Self Portraits CC Please

Hi everyone,

I have been bitten by the Self portrait bug courtesy another self portrait photographer who is doing the 365 project. Just a try & trying to improve on my portrait skills. Please let me know if anything needs improvement

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They are better than I have been able to figure out! Do you have any tips on how to get where you are supposed to be, etc.? I was trying to do self portraits with multiple flash ans my family quit posing for me.

First of all take some test shots of the location, then decide where you would want to position yourself & then again take a test shot with you in the frame to see where you can focus (doesn't matter even if your face is not in focus, this is just to get idea where you appear). Once you know where to position yourself, use manual focus, if you are unable to focus then just put a strobe stand or any object where your face might appear & then refocus again. I haven't played around with strobes much however play around with your ideas & you will get it. hope this helps

EnfieldRyder wrote in post #14095163
First of all take some test shots of the location, then decide where you would want to position yourself & then again take a test shot with you in the frame to see where you can focus (doesn't matter even if your face is not in focus, this is just to get idea where you appear). Once you know where to position yourself, use manual focus, if you are unable to focus then just put a strobe stand or any object where your face might appear & then refocus again. I haven't played around with strobes much however play around with your ideas & you will get it. hope this helps

The light stand idea helps. I was racking my brain to try to figure out something that I could kind of "place" where my head would be and not coming up with anything tall enough (so that suddenly looks like a real "duh" moment). I've actually gotten to a point where I'm wondering if I can find a dress maker's dummy and a styrafoam head that they put wigs on, etc., to create my own "posing victim."

Thank you! I think they're good shots for self-portraits. I know it's a hard thing to pull off - how many have you done?

I like the first one better of the two.

The second one has the palm tree that is a busy/distracting background right behind your head. I think that's what Enfield is suggesting for shooting the scene before you insert yourself.

@Wuzzittoya I've done only about 2-3 getting time to do it is a problem. In the meanwhile I am trying to come up with ideas as well. Are there any you would like to show me? & juggling between manual & auto focus would help & it purely depends on the situation

@cpam thanks, I know the Coconut tree actually is distracting however I just went on with the idea. didn't want an empty space behind me. I guess that tree became too big for the frame??

Auto focus with face detection.

EnfieldRyder wrote in post #14095235
@Wuzzittoya I've done only about 2-3 getting time to do it is a problem. In the meanwhile I am trying to come up with ideas as well. Are there any you would like to show me? & juggling between manual & auto focus would help & it purely depends on the situation

@cpam thanks, I know the Coconut tree actually is distracting however I just went on with the idea. didn't want an empty space behind me. I guess that tree became too big for the frame??

I figured you threw the tree out of focus, so it wasn't all that big of a deal. Perhaps if you'd either moved so the tree was all that was behind you it might have been a bit better? All of one or another background instead of your head splitting between the two... I didn't actually find it too distracting though, though I guess it could be better if you went with one or the other.

I don't have any I want to share yet. Maybe I'll work on more early next week. There will be four teenaged boys here driving me crazy later tonight and they'll be hanging around probably most of the weekend...

Nice job on the self portraits. I watched a youtube video about self portraiture. He recommended "Program Mode", autofocus, a wireless remote trigger, and a tripod. I tryed it and it worked quite well. He also used the same camera that I have, the 60D which has a swiveling screen so you can actually rotate it to see yourself. Plus this camera can be used in "live view" mode which makes it even easier.

@Wuzzittoya you are right about the tree, directly behind me might have worked differently but then would have looked like coming out of me head? I am still trying portraits around my home so choices are limited

@SJC "Program Mode" the "P" in Canon's doesn't let you play much with aperture or shutter speed, the aperture & shutter are just like in Auto & the things you can control is ISO & the exposure compensation. This might prove to be a dampener if we plan on sticking with it just my idea I didn't have a look at the video though

That was the first time that I had ever used "P" mode for any purpose. My camera is rarely taken off of Aperture Priority, but I gave it a try after watching the video. Seemed to focus really well, indoors at night, while bouncing an off camera flash.

wuzzittoya wrote in post #14095195
The light stand idea helps. I was racking my brain to try to figure out something that I could kind of "place" where my head would be and not coming up with anything tall enough (so that suddenly looks like a real "duh" moment). I've actually gotten to a point where I'm wondering if I can find a dress maker's dummy and a styrafoam head that they put wigs on, etc., to create my own "posing victim."

Thank you! I think they're good shots for self-portraits. I know it's a hard thing to pull off - how many have you done?

How about a cheap helium balloon? Tie a weight on the string that would put the balloon at the same height as your head?

And then an intervalometer set for about a 20 second delay on the shutter.

Titus213 wrote in post #14100284
How about a cheap helium balloon? Tie a weight on the string that would put the balloon at the same height as your head?

And then an intervalometer set for about a 20 second delay on the shutter.

If I lived some place where cheap helium balloons were easy to acquire, it would definitely be an idea!

Sadly, it's ten miles to the closest town and I'd have to pay small town florist's prices for it (and that would be over a dollar without high-float, so it would only last an afternoon). I'm looking for something more substantial to practice with more often so I can be confident in my off-camera flash work.

http://www.amazon.com …7238&sr=8-1&condition=new

Here ya go - delivered right to your door at a little more than $1/balloon.

"If I lived some place where cheap helium balloons were easy to acquire, it would definitely be an idea!"

Regular balloon on a stick?