For any of you would-be self portrait photographers, I thought it might help you to put together these useful tips to help you get higher quality shots. There are some things you need to consider. For instance, how can you take decent images of yourself if you don't have anyone to assist you? Are there any techniques to put yourself exactly where you want to be in the frame? How can we ensure that the camera will focus at the right place?
So let's look at some great ways to take self portrait shots, which you can use on all of your social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Myspace, you name it - they all require an avatar or self portrait picture for your main profile page.
As you might have noticed with many of your friends' images, a lot of them are grainy and poor quality. A few of them are taken using a webcam, then there's the cheesy webcam Warhol effect, the self portrait in the bathroom mirror with the huge blur from the flash reflection, the images where your arm is outstretched to hold the camera, the list never ends!
Check out my tips on how to get the nicest photos possible. You'll be running circles around all of your friends if you implement any three of them, I guarantee it.
1. Get familiar with the self-timer on your camera. This can be very useful if you haven't got a remote control to activate the camera (although the best option would be to get a remote control). Set your drive mode to around a 10 second delay, so you can get to the point where you need to be before the camera takes the photo. This is the simplest way to do it but I'll let you know a better approach later on in this article.
2. Go online and use Google Images to find a focus target that you can download and print out. It is super easy to do. You can then stick it to the wall behind you at head level, and use it to focus on. Another little tip here is to stick some coloured tape to mark the point where the bottom of the picture should be. It will probably be level with your chest for example.
3. Use some tape to mark a point on the floor to know exactly where to stand. When you move the reflector stand with the focus target on it to one side, you can stand exactly on that spot.
4. You can get your frame worked out and your focus worked out nicely if you work with manual focus. Using auto focus won't work as well for this task.
5. Work with an aperture of about F10, so that you have a little leeway in your depth of field, so that if you are off by a small amount, you won't lose focus.
6. You may have used this technique before, but if not, it is a good one to know. I mentioned the timer delay earlier. By eliminating the need to use timer delay, you can use a remote control and a cheap TV set. Just wire up the TV set to your camera (most cameras allow for this these days), and then use the remote to take the shot after you've positioned yourself nicely in the frame and made sure that the image is in focus.
7. I can also tell you about an even better way than that to take self portrait shots, which involves the use of pocket wizards. You can hook up a pocket wizard transceiver to a pre-release cable, so that you can fix it to your camera and change your focus mode to continuous focus (called 'AI server mode' if you're using a Canon). The TV isn't required with this technique. On the free trigger cable, turn the switch on. This will be the equivalent of pushing the shutter release down half way. The camera will always be focusing if you are working with continuous focus. After this you can switch on a 2nd pocket wizard, and by doing this it is less important if you are standing exactly above the area you marked on the floor. You can step slightly forward or backward to mess around with different positions. This method can be a big advantage if you have some children or pet dogs for example and you aren't able to stand next to your camera. You can entertain the children and when they smile you can capture that image quickly and easily. You'll be able to get perfectly in focus images every time.
8. Alternatively, try and come up with an original place to take a self shot. You can come up with some pretty unusual places to take a photo of yourself that no one else will have thought of. This doesn't mean you have to venture out to the Grand Canyon to get a brilliant picture of yourself, and you probably don't even need to explore any further than around your house. One great example is to put your camera inside your kitchen fridge and take a shot of yourself from there with the fridge door open. You probably won't find any other friends who have a self shot like this on their Google Plus account! The secret formula for this is to let your creativity run wild with ideas for places to shoot!
9. It's a good idea to choose a camera that has a moveable screen such as the Canon PowerShot SX20IS or the G11. Cameras with this kind of design will allow you to see yourself in the frame while you are setting up the composition.
10.) Get a GorillaPod or a tripod with bendy legs. This will enable you to fix your tripod around a climbing frame, branch of a tree and all kinds of places. It can go pretty much anywhere, which will allow you to get images that you wouldn't otherwise be able to take.
