Tutorial: “How to take self-portraits”, Part II – Focus without a remote and a tripod

While creating this video I was working with about 20 minutes of pictures and short movies. I knew that making one video out of it is going to be way too long, so I’ve used only part of it to make the one I’m sharing today, and the rest of it I’ll use later.

I say it again, achieving a reasonable good focus when taking self-portraits wouldn’t be such an issue if I had a remote, but I don’t have it and that’s why I want to prove and show you that YOU DON’T HAVE TO own one to take good self-portraits.

I know that many people get discouraged when it comes to self-portraits just because they don’t have a tripod or a remote or because they don’t want to deal with all that stuff all together. And I totally understand that.    

Sometimes the best opportunity comes spontaneously and having a camera with you should be the only thing required to take on that opportunity. No tripod unfolding and folding. No looking for the remote in our already cluttered bags…

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

btw, if you haven’t seen it HERE is PART I of this tutorial.

Have a wonderful day, my friends.

Tutorial: “How to take self-portraits”, Part I – Basic Tips

When I was brain storming about from where I should start this tutorial, the topic of FOCUS came as the most important. It wouldn’t be as important if I had a remote, but this is the point here: I want to show you that not having a remote or tripod should not stand on your way to take on some self-shooting. 

I know that lack of remote was my biggest concern when I had decided to start the 365 Self-Portrait Project, but as it appeared later it wasn’t really that big of a deal.  

So, yes, focus… 

Well, when I started putting together the presentation for Part I, which supposed to be about focus, I noticed I keep writing very general info/tips that have nothing to do with focus, but are actually an important part of the kind of self-portraiture I’ve done.

 So, before we go anywhere further, here is Part I of the tutorial: Basic Tips. 

I hope you guys enjoy it. 

Questions and suggestions are welcome, VERY

Photo Art Friday, Minimalism NOT and stuff

This is my attempt to this weeks theme for Photo Art Friday: “Minimalist“ 

yes, it is a Facebook comment. One of many of the same or bigger length (longer length, should I say…hmm?). 

It is not from my wall, it’s a shot of my husband’s computer screen. The discussions he gets into turn into an obsessive arguments for most of the time. They are mostly about gay rights, religion, gun control and Obama. When he sees an opportunity to get into an argument with somebody on his Facebook he takes the chance 9.5 times of 10… and then I have to listen all about it… even worse, he makes me read it!!! imagine! 

So, there is NO minimalist here… 

Changing topic. 

If you remember my last week frustration with my computer… well… I got around it (not completely but at lest to the point where it is not driving me completely insane), and have been very busy with making short movies. They suck, but gosh I had so much fun making them. 

They are just a few minutes long so feel free to watch them. 

The first movie I made, it’s the one I was complaining about in last post. My husband says, he has never enjoyed “coffee” as much as while watching this movie  

The second one, I think is better, but youtube converted it into a crazy looking movie. 

The last one is from our time at the park from a few days ago. The quality is very bad because youtube changed something. After I uploaded it I got a message that they detected the movie might be to shaky (or something like that) and asked me if I want them to fix it. I clicked yes, and the outcome is horrible. So just in case, NEVER USE THIS OPTION ON YOUTUBE.

and just want to let you know, I have started putting together tutorial for taking self-portraits. I thought I will have it done by now but, as usual, life happened…, but in a good way. 

I hope for more “life happened”s  like that, you know  

So in this optimistic, not very minimalistic post, I wish you all happy Friday extended to happy Saturday and Sunday…

Photo Art Friday and Overheated Brain

I had TOTALLY different idea for this week’s Photo Art Friday theme: HARDWARE. 

I did not have the time to do it, so I went with a simple shot of a fork:

After I was done with it I had decided not to use it and skip this weeks PAF. 

