{"id":19842,"date":"2016-05-17T14:58:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T18:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/?p=19842"},"modified":"2016-07-06T10:10:51","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T14:10:51","slug":"4-ways-create-professional-self-portrait-not-selfie-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/4-ways-create-professional-self-portrait-not-selfie-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Create a Professional Self-Portrait (Not a “Selfie”!) Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/i>For many centuries, we\u2019ve captured ourselves in some form of a self-portrait. During Antiquity, several artists of the day portrayed likenesses of themselves in painting and in creating sculptures. Fast-forward a couple of centuries to the Old Masters such as Diego Velasquez, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt, who would also paint images of themselves using pencils or paints.<\/p>\n

\"01.
Zelfportret met baret en halsdoek, het gezicht in de schaduw: buste, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, 1633 Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>A couple of hundred years later, and while the camera had already been introduced into society, Vincent Van Gogh preferred to paint himself trying to capture a more \u201clikeness\u201d of himself that he felt he could not capture with a camera. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"02.
Self-Portrait as a Painter – Vincent van Gogh, 1887 – 1888 Image courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the 1970\u2019s Cindy Sherman produced a series of self-portraits in various costumes, scenarios and likenesses expressing female identity. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"03.
Cindy Sherman through her own self-portraits. Image collage courtesy of Google.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>Now it\u2019s the age of the \u201cselfie\u201d, a form of self-portrait usually taken with a smartphone either extended at arm\u2019s length or attached to the end of a selfie stick. It has become a \u201cfun\u201d form of personal expression that has unmistakably littered social media and dating websites over the last decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"04.
A fun form of self-expression…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, not all social media and websites, in general, are crawling with the craze of \u201cselfies\u201d. LinkedIn is a great example of where one might find more professional portraits representing the professional side of its owner since LinkedIn primarily connects people to businesses and businesses to businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"05.
My LinkedIn profile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a creative, you might be tempted to reach for that smartphone and take your own self-portrait for LinkedIn and\/or other professional websites (including your own!) For professional purposes, however, you may want to consider the quality of the image when presenting yourself as a businessperson because while photography is a creative process, it\u2019s also at least 80% business. So put the smartphone back down and let me show you 4 ways to create your own <\/span>professional<\/span><\/i> self-portrait.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparations Prior to Any Method<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are several different steps that are important to take care of prior to shooting your professional self-portrait.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hair & Makeup<\/b><\/p>\n

Prior to any preparations or method I mention here, in order for your portrait to really stand out and look professional, I always suggest having your hair and makeup prepared by a professional hairstylist and makeup artist vs. doing it on your own. Why? The camera picks up everything, but not always necessarily in a good way! For some of you, your portrait might be your calling card. Invest in your hair and skin appearance as you would your wardrobe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"06.
Hair and makeup can make the difference between amateur and professional-looking self-portraits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Makeup<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ladies, while in person our makeup looks great, it takes a little bit more punch for the camera to pick it up and a professional makeup artist will know how to apply the makeup for the camera. Gentlemen, actors and models wear makeup – so there\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of in preparing for your portrait in this manner too. Remember, the camera picks up <\/span>everything<\/span> – including every pore on your face. Trust me when I say, hire a makeup artist to save yourself time in post cloning and healing your skin so much that you lose the likeness of yourself in your finished portrait.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hair<\/strong><\/p>\n

A hairstylist can also be a great tool to have on set as your hair could be perfect when you\u2019re looking in the mirror, but once you get to your modeling stool or into pose for the shot, you will have strays everywhere that you didn\u2019t notice before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Space<\/b><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll want a clean shooting space where you will limit any potential problems or hazards during your shoot. Here are a few of steps I took for setting up for my shoot for this article. It will always vary depending on the type and location of the self-portrait shoot I do.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Place your posing stool or chair where you intend to sit (unless you intend to stand). I suggest 6 feet away from any flat backdrop to minimize\/eliminate shadows behind you.<\/p>\n

2. Take a piece of painter\u2019s tape and place a big \u201cX\u201d where your stool or chair is (or where you plan to stand). This is so that you stay in the same spot as one of the methods below requires manual focus, which requires you to be in the same focal plane of your original manually set focus – to stay in focus.<\/p>\n

\"07.
Place an \u201cX\u201d under your seat so you know where you need to be to stay in focus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Set up your tripod 4-6 feet in front of you depending on the focal length of your lens (this is not the final spot for your tripod – just a resting spot while you situate everything else first).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"08.
Set up your tripod.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. Attach your camera to your tripod.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"09.<\/p>\n

5. Place your laptop or computer in viewing distance from the posing stool so that you can view the results as you shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"10.
Set up your computer or laptop close enough to be able to see it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. Set up a tether cord (that is specific to your camera) from your camera to the laptop or computer. <\/span>Tether Tools<\/span><\/a> makes a whole line of tethering supplies specific to your camera model. Just be sure to ask an Adorama associate which cable will work with your camera. I would suggest a 15-foot cord for a smaller area and longer for a larger area. It\u2019s always better to have too much than not enough! Know that you will not be able to tether for all methods mentioned here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"11.
Set up your tether from camera to computer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also, be sure to use painter\u2019s tape and tape down any and all cords so that you do not trip when \u00a0going back and forth to your camera from where you are sitting\/standing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"12.
Tape down your cords so you don\u2019t trip!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

7. Boot up Lightroom (Adorama $142.99) or any other software that allows you to tether so that you can view what you are shooting as you shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"13.
Get Lightroom ready for any tethering you might do.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

8.Set up your speedlight(s) or strobe(s) in the position(s) where you want the light to hit you. Be sure to also have any necessary pocket wizards or tool of equal use set up for your lightsource.<\/span><\/p>\n

9.Set up the light modifiers you intend to use for your shoot. Ladies, <\/span>beauty dishes<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>softboxes<\/span><\/a> are your best friend when going for a classic portrait. You could consider adding a grid or working with your background, positioning and camera settings to make it a bit more edgy. Gentlemen, grids will give you a more raw, masculine look. I personally have and use a reflector holder for when I do not have an assistant. My weapon of choice is the <\/span>Photoflex Telescopic LiteDisc Holder for 12-32\u201d Portable Reflectors<\/span><\/a> on any light stand that will stand at 3-4 feet from the floor and a <\/span>Lastolite 32\u201d Collapsible Triangular Reflector<\/span><\/a> for headshots and close-up portraits<\/span><\/p>\n

\"15.
My final setup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a last word in all cases mentioned below, make sure you are looking into the camera lens when you are shooting and not into a tethered screen – rookie mistake!<\/span><\/p>\n

Method #1: Self-Timer<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. The first and most obvious way to get a self-portrait – the way we\u2019ve known and done in the past – is by setting the self-timer in your camera.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"16.
    My Timer Method Setup Image courtesy of Yann Bizeul<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    For this method, you will need to set your camera to manual focus and this is where that \u201cX\u201d under your seat will come into play. An additional step to your setup in this method is to set the focus manually so as to capture you completely in focus. There are two ways to do this<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"17.
    Set your camera to manual focus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    2.\u00a0Then, set your focus for where you will be sitting in one of two ways:<\/span><\/p>\n