I hope you found this useful and you can implement some of these techniques, which are not too expensive if you want to spend a little money on getting the best self shots.
So let's look at some great ways to take self portrait shots, which you can use on all of your social networking sites. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Myspace, you name it - they all require an avatar or self portrait picture for your main profile page.
As you might have noticed with many of your friends' images, a lot of them are grainy and poor quality. A few of them are taken using a webcam, then there's the cheesy webcam Warhol effect, the self portrait in the bathroom mirror with the huge blur from the flash reflection, the images where your arm is outstretched to hold the camera, the list never ends!
Check out my tips on how to get the nicest photos possible. You'll be running circles around all of your friends if you implement any three of them, I guarantee it.
1. Get familiar with the self-timer on your camera. This can be very useful if you haven't got a remote control to activate the camera (although the best option would be to get a remote control). Set your drive mode to around a 10 second delay, so you can get to the point where you need to be before the camera takes the photo. This is the simplest way to do it but I'll let you know a better approach later on in this article.
2. Go online and use Google Images to find a focus target that you can download and print out. It is super easy to do. You can then stick it to the wall behind you at head level, and use it to focus on. Another little tip here is to stick some coloured tape to mark the point where the bottom of the picture should be. It will probably be level with your chest for example.
3. Use some tape to mark a point on the floor to know exactly where to stand. When you move the reflector stand with the focus target on it to one side, you can stand exactly on that spot.
4. You can get your frame worked out and your focus worked out nicely if you work with manual focus. Using auto focus won't work as well for this task.
5. Work with an aperture of about F10, so that you have a little leeway in your depth of field, so that if you are off by a small amount, you won't lose focus.
6. You may have used this technique before, but if not, it is a good one to know. I mentioned the timer delay earlier. By eliminating the need to use timer delay, you can use a remote control and a cheap TV set. Just wire up the TV set to your camera (most cameras allow for this these days), and then use the remote to take the shot after you've positioned yourself nicely in the frame and made sure that the image is in focus.
7. I can also tell you about an even better way than that to take self portrait shots, which involves the use of pocket wizards. You can hook up a pocket wizard transceiver to a pre-release cable, so that you can fix it to your camera and change your focus mode to continuous focus (called 'AI server mode' if you're using a Canon). The TV isn't required with this technique. On the free trigger cable, turn the switch on. This will be the equivalent of pushing the shutter release down half way. The camera will always be focusing if you are working with continuous focus. After this you can switch on a 2nd pocket wizard, and by doing this it is less important if you are standing exactly above the area you marked on the floor. You can step slightly forward or backward to mess around with different positions. This method can be a big advantage if you have some children or pet dogs for example and you aren't able to stand next to your camera. You can entertain the children and when they smile you can capture that image quickly and easily. You'll be able to get perfectly in focus images every time.
8. Alternatively, try and come up with an original place to take a self shot. You can come up with some pretty unusual places to take a photo of yourself that no one else will have thought of. This doesn't mean you have to venture out to the Grand Canyon to get a brilliant picture of yourself, and you probably don't even need to explore any further than around your house. One great example is to put your camera inside your kitchen fridge and take a shot of yourself from there with the fridge door open. You probably won't find any other friends who have a self shot like this on their Google Plus account! The secret formula for this is to let your creativity run wild with ideas for places to shoot!
9. It's a good idea to choose a camera that has a moveable screen such as the Canon PowerShot SX20IS or the G11. Cameras with this kind of design will allow you to see yourself in the frame while you are setting up the composition.
10.) Get a GorillaPod or a tripod with bendy legs. This will enable you to fix your tripod around a climbing frame, branch of a tree and all kinds of places. It can go pretty much anywhere, which will allow you to get images that you wouldn't otherwise be able to take.
I hope you found this useful and you can implement some of these techniques, which are not too expensive if you want to spend a little money on getting the best self shots.
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