have aged very well. I could not tell that the third picture was not taken at the same time as the other two. Physically, you look very continental, did you know that? I would not use the second shot of you as your "About Me" pic, the smile is too forced.

The third picture is the best, not because you are younger in it, but because it was taken by someone else. When you take a picture of yourself, your face does not respond. When someone else takes the shot, your face responds and lights up. A good portrait photographer will get a good picture of you. Laurie Jeffery did.

You often show photos of yourself on the blog, but it seems you don't actually enjoy being photographed – you look very camera shy. You are camera shy probably because you believe yourself to be different, special, or not quite normal, as you say in a different post. And yes, anyone who spends their working day studying photos of gorgeous nude women must be eccentric, but you are certainly one lucky dude, man! The best description of you is that you are Bohemian. Maybe you are the Milan Kundera for the 21st century.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks, Coilin,

As a child, I was so camera shy that I'd cry and run away!

But personally I feel I'm doing better, and I feel good about both these pics. Though I can see the other viewpoint too.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

It's also just be "authentic"... I don't want to become the guy who uses a picture from he was 40, when he is 60.

Anonymous said...

I actually prefer the first one where you're looking more thoughtful. You seem a bit too eager in the second. If anything you look foxier seven years on. :)

Anonymous said...

I don't want to become the guy who uses a picture from he was 40, when he is 60.

That practice is common on dating sites. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Nothing even remotely as nice as having ones ego massaged, is there? :-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yep, it really comforts. :-)

TC [Girl] said...

Eolake said...
"...50mm F:1.4 lens...it has a great focal length for photographing people, and good bokeh."

Thank you for the info. Good to know!

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

... Now that's for that specific lens. I have a Nikon 50mm 1.4 which has horrible bokeh.