Excellent ways of taking a self pic
Return to DiscussionsHi,
I have mentioned how my new Samsung smart camera can take self pics by way of a gesture mode. You set up the camera on a tripod, go ahead and pose some distance in front of your camera and if you circle your hand, the camera will zoom in or zoom out. Of course all this while you can see yourself from the LCD screen that can be flipped over for easy view. When you're ready, you move your hand up and down and the camera will snap a pic in 3 seconds.
Of course the camera also has a self-timer. Another feature that makes the camera so selfie-friendly is you can just touch the LCD screen and it will snap in 3 seconds if you don't want to set up the self-timer.
I just got myselfa monopod and that really completes the picture of what you must have when you take a self pic. A tripod is quite cumbersome and you probably don't want to lug it around with you. A monopod is very convenient if you don't want the hassle of setting up a tripod, etc. All you do is just take a pic. A monopod is the only way you can take a self pic that shows you from head to toe and you're still holding on the camera!!! Take a look at this pic below. I bet you find it incredible that I was holding on to the camera all the time. Yes, that's the monopod. [If you have any other suggestions for taking a good self pics, please post here on this thread.]
Hi Leolucbx,
Thanks for your kind words. I usually stand at the centre of the pic, like any beginner, but the only reason I was more to the side this time was because I used the monopod. With a monopod, you are forced to stand to one side.
I like your post which gives a detailed analysis of the photo. My wife thinks I'm blind and I'm sure she's right there. I would never have noticed half of the things you mentioned but on reading what you wrote, I see the wisdom in it. Lighting is very important and especially so for those of us (like me) who use only compact, automatic, auto-intelligent (which is the new term for idiot-proof; LOL) cameras. It's particularly important for me because I live in the tropics and the sun can be very strong.
I hope the owner/moderator of this group won't think I'm flooding the group with my pics but let me give an illustration.
It looked like a bright sunny day and why wouldn't I take a selfie? So I set up my tripod, turned on the 10-second self timer (I used the self timer this time and not the gesture mode) and posed. But the tropical sun is harsh and unforgiving and this was the result:
Of course such a pic wouldn't do. So, I waited for a passing cloud to cover the sun a little and I didn't have to wait long. Again, another feature of the tropics is we don't ever have clear blue skies. A cloud passed by and I set my 10-second timer again and posed and this was the result:
Of course this won't do. So I tried again a few times and I finally got this which was at least passable:
The "aesthetics" part of me is deeply buried somewhere and I have no sense of composition and colour contrast and so what I normally do is I use a long process of trial and error. Itake a lot of photos, really a lot and I sort them all out later. I judge a photo purely by clarity which is of course not the only thing a photographer should be guided by. Hence I'm always pleased with criticism of any kind.
Thanks, Leolucbx, for posting so many photos. I'm not sure what the rules of this group are and I'm a new member and the last thing I want is to flout some rule for flooding the group with my pics. But I'm careful not to upload too large a pic. I'm not sure if we have a maximum storage of pics but I'll try not to exceed it. But what you have said and the photos that you have given for illustration are excellent advice. Because I have taken so many pics, I will now post some corresponding photos here.
The first is your coffee photo. You took from the side view which is more artistic. Mine is the typical frontal pose. My wife calls it the "tourist pose". LOL. But I haven't got a coffee pic and this is the closest to your coffee pic. I've been told that I could be a Mormon since I don't drink coffee. Haha.
The next pose is the rear pose that you talked about. I don't really have a proper rear pose because my instinct is always to face the camera. But what I did for this pic was to turn on the self timer and proceeded to put BTI into anything that holds water. I live in the tropics and mosquitoes are a common problem. The BTI is the most eco-friendly insecticide. It kills mosquito larvae but it doesn't harmanything else. The butterflies, dragonflies and even my fishes are unharmed. Anyway, in this pic, I was busy dropping BTI pellets through the gaps into the water where the motor of the pump is. That's where mosquitoes might breed.
Finally, since this group is on the self-timer, there is this cool feature in my smart camera that allows me to take this photo with the self timer. Yes, I'm one of triplets!!!!!! I've got many other photos with my triplets but I'd better not flood the group with too many pics or I might get banned by the owner/moderator of this group. LOL.
But I think the lighting was bad. I have outdoor photos with my triplets in better lighting.
Thanks for the insight into the world of an artist. No, for me, the rear shots don't mean much because for me, the face is the window to the soul. If I can't see the face, I can't tell who the person is or what he's thinking of. So, normally, I take photos of myself staring at the camera but you are right. I have been told that that is an extremely amateurish way of posing for a pic. But because I take tons of pics all the time and save them in google+ and flickr, it's easy for me to call up photos for posting.
You have a point about the back of the body. I never once thought of it that way. Evidently, I move in a plebeian circle and there are no artists among my friends. Yes, now that you have mentioned it, the spine is a very interesting structure of the human anatomy.
Just last month, we experienced a dry spell and plants and trees were dying everywhere. I watered my garden and yes, I took pics. I couldn't face the camera or I'd wet it, so here's a back shot.
I've also been working on the Power Tower to build up my muscles. Naturally, a work out is not complete if one doesn't make use of the self timer. For this, I made use of the gesture mode in my camera which is quite useful. Every time I move up and down as part of the work out, the self timer gets activated by the gesture mode and a pic is taken. That way, I can sort out the clearer photos from the unfocussed ones.