SMU student Ella McDonald smiles at her iPhone as she chooses a hat to wear for the day on January 23, 2023 in Dallas, Texas. 

When reading about this first assignment I wanted to start big. I wanted to set up shop in the studio on campus and show off my lighting skills through my self portrait. I wanted to bring my copy of “wonderland” by Annie Leibovitz and do something elaborate with that. Then I thought about what it really means to be me, and posing in front of a white paper backdrop is not Ella McDonald. 

I wear many hats, literally and figuratively. I am involved in many different organizations and play many different leading or supporting roles in my life. Some weeks I are different than others. I wear different hats depending on the season. I worked as a summer camp counselor the past two summers and grew up going to that same Christian camp for the past eight years. One of my hats comes from a YoungLife camp trip to Lone Hollow Ranch in West Texas. A few of my hats show that I am in a sorority, Chi Omega. I was social chair from 2022-2023 and now I am the New Member Educator for my chapter. 

One of my favorite things to do for my friends is to shop for them. I love creating lists through an online platform called WantLocker where I link photos of everything from hats to dresses to makeup items. I love styling others for music festivals and college formals. Two hats in my collection represent that side of me, the green hat with the “!!!” and the white “DAILY DRILLS” hat, both of which come from one of my favorite brands.

A blue hat with “Outdoor Voices” stitched in white reveals my love for the outdoors. The average acquaintance may not know that I love spending time in the sun hiking or traveling, but this hat tells that part of the story. That brand, Outdoor Voices, holds many fond memories for me from wearing their clothes in Austin, TX for the first time or during my years at the summer camp I mentioned above. 

Finally, the last hat in this photo to be mentioned is the red hat with “Dallas” scripted in cursive font. That is one of my favorite hats. It’s simple, but every time I wear it, it reminds me how I stepped out of my comfort zone to apply for my first photography job last winter. I have worked for SMU Football for a year now and it has been the most fun and rewarding thing I have done on this campus! The game day atmosphere of being on the sidelines is something I never thought I’d love until I did it this past fall. The people in the creative community in this field are amazing and I am so grateful every single day. I have learned so much already and I am looking forward to sharpening my skills. 

After deciding against the studio idea, I was just looking around my room and noticed my self of hats. I thought that would be a great focus of my self portrait, as I wear many different hats in my life. Once I decided on this idea of showcasing my “many hats,” I knew early afternoon lighting would be favorable. The window in my room in the sorority house offers beautiful soft light as you can see in the photo. I also set up a ring light to add brightness to my face because I knew a hat would create shadows. I really love how this turned out, although I still many want to revisit the studio idea for a later assignment. I am excited to watch my skills grow throughout this course.