By Leslee Anthony
Getting another person to take the shot is iffy at best. They must be understanding, patient and marginally skilled with a camera. Too often the shot comes off as a poor snap shot with little going for it other than being a photograph. The self-portrait is usually even worse, unless you have some idea of what and how to do it. Hopefully that will be easier after you read this. Note! Self-portrait, not self-snapshot. There is a difference.
So, my goal here is to provide a few essential tips on producing an acceptable self-portrait and at a minimum cost. I will list the equipment needed and give you a short course on lighting and exposure. Camera exposure my Dear, please do not expose yourself, only the film. P.S. this is more than the snapshot technique and with practice can be used for serious photo fun. In essence I will reduce whole semesters and book volumes into a few pages. I readily admit to over simplification, but this system does work.
Before we go on I guess I must answer the inevitable question, "What qualifies me to tell you how to take a photograph?". My years as a free lance photographer and photography instructor. Being professional merely means I have studied photography and was paid to do it, not necessarily that I am any more skilled than some fine amateurs, but at least I know more than the average bear and have a lot of satisfied customers who like my work.
First the most common photographic mistakes, then how to avoid them and finally the equipment you will need to get a decent photo.
1. Focus. One basic difference between a pro photo and an amateur photo is usually the crispness of the focus. If you rely on autofocus you improve your chances of being disappointed. (This is an entire tech discussion in itself, so let's leave it at this, avoid it if you can.) Anyway, call this the focus error.
2. Exposure. This error comes in two sizes, too much and too little. A correct exposure, and not necessarily the one your camera reads, is easy to get but does take a little practice and experience.
3. Light. This error comes in only one size, one size fits all, too harsh. If you rely on a single on-camera electronic flash the result is usually not good due to the harsh, direct light. It also produces "red-eye".
4. Pose/Composition. Typically a person is left standing there staring into the lens and asked to smile. "Watch the birdie". On the golf course maybe but puhleeze, not in front of the camera. Everything gets centered, subject stares and the Post Office has a new wall shot. Now, one at a time.
Typically the space needed for the waist shot is an area roughly 10 feet by 12 feet. It can be smaller but the results will not be as good as the larger space. If you can get a bigger area, do it. Here is one time when bigger is better. Also, remove any wall decorations and be sure the wall is as neutral as possible. Meaning no floral wall paper or clever designs. A light color, off white or beige work best, but not a glossy white. If none of this is possible then do the best you can.
For a bust shot get a stool or low back chair, place the chair about 3 feet from the 10 ft wall, farther if you have a bigger space, at least 6 feet is ideal. Take a seat, (No Dear, I meant sit down not walk off with it!), get comfortable, sit up straight and measure the distance from the floor to your nose. Equipment item #1, a good carpenters measuring tape. You know, the metal pull out kind. Next measure the height from the floor to the chair seat and from the floor to the top of your head. Write down these measurements. Place a small piece of masking tape (equipment item, roll of masking tape) on the wall at the height above the floor that you measured for your head. And another at the height you measured the chair seat.
Now go get your camera. The camera should be, at a minimum, a 35mm SLR that has a manual override capability for aperture and shutter speed. Full automation will work but awkwardly. A point and shoot is, basically, inadequate for this type photography. Ideally the camera will not have a built-in flash but if it does be sure you know how to use it. Next, go get your tripod. No tripod?? Go buy one (Light weight, used, probably in the $50 range) or stop reading now. No skilled photographer, except photo journalists, ever shoot without a tripod, especially portrait photographers. Besides, unless you are fast enough to get from camera to chair before the shutter releases, you will need some help and a tripod is a start. Superwoman you ain't.
Equipment assembled?? Good!! Set the camera, mounted on the tripod naturally, about 6 feet from the chair. No closer, not yet. You should be left with a few feet (3) behind the camera to maneuver things. Set the camera lens at exactly the height you measured from the floor to your nose. The lens should be pointing right at your nose, or where your nose will be. Measure the distance from the film plane, back of the camera not the front of the lens, to the center of the chair, or as close to where your nose will be as you can estimate. This is typically about 6 to 9 inches in front of the chair back but the center of the seat will do just fine. Set that distance on the focus ring. If you have a purely autofocus camera with no manual override then, obviously, this step can be skipped and you wait and hope the camera gets it right later.
Next it is framing time. Look through the view finder and set the camera so that you see from the chair seat up. I also recommend that you tip the camera on it's side so that you get what is called the "portrait" framing and not the "landscape". The difference is that the portrait has the long axis vertically whereas the landscape has it horizontally. The "normal" photo shot is in the landscape mode. Make sure the camera is level, that is, the horizontal edge is parallel to the floor or the vertical edge parallel to the wall. I hate shots where I feel I must lean sideways to see them. Anyway, most of us are taller than we are wide but use whichever framing fits your body shape. You should see the chair seat and the tapes placed on the wall behind the chair. Be sure you can see at least a foot above the top tape, the one that shows where the top of your head will be. If you cannot, then make whatever camera adjustments you need to get it that way. If you have to adjust anything, start with cutting off at the bottom. You can always do with less waist but headless portraits are reserved for Anne Bolin. If you have a zoom lens then the job will be even easier. With a fixed focal length lens you may have to do some camera repositioning. Do not go closer and never, never use a wide angle lens for a portrait. When you are happy with the framing, remove the tape!
Now we should have a "studio", a chair and a camera on a tripod all positioned properly, the focus set and a reasonable frame mode. Nice start!
Error #1, focus has been dealt with by the measuring done earlier and set on the camera. Which brings us to the next item, the lighting. Whole books and college courses are designed around this subject so I am going to condense that into a paragraph or two?? Only to the extent that simplicity and convenience are concerned. A portrait photographer you won't be, but at least you will get a few acceptable self-portraits and they will get better as you practice, and practice, and practice.
