Beginner Self Portraits.

[Orangecroc]

First and foremost, I want to avoid them looking like mobile phone selfies.
I have a basic tripod and a cable release, and I have been told that using the self timer can help be used quite successfully.
I have been practicing different things with my camera, I am 100% a novice, but I want to try portraits.
I would rather practice on myself first and learn before making a fool of myself with other people. I don't have access to any sort of studio setting and would like to hear any tips anyone could offer.

 

[Alastair]

I recommend finding a sample image to imitate, it will make it easier for you to evaluate how successful you are. Or follow a tutorial. Don't go "freestyle".

Identify what gear you have, and then use that in a search to find a suitable tutorial, eg. "window light portrait", "available light portrait", "one light portrait".

Does your camera work with a wifi phone app?

 

[Orangecroc]

I recommend finding a sample image to imitate, it will make it easier for you to evaluate how successful you are. Or follow a tutorial. Don't go "freestyle".

Identify what gear you have, and then use that in a search to find a suitable tutorial, eg. "window light portrait", "available light portrait", "one light portrait".

Does your camera work with a wifi phone app?

Emulating a sample image is a great idea, thank you. I don't have an eye-fi card, which I would need with my camera. I did have a card reader for my phone, but that has vanished from my bag.

 

[Alastair]

Emulating a sample image is a great idea, thank you. I don't have an eye-fi card, which I would need with my camera. I did have a card reader for my phone, but that has vanished from my bag.

An eye-fi card wouldn't achieve the same result. The easiest way would be a dedicated manufacturer app which gives wireless tethering with live view. Second best is tethered shooting using Lightroom with your laptop turned towards you so that you can frame yourself in the shot. Otherwise, wireless or wired remote - with or without timer. To begin with I'd concentrate on the overall result and not worry about concealing the trigger you're using.

Start by thinking about what light you have available to you - if you've a flash gun, a remote trigger; or if you've got a large window (and which way it faces).

 

[Moey]

I once used a childs teddy to see where the light fell prior to carrying out the actual sitting. Worked for me

 

[Orangecroc]

An eye-fi card wouldn't achieve the same result. The easiest way would be a dedicated manufacturer app which gives wireless tethering with live view. Second best is tethered shooting using Lightroom with your laptop turned towards you so that you can frame yourself in the shot. Otherwise, wireless or wired remote - with or without timer. To begin with I'd concentrate on the overall result and not worry about concealing the trigger you're using.

Start by thinking about what light you have available to you - if you've a flash gun, a remote trigger; or if you've got a large window (and which way it faces).

The camera has an adjustable screen, so I can see it from the front of the camera.

 

[BrynBoru]

Maybe sounds a daft idea, but if you can take a photo of yourself that meets all the requirements for a passport, ( facial aspects, background, lighting, size of image, ratio of head size to frame size, etc,) while it may seem simple, you will have learnt some of the basics for the necessary camera settings. A first step on a not too long journey, hopefully.

 

[Orangecroc]

Maybe sounds a daft idea, but if you can take a photo of yourself that meets all the requirements for a passport, ( facial aspects, background, lighting, size of image, ratio of head size to frame size, etc,) while it may seem simple, you will have learnt some of the basics for the necessary camera settings. A first step on a not too long journey, hopefully.

That's a good plan, I don't like smiling anyway haha.

 

[HopefulM]

Best thing about practicing on yourself is getting the lightning right.... portraits are all abut the light

 

[Phil V]

Best thing about practicing on yourself is getting the lightning right.... portraits are all abut the light

Almost...

Whilst all photography is about the light, portraiture is about the connection to the subject.

Just like wildlife photography is about the animal and landscape photography is about the land.

 

[HoppyUK]

I'm not sure you can learn anything much about portraiture shooting selfies. See Phil's point above, it's all about interaction with the subject, creating/coaxing the right look, and capturing the moment. Technical considerations are way secondary, and should be taken as read.

You can practise lighting with a manikin head, and that can be a very useful excercise, but that's about all IMHO. A few of us on here use this one plus wig https://www.amazon.co.uk/DXP-Brand-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=S690M36AMKFJR7R0FB51

 

[chris malcolm]

I found self portraits very useful. I learned a lot about the use of multiple flashes to set up specific lighting effects in a studio set up. I learned a lot about avoiding reflections in spectacles, about getting a catchlight sparkle in the eyes, about controlling DoF with various lenses to get sharp eyes, nose, and ears, while softening the background. I learned how in dim light to get a ceiling bounced flash from my pop-up flash by using kitchen foil or or the shiny foil inside of a snack packet. I discovered the very annoying "feature" of my camera that when I used the timer the focus had to be set up at the time of shutter press. I discovered how very much more convenient a radio remote shutter trigger was than using a timer. I discovered about aperture-related focus drift in wide aperture lenses. And when taking shots of views I sometimes included myself as a foreground figure. All this also had the useful side effect of filling in the family photo gap -- no photographs of the photographer!

Of course I did have some useful natural advantages as a portrait model which helped a lot. I'm old, bald, wrinkled, wear strong spectacles, have a hairy face. This created lots of interestingly exaggerated problems of texture, skin blemishes, detail resolution, and lighting.