Most of my self portraits are improvised and cobbled together with a hodgepodge of supplies and equipment. This one was a little more so than usual. We went to see my family further south, and I forgot my tripod at home (in the typical fashion, it was Saturday and I hadn’t yet done the photo).

On top of that, I also goofed off the entire day (hey, tea parties with my nieces and dinosaurs with my nephew are serious business). So midnight was creeping closer and I was running out of options.

I’m also ridiculously shy about anyone witnessing my dorky process for these portraits – even Soner. But desperate times called for desperate measures!

I propped the camera up on my overnight bag, turned off all the lights in the little guest room, and snuggled up to him in the light of the fish tank.

Somehow, in that chaos, something happened that was so representative of my place right now.

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