I am overwhelmed by new information and by new ideas I got from today’s online workshop. I can’t sit still, I want to try it now, and I want to do it now!!! It doesn’t work like that, though. I do not have the skills nor I do have the equipment. Anyway I had tried a few new things today, and while editing and creating a BIG project my editing software quit on me, TWICE!!!  

I am so frustrated and angry I can barely stand anything and anybody. I had spent all day trying to figure out two editing softwares and putting together a cute project. After the first program quit on me, I just took a short break and started it all over. The second time I was almost done. I would say, there was a several minutes left to the moment in which I click “save the project”. Boom!!! Everything went to hell, altogether with my good mood. I just want to scream!!! 

I just hope that tomorrow I will have more luck with it, but the thing is that I wanted to have it done tonight… ugh… Now I am not going to think about anything else. I won’t be able to relax for the rest of the evening and I hate when that happens! 

I hope you guys had a better day! 

 

Introduction to a new series: “How to take self-portraits”

I have finally decided to start a series of posts about how to take self-portraits. btw, this post is long, so please grab a coffee/tea and enjoy! I was writing it for almost 3 days!!! 

I am not a pro. I do not claim I am one. I am still learning and I hope to learn even more by doing this series.

The 365 Self-Portrait Project has taught me how to overcome a few obstacles that many people come across when they want to start taking self-portraits:

-          Lack of remote

-          Not having a tripod (I have one but believe me, in 366 days of 2012 I used it less than 10 times)

-          Having two kids around all the time

-          Low self-esteem/Shyness

-          Posing

-          Creativity (lack of it, I meant)

-          Boring life

-          Lack of time (how can you have a boring life and a lack of time at the same time?)

I could think off a few more things but as for now those are the biggest problems I remember I encountered at the beginning. I still have some issues with those things, believe me. I do struggle with focus, what probably will force me to get a remote in a few weeks (I already found one that I would want to get). I do struggle with creativity and my posing sucks; I do have a funny story to tell about it, though.   

Having taken on this project (365 Self-Portraits in one year), in a very difficult time of my life has given me something than many self-portrait artists don’t have to go through while creating their portraits.

This past year was terribly hectic. I was pregnant, and then I wasn’t. I was mother of one child, then all of a sudden I had two of them. I was ok with my pregnant body and I really enjoyed to take photographs of pregnant me, but after the baby was born, immediately, I got very aware of my post-pregnant shapes, and jumping in front of the camera was the last thing I wanted to do.

With two little kids, where one is a “never wanting to let off the booby” kind, it was even harder to get creative or be on my own, in peace and quiet, having all the free time, trying this or that, until I am happy with the shot. I actually had limited time, limited opportunities, and limited energy (VERY limited energy). Many pictures were taken “on the run”, literally. My camera was always around and I would take it every single place we went. I just couldn’t afford to lose a good opportunity to take a self-portrait while doing…, well, while doing anything.

As a family we do not have very active social life so we are not in many situations that other people would take a photo of us and our kids together FOR us. Even if … I am always not very happy with pictures that strangers take for us while we are out and about. I hate that most people do not know how to handle a DSLR set on MANUAL. My camera is always on MANUAL, so if I forget to change it or at least explain a few things to the person it means that most of the pictures we are going to be on are overexposed or underexposed, and that somebody will be out of focus, read WE, the family, will be out of focus (and I know it from my personal experience). The outcome is predictable: those pictures are always deleted, what makes my husband really mad. And don’t you agree that those pictures always look the same. Boring. Flat. They look just like any other family portrait taken by a stranger where the only difference is the background (and outfits).

Do those pictures look boring:

what about these:

 

ok, the last example is not the best. I have to admit I did a poor job encouraging my husband to get into the picture in this project. I will have to change that this year. 

Anyway, when it is you who is in charge of taking pictures as well as posing in them you can control EVERYTHING! Don’t like it? Do it again. Something is out of focus? Re-focus and shot again. The picture is overexposed? Change the settings and DO IT AGAIN. Don’t like the perspective/angle? Move the camera, refocus, check the settings, and take a few more pictures. You can repeat the process until you’re happy with at least one photo. Sometimes it takes time but the more you do it the better you get in doing it right in less time. At the end it is you and only you who decide how much of you people are going to see.

