Something I haven't tried before

[Gaerek]

Since I'm trying to expand my photographic horizons, I've decided to try something I haven't really done much of. That's take a self portrait, and try to use lighting a bit more creatively. Yes, the harsh light on the picture was on purpose. The soft focus, however, was not. Unfortuantely, all of my shots suffered from soft focus. I didn't have anyone helping me with this. So my first question is, any suggestions on how to achieve good focus in this type of shot? I used a stand-in for where I was going to be. Used AF, then switched to MF. My next question is, other than the soft focus, any suggestions? This is brand new to me, so anything I could learn is better than nothing.

Oh, lighting was achieved using an LED headlamp that I was holding. I remotely fired using the DSLR Remote App for my iPhone, which worked great because I could get a nice preview without getting up. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[MohaimenK]

man you can see that in every horror movie! it's a little scary

 

[Gaerek]

man you can see that in every horror movie! it's a little scary

So the feeling I was going for came across. That's at least one good sign, lol.

 

[Juice]

Funny you post this, I was literally just practicing self portraits.

My best shots came when I had the light a little higher than my face so it didn't cast those shadows. I also just left it on AF and let the camera do it's thing.

I put the camera higher than me so I had to look up at it, thus removing the skin under my chin bunching up and giving me a double chin.

 

[MohaimenK]

hey btw, do you have to have your comp connected to the camera for the iphone to work?

 

[Gaerek]

Funny you post this, I was literally just practicing self portraits.

My best shots came when I had the light a little higher than my face so it didn't cast those shadows. I also just left it on AF and let the camera do it's thing.

I put the camera higher than me so I had to look up at it, thus removing the skin under my chin bunching up and giving me a double chin.

The shadows were totally intentional. I was going for a spooky, horror movie-like, look. I also purposely had my head tilted forward so I would have to look up slightly to look at the camera for the same reason. I wanted the axe-murderer vibe.

Thank you for the advice, however. I will take that into consideration if I ever try a traditional portrait.

 

[Gaerek]

hey btw, do you have to have your comp connected to the camera for the iphone to work?

Yeah, your camera has to be tethered, so it someone limits the usefulness of the app. But in this situation, it was the perfect tool for the job.

 

[MohaimenK]

man you can see that in every horror movie! it's a little scary

So the feeling I was going for came across. That's at least one good sign, lol.

looks familiar?? :lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

[Juice]

Gotcha. I went for the evil/scary look too (must be a guy thing haha), I'm about to post mine so you can see (in my own thread, I won't hijack yours :mrgreen: )

 

[rottie98]

personally dont like it

 

[Gaerek]

personally dont like it

Anything in particular? Your post seems kinda useless without specifics.

 

[kami]

The shadow created by your nose doesn't do it for me. Would have been better if a little detail could be seen on the bridge of your nose. Maybe a reflector from above? Coz it just creates a hole in the middle of your face. Just my .02

 

[tdz16]

You look like John Goodman in "Death Sentence" with Kevin Bacon....

~Tom

 

[Gaerek]

The shadow created by your nose doesn't do it for me. Would have been better if a little detail could be seen on the bridge of your nose. Maybe a reflector from above? Coz it just creates a hole in the middle of your face. Just my .02

Hmm, that's something to think about. I'm just worried that another light source or reflector would fill in all the shadows, which is exactly what I don't want to do. I'll have to play around with this I think.

 

[Robin Usagani]

What do you mean Soft Focus?