Need help with self portraits :-)

[Greyhound Rick]

Hello Everyone,

Well....Ive probably got more fingers than the number of self portraits Ive tried to take, but I was experimenting with some lighting yesterday and to avoid asking my wife to pose every 2 minutes i opted, at times, to just shoot myself (yes, in the foot!!).

I quickly noticed a difference between my shots of my wife and my self portraits using the timer. The ones of me were not as focused!!

Can you give me some tips as to how you shoot timer, self portrait or group shots in order to get the same quality as if you were holding and operating the camera? Im kinda lost with this.

Would it be better to get a remote shutter release?

Thanks for helping me!

My best always,

Rick
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[Travis]

A remote helps, especially so you don't have to get up and reset the timer. The best trick that I've found for focusing is to put a tripod/lightstand/some other object where you will be standing and focus on that. Once the focus is correct, switch to manual focus to lock it. That way it won't change when you move the object. A piece of paper or tape on the ground will help mark the spot.

[divamum]

No answers, but a thread I started here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=114919 discussing sp's ...

[pathfinder]

Put your camera on a tripod, engage all the AF points, and pre focus in the plane your head will be in.

Adjust your lighting.

SIT down on a chair or step or something so that you are always in the same distance from your camera's tripod.

Use sufficient flash for lighting to allow an aperture of f5.6 or smaller..

Trigger with a remote cord release or a wireless release.

That was my recipe for this image.....

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/438771497_rch32-XL.jpg

and this one

http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/photos/437552965_p3YxQ-XL.jpg

[Scott_Quier]

Another trick I've seen and tried:

Position yourself in the spot where the portrait will be taken - with camera in hand.
Focus on the head of your tripod. Since your head is here it's going to be for the portrait and the head of the tripod very, very closly approximates the sensor plane of your camera - you should be well within DOF if you have an appropriate aperture set
Turn off the AF function - don't need the camera refocusing when you press the shutter button (see below).
Mount the camera on the tripod
Take a meter reading
Set your camera to manul and dial in the results of the meter reading
Set the camera timer, press the shutter button, and move to your mark
Wait for it - poof (imagine the old-time powder flashes going off) - you have a portrait
Review the histogram for exposure, make adjustments if needed and repeat the process.

[Mitchell]

Rick,

I get asked this question a lot.:wink

I've taken a few SP and find the focus issue to be the most frustrating part. There's a lot of trial and error involved.

My best suggestion is to use a posing stool so your face will be situated at roughly the same position for all of the shots. You will need to take some test shots and settle on which focus point you want to use as well as arrange for the best composition.
I've gone to using the interval timer on my D2Xs. I usually have the camera take 10 shots each 3 seconds apart. The first one is usually a blur of me getting into position. The next 9 shots are focused by the camera and then taken at 3 second intervals. This allows for you to play around with goofy expressions as you see fit.

I've had better luck with the interval timer than with my remote release, but YMMV.

[sherijohnson]

I have had good success with remote shutter release & tripod over the years.

even though the background is not ideal, this image I am using for my avatar was shot on a tripod with shutter release cable
http://sherijohnson.smugmug.com/photos/431122267_NMS8Q-X3.jpg

[Greyhound Rick]

Wow....FANTASTIC input by all!!!

Im lucky to have you folks and very fortunate!

THANK YOU!!!

Rick

[divamum]

Scott, focusing on the tripod is a brilliant trick - thanks for that! Accurately framing the shot was one of the things I found hardest during my own session last week (especially since my 50mm is a little close in the small space I have at my disposal, and thus not much "air space" in the frame to allow for error...)

The other thing I did was to put a post-it on the stool (in our case a wide piano bench) so I could stick my backside in EXACTLY the same position each time; it made adjusting the framing easier.

One other blazingly obvious thing to do that I didn't think of till about halfway through (duH) was to photograph a piece of paper with the setup info scribbled on it every time I changed anything (particularly the light positions). Same principle as a movie slateboard w/take information on it and that way, when I went through the photos later, I could know EXACTLY what had changed instead of trying to rememember.

Great stuff here! I can't WAIT to try again next week once I can get my flash off-camera :ivar

Another trick I've seen and tried:
Position yourself in the spot where the portrait will be taken - with camera in hand.
Focus on the head of your tripod. Since your head is here it's going to be for the portrait and the head of the tripod very, very closly approximates the sensor plane of your camera - you should be well within DOF if you have an appropriate aperture set
Turn off the AF function - don't need the camera refocusing when you press the shutter button (see below).
Mount the camera on the tripod
Take a meter reading
Set your camera to manul and dial in the results of the meter reading
Set the camera timer, press the shutter button, and move to your mark
Wait for it - poof (imagine the old-time powder flashes going off) - you have a portrait
Review the histogram for exposure, make adjustments if needed and repeat the process.