The thing is, if you do it on your own, in your own time frame, surrounded by things you like, and maybe listening to a favorite music, you will feel more comfortable to just be yourself in front of the camera. To make a goofy face, to have a natural smile, to be more playful, or romantic, etc. The sky’s the limit.

 

Being honest with you, I do not have the entire plan for this series lined up in front of me. It’s not like I already have done the creative thinking and I have written all the topics and dates for them. NO. To make a good and informative post with a few examples and explanations I need time – sometimes I don’t have it (time), that’s why I don’t promise to publish “one post a week” with a new topic on how to take self-portraits. I will try to do my best, though. I think, it probably will be one post a month.

I enjoy doing it and I do it because I want to do it, not because I must do it. I want it to stay that way. I want to keep it healthy. Healthy for me. I had been through a period where blogging, getting comments and new followers would take over my personal life, my mood. I based my happiness on the number of comments and visitors to my blog. So no, I will not allow myself to slip into the same situation again.

You have to be aware; this is different from just taking a self-portrait and posting it here with a few words describing the photo. This series is my next challenge. Normally photography is a very intuitional process to me. Here, in order to explain things I’ll try to go into more technical parts of this process: f-stops, ISO, light, post-processing, lenses.

It is going to be a self-educating process. If there is one person out there who will learn something from it as well, I’ll be thrilled.

So please, if you don’t understand something I am going to talk about, just be patient and ask questions. It doesn’t hurt to ask and it could teach both sides (me and you) something new. I appreciate all the questions. I do want to help women to get out of the closet and be comfortable with their own images, no matter what age and shapes.  

To stay updated with each post from this series you can simply follow this blog, my Facebook page or Twitter, but being honest with you, I am not a Twitter person. I tweet rarely, and mostly those are updates from my posts, nothing else. The best way to stay in touch is to follow my Facebook Page.

I will not be giving any assignments or self-portrait themes, and I am not going to create link-ups. If some of my posts inspire you to go out there and to experiment with self-portraits, I encourage you to come back to my blog and leave a link to your post with self-portraits in the comments section of the most recent post from this series.

To check which is the latest post from this series if you just mouse over the button where is says “Self-Portraits”. Do not click on it. A small list will show up. 

Now there is only one thing:  ”365+1 Self-Portrait Project”. Clicking on it will take you to the whole year of my self portraits. Post after post. 

After this post is published I’m going to add one more option: “How to take self-portraits”. Clicking on it will take you to posts from this series ONLY. 

 

My next post, actually first in which I give some real advice, not just plain talk, about “how to” take self-portraits is almost ready and will be up on the blog next week. I am going to talk about achieving reasonable good focus without using the remote, as well as how to do it all without a tripod. 

 So lets the fun begin! 

 

A little bit of this and a little bit of that…

… so as my 365 Project came to an end I faced a decision what to do with this blog. Before this project there was a lot of cooking and baking in here but that won’t be the main topic here as I do not cook or bake like crazy anymore. 
From now on it probably will be an every-day-life photography blog with a new recipe now and then, and as you will see in this post, self-portraits are going to appear as well. 

I plan to participate in Photo Art Friday, that’s for sure. Digital art is not my niche but now when I’m not stressed about 365 Project I have more time to play with my pictures and exercise my imagination. This week theme, for example is: “entrance or exits“, and here is my attempt to it. 

I know I was saying about preparing some kind of series of post with self-portraits tutoring but as for now I don’t know where to start from and what to consider as important. So as for now I’ll just keep taking them and meantime, free of the stress and pressure of having to take a self-portrait each day, I will write down some advice how to take self-portraits (with examples of an actual picture).

Good news from this week: I finally received my business cards. I am not very happy with them but they will do for now.

