Hit and miss
When I set the camera up I aim it vaguely in the right diraction, set the 10sec delay, hit the shutter button and stand in front of it. I know roughly where to stand. But of course I'm not in the pic when I'm aiming the camera and I might not quite stand in the right place. I have been caught by passers-by when I look at what I've taken before covering up. Well it's only natural in case a second shot is needed. I find Photoshop usefull for adjusting the exposure and cropping the photo if needed.
Self portraits with the 9 or 10 seconds self timer is not the easieest ones to take. As you say it is a lot of hit and miss. More misses than hits. one tip is to put a "Marker" at the point you want to stand. Something natural if your outdoors. That is not quite as obvious. Either a stone, brick, tree branch, etc I have used a pair of "flip flop" type sandles. Placed at the point where I want to be photographed and then stand in them whilst the 10 secs elapse.
PaulK, if you find that a problem, then when you're setting up the shot using a "marker" as FrancisG recommends, pre-focus on the "marker" and then lock the focus by switching from Automatic (A) to Manual (M). My problem is visualising the pose itself. I have in the past used a ZIGView, a digital viewfinder attached by a 10 metre cable to a mini TV monitor. Having a shutter release button it is also useful in other remote control situations especially wildlife photography. However there then comes the problem of concealing the cable and TV monitor either at the time or in post production by the use of e.g. Photoshop. Who said self-portraiture was easy?
As all the photos of me are all taken with a timer but so far in the garden I work out where I have to stand and with the camera on a stand I have marked where I have to stand but when I do some in the country side which I will hope to do next week I will have to work out another way which most likely be to step out how far away the camera should be to get it right.
I've been taking nude self-portraits since 1965
(that's 48 years) and it has always been "hit or miss". I have
burned up some film over the years. There were times I would only like one
image out of a 36 exposure roll. Today with digital cameras it is so much easier. After all
those years in the darkroom, I love digital. When I shoot I usually take
several of the same pose, if possible especially when posing nude with another
model. It is interesting for me looking back at my early self-portraits
and seeing the aging process. Not always happy with it but it is still
interesting and plan to continue getting naked in front of my camera whenever
possible.
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