How Photographers Make Their Selfies... -- General Photography Talk in photography-on-the.net forums

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Apr 25, 2015 13:35 | #16

MattPharmD wrote in post #17532152

Any thoughts on the difference in a selfie and a self-portrait?

Lots of things I see here I would have called self-portraits. Maybe mathogre's post is a selfie since it is taken while self holding the camera...

I really don't like equating selfie with self-portrait... maybe one is a style of the other?

I'm kinda with you on this. I've done self-portraits with light setups, timers, remote shutter releases, et al. I consider a selfie to be a very informal, impromptu snapshot done hand-holding the camera.

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PineBomb

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Apr 25, 2015 14:19 as a reply to @ mathogre's post | #17

Interesting. From my point of view, I think the practical distinctions between the selfie and the self portrait are overlapping, debatable, and ultimately irrelevant.

The term "selfie" itself seems to have arisen from the first generation that cannot conceive of an era pre-dating the mobile phone. That is the most pertinent distinction to me.

I've never thought about it before, so I'm just fleshing it out now.

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Nathan
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Apr 25, 2015 21:53 | #18

I guess I equated the two. Selfie is your picture taken by you (that is, it's just short for self-portrait)

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ThreeHounds

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Apr 26, 2015 07:18 | #19

Nathan wrote in post #17532629

I guess I equated the two. Selfie is your picture taken by you (that is, it's just short for self-portrait)

We have a winner!

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MattPharmD

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Apr 26, 2015 09:24 | #20

I'm not sure that equating them is really a good practice, and certainly hasn't been true for the general (non-photographer) public.

Merriam-Webster specifies that it is taken with a digital camera... thus excluding any film self-portraits.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/selfie
I'm really not sure that one makes much sense though...

The Oxford Online US English dictionary generalizes it to those taken with a cell phone or webcam.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com …can_english/self-portrait

Neither list self-portrait as a synonym. I think that most would identify a selfie as a style of self-portrait, or as such an informal style that it isn't really a portrait at all.

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OhLook

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Apr 26, 2015 10:19 | #21

MattPharmD wrote in post #17533040

I think that most would identify a selfie as a style of self-portrait, or as such an informal style that it isn't really a portrait at all.

Uh-oh. Now we need to agree on a definition of "portrait," too.

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mathogre

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Apr 26, 2015 11:30 | #22

OhLook wrote in post #17533099

Uh-oh. Now we need to agree on a definition of "portrait," too.

Lol!

The word "set" in the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed., covers 25 pages. Having single definitions for "selfie" and "portrait" would be impossible. There will always be someone with a new interpretation.

Oh, and the first space selfie happened back in 1966. Is it a portrait or a selfie? Yes.

http://www.businessinsider.com …fie-by-buzz-aldrin-2015-3

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MattPharmD

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Apr 26, 2015 12:10 as a reply to @ mathogre's post | #23

I don't agree with the premise that because the word "set" has a variety of uses, then so must other words.

I don't think that we necessarily have to agree what the word selfie or the word portrait means, but it is worth discussing given that I think that if you posted a "post your selfies" in a non-photographer forum, no one would think of a photo taken by a timer on a tripod.

I would say that a selfie is a self-portrait that looks like it was taken by the photographer. This is how most people seem to use the word.

Most of the posted pictures do not look they were taken by anyone in the photo.

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Post edited over 6 years ago by Left Handed Brisket.

Apr 26, 2015 12:25 | #24

is the word "pic" a synonym to photograph?

or is there some difference there?

maybe pic is an informal photograph, or maybe it suggests that the photographer is using a point and shoot or DSLR on full auto.

or maybe like so many other words it changes meaning depending on the context?

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OhLook

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Apr 26, 2015 13:58 | #25

MattPharmD wrote in post #17533208

I don't agree with the premise that because the word "set" has a variety of uses, then so must other words.

"Set" is notorious for having many uses. "Selfie" has only one use, so far. What's in question isn't the number of its meanings, it's how to draw a line, if any, between selfies and photographic self-portraits, or how to draw a circle around selfies within the category of photographic self-portraits.