And I could not write a post without a few shots of my precious NOT angels:

Many of you know how I used to complain that our No.1 has no interest in playing or sharing with her younger sister. So these days they’re becoming more like partners in crime.

I’m trying to self-educate these days. Being honest with you: from the day I decided to go pro with the photography business (two months ago) I have learned way more then during the last few years. I do watch online workshops, read tremendous amount of posts about photographing kids and working with families, tips and hints, and I crochet more in order to have more props for newborn sessions. 

Today I had spent my day watching creativeLIVE workshop “Lightroom Mastery with Ben Willmore”. Gosh… my brain is about to explode. This workshop is free if you watch it LIVE… so, all day today I had struggled to remember things and make some notes while handling the kids… Tomorrow is going to be the same, and on Saturday. ugh…. 

ok, last thing… sneak peek from my latest session:

warm hugs my friends

 

365 Self-Portrait Project (THE END)

Yes, Yes, Yes! 

This is my last post for the 365 Self Portrait Project. 

It was great. It was good. I had ups and I had downs. 

Since I started it I wrote a few essays about this project for:

World Moms Blog: “(Self)Portrait of a Mother(hood)“, and for BonBon Break.

First post for BonBon Break: “Portraits of a Mother” earned me position of Top 5 posts of 2012 which I am really proud of. 

The second one: “ 365 Self-Portrait Project: a Life – changing Resolution“ is a great summary of what this project means to me and how it changed me, at some point. 

I do want to say: THANK YOU to all of you who have been coming back each Friday and leaving me all the great and encouraging comments!!! If not for you I am not sure if I would have finished it. 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! 

Those last pictures I wanted to be more creative, better, more meaningful… at least to present my thoughts more clearly, but then, as many times before, life happened and I was in a rush or it got too dark, or simply I was not in a mood. 

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Simply Us. 

We were trying to take some romantic photographs for my Valentine’s Day ad for the business, and this is the best shot we ended up with. 

I’ll tell you something: It is darn hard to get romantic with two small kids around. This picture was taken while both our kids were screaming they heads off just because they had to stay on the floor ABANDONED (how dare we!!!) for about 10 minutes.  

365/365

Simply me. 

This project was a bit like getting naked in front of many people. Showing my personal life, day by day, writing about ups and downs, being in my pajamas and without make-up, etc… even though, I have managed to keep most of the drama and all the details of my private life behind the curtains

So, naked, but not really

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2012 was a leap year so it was 366 days, that’s why I decided to take one more picture.

I mean, two last pictures:

both pictures have latest Bonnie’s texture “Brown Rice Paper” in them. 

The very last picture had one more layer added to it and it’s this picture:

For all of you who want to: feel free to download it. For the full resolution picture you need to click on it (it must open in a separate window), then click on it again and drag it onto your desktop.  

Once again, thank you all for being here with me and for me! 

Hope to see you around!!! 

365 Self-Portrait Project (week 51 & 52)

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time and very relaxing start of 2013. This post is massive and I am sorry for that. Please grab a cup of tea or coffee and take your time to go through it. 
With all what was going on around here I had to skip one post. I have been taking self-portraits I just didn’t have the time and energy to put it all together and publish here.

Those are my last days of this project. There is only few days left, and I am feeling a little nostalgic about it. It was a tremendous challenge sometimes. Now it is nothing but a pleasure to be able to look back at all those pictures and remember day by day what  I was up to.

It’s been a journey! Really!

There is a few more pictures to be taken and it is not the last post from this series, so I won’t get all nostalgic here… not yet!

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Last Friday it was raining and inspired by some of the pictures my friend took in the rain, I decided to go out and try something with the rain, too. I just got wet, and ended up with an arm’s length  head shot.

365/352

The next day, on Saturday we left for Christmas. It was raining and I had plenty of opportunities to do some “rain shooting”, although it had to be from the outside of a moving car.

