Behind the Scenes of My Self Portraits
Anyone who is new to my self portraits, always asks how I do it and quite often, people don't believe that I really shoot my portraits myself. For people unfamiliar with photography, the whole self portrait process seems somewhat impossible and it always makes me laugh. There really is no magic to it, but it takes a lot of practice and patience, which I don't have much of, but I get it done because I want to create.
Along with having a camera, essential tools for my process are a tripod and a remote control, which you see me using in the video below. It's unreliable and getting the focus right is a bitch a lot of the times, but there is nothing I can do about that. I often use the Nikons app (or with Fujifilm their app) as a remote, because then I can see myself on the screen and make sure the focus is right. Thought the bis ass phone is harder to hide in pictures, and the Nikon app is really really bad. I have now used the Fujifilm app for a few weeks, and the Fujifilm X100F is going to be my go to self portrait camera because the app works like a dream with it. In theory, you could use the self timer on camera, but I never do, it's way too much work and it would make my process take hours longer than it does. I hardly ever go for just one picture, I always shoot a full set to tell a bit more of a story.
I shoot in manual mode and most of the time with natural light, so I need to keep going back and forth to both check the pictures and change the setting as the light changes. I don't use manual focus, because I like to have quite a lot of depth in pictures, and I move around, so it really doesn't work well for me. If you were taking just one picture, you can totally make it work with manual focus and self timer. I have sometimes used a mannequin as my place to get the focus right and then jump into the picture myself.
Here is a little clip I shot over a year ago to show a bit of my process. It's shot in my old apartment, in natural afternoon light and very simple setting. These days my sets are usually a bit more complex, I really don't like taking pictures against a plain white wall. I like to have a set that tells my story better, what ever that story is that day.
I made a quick list of my whole process into self portraits:
- Idea, inspiration, concept
- Waiting for/creating the right light
- Set design
- Hair, makeup and outfit
- The actual photography and modelling
(5.5 temper tantrum) - More shooting
- Selection and post process
This whole process can take anywhere from two hours to several days, if you count in the post process, depending on how elaborate the setting and my look is and how well my tools and the light co-operate.
I hope this post demystified my self portrait work a little, if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them all!
This post was originally made for Whaleshares, and it was an adaptation of post I did on my early days in Steemit. Since it's been a long time since I shared anything about my self portrait process, and I have gained thousands of followers after that, I thought it would be useful to share this again.
Thank you for this post! This kind of posts are nice to read from time to time because they tend to increase our appreciation of your work!
Thank you very much :) I like to show and tell what goes into my photography, so people are less ignorant about how an image is created.
Great look behind the scenes!
People never realize how much work goes into looking spontaneous.
Most people think what I do is the same as taking a mirror selfie with my phone and getting payed for it. Needless to say, I don't much care for people like that.
it's the era now.
people have a cell phone... and all of them take pictures, so, now everyone is a photographer. They assume you shoot like they do...
It's not point, click, hope for best
it's plan for it.
make it work
and it is work... to do this, day in day out.
It's like when people look at Jackson Pollock's paintings and say "my kid could do that". Well then, let him/her do it and try and sell it in an auction for millions of dollars, you go right fucking head, let's see how well it goes.
The "my kid could do that" people are the most boring, least creative people on the planet. Uggghhhh.
Definitely!
they wouldn't dare allow their kid to even try.
Mommy and Daddy only want perfect, never an artist, who tries!
yeah i love behind on most things. nice to see behind the scenes of your work.
That is a cool little gif you made :) Maybe I should try and do more behind the scenes kind of things, I do like seeing what goes on with other artists too.
Finding the angle that expresses you how you see yourself is always extremely difficult. Interesting read, thanks for sharing
It has taken quite a lot of practise, and continues to do so. Thank you for commenting :)
"5.5 temper tantrum" :D
I don't blame you! That looks like a lot of running around and details to keep track of. If only we could hear the words yelled while you do it.. Lol
Your secret. Hehe
Thank you for all the work you do. It IS appreciated. :)
Finally someone noticed that! I was starting to think nobody reads my stuff because they didn't point it out. But you are more perceptive that the normies :P
Interesting process you’ve got there. Perhaps I’m just showing my age, but I can’t help but think about how much film working like this would have burnt through in the days before digital.
I could never work with film, other than the Sunday Polaroid I do. I do not have the patience to try and only take a few pictures because the film is so precious.
awesome content! keep it up. @finkistinger
Thank you very much!
perrrrfect, this saved me from asking you how you do it =). I was wondering the same....was imagining you using the timer, and running back and forth ahahahah. A remote control changes the whole game...Nice work!
I’ve never liked the timer, it’s soooo damn time consuming, I don’t have the patience for it 😅
Great stuff. I'm sure many people didn't realise the amount of work you put into them. The amount of practice you've had shows because you produce some outstanding stuff!! You've also mastered the art of hiding the remote :)