Professional portrait photographer Khatleen Minerve had no intention of becoming a photographer when she got her first DSLR.
She had no extra cash to hire a model, or to buy some lighting gear to practice her portraits. So she did the exact same thing I did when I first started, and what I believe many photographers have done. She practiced on herself, using only what she had and finding ways to make it work.
Taking portraits of yourself is a process of trial and error, and in some ways it’s a lot harder than taking a portrait of someone else. But it teaches you so many valuable lessons that I would encourage all photographers to do the same.
Using Yourself as a Model
The reason I used myself as a model was mainly because I had never worked with a model before. I did use a couple of friends to try my skills out and of course, it showed that I had no experience in directing a model or adjusting my light quickly. I needed to improve on that and so, I began experimenting at home. I did not have a nice enough room to photograph myself in. But I did have these red walls in my bedroom, which I could use as backdrop.
The first thing I had to figure out was how to get the perfect focus when I was not pressing the button. I chose to focus manually, using a teddy bear (the little sisters!) as dummy. Having a fixed focus like that limited my movements. But in hindsight, it made me learn to try out different poses and expressions while standing on the same spot.
Learning More About Photography & Creative Direction Through Self-Portraits
When being confined to one spot, the other good thing is that I had better control over my light. However, many times when trying different poses, the light may need to be adjusted. In those days, when shooting in my bedroom, I did not have access to an abundant amount of natural light as I would shoot at night. So I had recourse to the only flash I had back then: my built-in flash. I’d always shoot my portraits with a Nikon 35mm 1.8G and I’d shoot myself from the bust to the head. So you can guess that I needed to be quite close to the camera for such a framing (my camera had a crop sensor on top of that). My problem then was that my flash was way too intense even when decreased to the minimum. I read about diffusers but I had none with me when I started. I did with what I had at hand. Turns out a thin white page can actually work well to diffuse the light from the built-in flash.
Better Understanding What Your Model Goes Through
On a regular basis, I hear photographers asking their model to do this or that pose, and perhaps like often on my shooting locations, there is big bright light shining in their eyes (reflectors, anyone?). But as photographers, we may not understand what it is like for a model when we are behind the camera. We issue suggestions but what we suggest may not feel natural for the model. And the unease is something we absolutely do not want to see in our photos.
Try telling your subject why you want them to raise their chin up (to give more attitude) or why they should curve their elbows when sitting and posing (to create more angles and appear less rigid). Knowing what to do also means that you know what does not work.
Using Self-Portraits as a Creative Outlet
Making self-portraits was for me a way of letting steam off in between law classes. I was not looking to create conceptual portraits. I just needed to be unlike my usual self, and putting on makeup and dressing differently aided in the transformation. I had a room with red walls, while others had a studio or forest where they could carry out their self-portraits. Using the locations at your disposal to make some ideas come to life, can lead to a very creative self-portrait session. And testing out new techniques with self-portraits can make you grow more confident and efficient when you want to use those new techniques on a shoot with other models.
Read the full article over at Fstoppers.
Source: Fstoppers