I don't think that we necessarily have to agree what the word selfie or the word portrait means, but it is worth discussing given that I think that if you posted a "post your selfies" in a non-photographer forum, no one would think of a photo taken by a timer on a tripod.

Oh, if the thread went on long enough, I bet someone would think of it and do it.

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MalVeauX

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Apr 27, 2015 06:50 | #26

Heya,

I do selfies of my wee little family often. I just take whatever lenses I'm feeling at the moment for the location, and I take my flash & 24x24" softbox so I can have the option to fill soft light even on a sunny day to prevent over-exposure of the sky and mix ambient & flash, even when shooting at F2. I just combine ND filters when needed to bring down ambient exposure and fill with flash.

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This was 35mm @ F2, with ND filters stacked on to bring exposure down and filled with flash since it was back-lit on a sunny Florida afternoon at the Gulf coast.

I just set a timer for 10 seconds, since it was only a few feet away.

I just pre-focus at the closest subject (baby here) and let depth of field do the rest, on a wide angle like 35mm, that captures everything in full body context, and still gives a pleasant blur on the rest that is far away, I just try to choose areas with distant backgrounds.

Otherwise, I stop down to ensure I get everyone in focus. It's too easy to have too shallow DOF on some lenses when doing selfies and struggle to get what you want. So I work with wider angle on selfies as it's a lot easier to get more depth of field, without stopping down at closer ranges to avoid running.

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msowsun

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Post edited over 6 years ago by msowsun.

Apr 27, 2015 18:28 | #27

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kfreels

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Post edited over 6 years ago by kfreels. (2 edits in all)

Apr 27, 2015 23:45 | #28

Well, let's see. I have this one.....

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

I don't get this. When I view the preview, all looks fine. But I have this error "Image is a redirect or missing!" error and the MIME has been changed for some reason. This is a direct facebook link and it works just fine anywhere else including the darned preview. Here's the URL. If you click it you can see the pic.

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net …ce5a857d9de07&oe=55E1E19C

This is just one more example of a rant I'm writing about backwards technology. Tech is supposed to make things easier and help us accomplish things that we couldn't before. Anymore though as we've hit close to maximum efficiency, there's still a drive to change things just for the sake of change and to extract ever more profit from every possible piece of internet material. So you get more complex methods of doing everything. A simple list of "10 really cool photos" is no longer a list of 10 photos, but 14 different pages loaded with ads, some that popup just by moving your mouse the wrong way because you have to go to a new page to see each image and 4 of those pages are nothing BUT an ad. Meanwhile, every freaking website seems to be going to grey on grey with very little color of contrast. Buttons have been replaced with hidden menus, and pretty graphics to make sites "unique" leave us all hunting for features in different places because standardization has gone out the window. Heck, Outlook 365 doesn't even have a delete button. You have to right click to get it. And My Nexus 7 tablet on the most recent update switched my action buttons at the bottom from a menu, home, and back button to a triangle, circle, and square which to me means play, record, and stop. Still can't quite get a grasp on how they function but one thing I know is that most things that were 1 tap away are now 2-3 taps away.
Anyways, end of rant. Blood pressure is going up. I'm just sick of re-learning my phone, computer, apps, forums, constantly. I'm waiting for the day I go to my car and find that the manufacture decided to change the color, wheels, and moved my dash gauges around while I slept and my spedometer is now in the glovebox.

I am serious....and don't call me Shirley.
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kfreels

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Apr 28, 2015 00:09 | #29

Oh. But then there are these.....
We go to this place and take a new selfie every year.

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

And then this silliness....

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

And a couple of my favorites highlighting the benefits of telecommuting....

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
HTTP response: 403 | MIME changed to 'text/html'

IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!
MIME changed to 'text/html' | Content warning: script

Wow. I never realized how many selfies I had!

I am serious....and don't call me Shirley.
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msowsun

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Post edited over 6 years ago by msowsun. (2 edits in all)

Apr 28, 2015 06:46 | #30

kfreels wrote in post #17535293

Well, let's see. I have this one.....

Can't see the photos......It says: "IMAGE IS A REDIRECT OR MISSING!"

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