The trip did not go the way we had planned it and at some point we had to stay at a hotel.

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The next day, before getting back on the road we had to run some errands … and while doing it those pictures were taken.

and we hit the road again

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Merry after Christmas, my friends. I hope they were full of joy and happiness.

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Gifts, gifts, and more gifts… not a big fan of this part but, oh well… at least kids were happy!

Later the same day life had gotten very bitter, and while each year I think that my Christmas can not get any worse… the next year it actually gets worse, and worse, and I right now I don’t want to think about the next year.

 365/356

Back on the road. This time following the u-hauling husband. 360 miles home with not very happy kids on board.

and while driving I took some pictures of the amazing landscapes are we were passing through.

It wasn’t the first time we were driving those roads but never before I had seen snow there, so I was pretty excited about it. We stopped just to let No.1 to touch the snow but she didn’t want to have anything to do with it. She was pretty scared… I have no idea why.

She said “she is scary”

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When we got back home, this is what was waiting in our mail box. 

Post card from one of my clients. I couldn’t be any happier. It took my mind away from all that stuff that was going on in my head, and it made me smile. 

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Just a quick snap. Nothing special. After we came back from our trip it was nothing but feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work that has to be done around our place. I wasn’t really feeling like being extra creative with the self-portraits.

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Then I got an eye infection, or whatever that was. Very painful and uncomfortable. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, though. 

365/360

Last Sunday I had a family photo session after witch we went for a lunch.  

And this is a sneak peek of this session. What a great day we had! 

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Shower

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The First day of the 2013 we spent on a beach. 

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Not in a mood for pictures

First of all I spent all day in my pajamas.

Second of all, the day before I had this big plan for the next day. You know the one in witch I rule the world; I clean the whole house, go grocery shopping, maybe go for a walk with kids, etc. 

Then I got up, looked at the piles of laundry here, boxes there, and I knew I need a coffee first. So I had my coffee and feeling a little bit better I vacuumed. And that’s how I ruled the world yesterday.

 

 The last few pictures I am going to post next week. I want take my time to sum it up although I should say, I already did it with a post on BonBon Break “365 Self Portrait Project – A life changing Resolution“. It was published today. So far I can’t think of a better summary, sure, I should have said “thank you” more but this part will be here, on my blog. 

This essay is my second piece written for BonBon Break. The first one “Portraits of a Mother” was chosen to top 5 posts in 2012. What a great way to start the New Year and to finish this project.

In addition, if I can say I helped at least one woman to change her approach from “running away from the camera” to “willingly staying where she supposed to be” (and I know I have!) I will call this project a success of my life! 

Warm hugs!

Fly High - Happy New Year!!!

Reblogged from Ewa Samples Photography:

In this New Year I wish you all the best! May your dream come true (at least one), and if you already haven't to discover the side of a child in yourself!

All the best my friends!!!

365 Self-Portrait Project (week 50th)

I promised to myself that the last few weeks of this project I’m going to take the most creative pictures EVER. Yeah, right. This week’s series is terribly ordinary. Hopefully our road trip brings new and fresh inspiration. 

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Friday:

Feet time

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Saturday:

Believe me or not, it’s me.

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Sunday:

Me and my eye(s)

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Monday:

We had a sick baby on board this past week. Nothing very serious, but being very clingy in general, being sick made her even more glued to her momma.

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Tuesday:

Not very proud of this picture. After almost a year of taking self-portraits I should be better than shots like this one. Arm’s length? with no twist to it, with no fish lips, with these tired eyes of mine, with no texture. Nothing! Shame on me! Seriously!

365/349

Wednesday:

I finally set up skype on the computer I’m using now. 

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Thursday:

Just laying on the grass time.

The idea of today’s picture has not entered the smallest brain cell of mine, yet. There is too much laundry to do, to think about anything else. 

If I am not around, I do want to wish to all of you Warm and Happy Holidays!