Most modern cameras have a built-in flash (I hate that, but then nobody paid me as an equipment consultant anyway) which sometimes goes off whether you want it to or not because the camera thinks you need it. This type of camera is going to make life difficult if not impossible for this exercise. If your camera has no such inconvenience, great, you will need a separate flash (see price estimate below) to mount on the camera, which I assume has a mounting shoe or bracket. Either way, cut a piece of "Bounce" or other fabric softener material (Equipment item) and tape a double layer of the material over the front of the flash. (Tip #2, the bounce, not the tape, covers the flash face.) This will diffuse and soften the light very nicely. It will reduce harsh shadows, soften the features and reduce the red-eye. I have major, world class equipment and I use this technique in an emergency because it is effective and inexpensive.
We have now taken care of the light error, sort of. The light will be soft, as desired, but we still don't know if the exposure it will be too much or too little. That all depends upon the camera and the film you use. And here comes a problem.
Some cameras have a built in exposure meter capable of reacting to the flash and producing an acceptable exposure, some cameras do not. I can't be of much help here because it is so dependent upon your individual camera. If I knew your camera I could be precise, so in the absence of good information I will guess. But I can provide a few guidelines. The problem is getting a correct exposure without the benefit of an expensive flash meter. In this case we are reduced to guess work.
First select a film with either ASA 200 or 400 and set that rating on your camera and the flashes if they accept it. I suggest 400. With two diffuse flashes you will be close to what a single bare flash will produce in terms of flash power. Only a few tests will tell for sure, so be ready to go through several rolls of film to find the right combination and settings for your equipment. Set the lens aperture at a mid-setting (f 8 or f11 as a start) or, if your flash has a scale on the back, what ever it says. If you use the autosetting, let the camera decide. It is important to record whatever you do at this point so that either you can repeat a good result or avoid repeating the same error. Also, make sure that the shutter speed is set for the correct flash synchronizing speed as directed by your camera manual. If in doubt, select 1/60th of a second. Some cameras have a little lightning dash, others a red dot, some a letter (f) to show what that flash shutter speed is or should be. A fully automated camera may merely require a "flash" setting. Get the wrong shutter speed and you will waste a lot of time and film.
Hopefully your camera has a self-timer which gives you 10 seconds to trigger the shutter and go sit down. If not then you may need to buy a long shutter release cable. Some come with an air bulb that you squeeze, others have a plunger to push. I use the air bulb type so I can get seated, get comfortable, pretend I am enjoying myself and then step on the bulb. The plunger type requires a hand and forces either a strained pose or a shot with a cable showing. Either way, check the view finder to make sure that all of you will be in the frame, or as near as you can get, check the camera and flash settings, be sure everything is turned on, you included, and go have a seat. Bulb cables are in the $25 range.
The pose!! One: never as in absolutely NEVER, face directly into the lens. Your shoulders must be at an angle toward the second flash. You may then turn your head toward the camera or not, but always be sure that your eyes are directly into the lens. Sit straight but not tensely, have the hand nearest the camera on your lap and the other over the back of the chair and hanging loosely. If the chair back is too high and uncomfortable, change chairs. Your rear shoulder should be drawn back slightly. Lift your chin slightly and sort of lean back. Men love aggressive portraits when they can lean forward and appear more masculine. Female shots are softer and more feminine when we lean back or appear more passive. If all else fails, relax, better a poor but natural shot than a tense one.
We could do volumes on posing and the technical aspects of all this, but I think you get the idea. Above all else, shoot away, use a few rolls to learn your equipment and what works best for you. Write down the exposure for each step and each shot, change the exposure, the lights and the poses until you find that combination that pleases you. Take several shots of a single pose with different exposures, move the lights, play around and have fun. Keep in mind that this is a little different from the usual portrait procedures because this is a self-inflicted wound. Posing is the most difficult. When I work doing portraits I spend more time posing and adjusting the pose than in the technical matters of lights and exposures. For my self-portraits the reverse is true, but then I also use a whole roll and hope for a few good shots. Most failures are from a poor pose than from any other cause. Practice makes average, remember that. Mirrors are useful for posing practice. The major problem in a self-portrait is our inability to see ourselves that instant before we click the shutter. The result is often a less than flattering photo. If you elect to try the hands-to-chin pose, do not rest the chin on the hands but let them touch ever so lightly. Rest your chin on your hands and you push your face out of shape and we definitely don't need that.
A quick review. Some fixed settings. Set the focus distance as measured, set the shutter speed, set the film (ASA) speed and do not change them again no matter how you vary the lights or pose. Now in all your trials all that varies are the lights, the aperture setting and the pose. In a fully automated mode even the aperture may not need manual changing. Personally I prefer the full manual mode since it gives me more control and as I vary the lights I can vary the effect and the photo result.
A sample shoot sequence. You are all set as outlined above and ready to start. Check everything again, then sit, pose and release the shutter. Then, let's assume you were set at an aperture of f8, open up one stop to f5.6 and do it all again. Then go to f4, repeat, go back to f8, shoot, go to f11, repeat the shot. Move the flash on the stand a foot closer and do it all again, then move it back to 5 feet and do it all again. Record every change, carefully, frame by frame so when the film comes back you will know what you did to produce which shot, good or bad. Use an entire roll, you will be surprised how easy that is to do. You might even remove the Bounce from the light on the stand just to see the effect. In essence, practice until you get it right.
Oops, almost forgot, batteries, camera and flash batteries. Get fresh ones, alkaline ones not the heavy duty or the expensive lithium ones. No need unless you intend to do a lot of shooting. Alkaline works fine. Say, are they named after the baseball player, Al Kaline??
Now you can took your own pitcher and hopefully have fun!!