Self Portrait Update

For the past 117 days I've been snapping a photo of myself for the flickr group 365 days.  To be honest, most shots are obligatory and uninspired, but there are a few days when the muses conspire, and I'm proud of the end result.  A friend of mine, a fine art photographer, prefers subjects who are very young or elderly, for they are uninhibited.  I still struggle with coming face to face with my image on a daily basis.  Certain smirks and gestures appear in my mind's eye completely different than they do when frozen on pixels.  It's difficult for me to let go and allow the camera to glean below the contours of my face.  And yet the photos I'm most satisfied with are the ones that go beyond my eyes and into my soul. I thought this commitment would advance my technical skills as a photographer, but in truth it has shed light on a core belief I've danced around most of my life.  Something rooted so deep inside me I have no choice but to acknowledge it, and confront it once and for all.  What the next 248 days will reveal is unknown, exhilarating and unnerving.