Tried again at a self portrait

[a.rodgers]

CC please

One light inside, and a flashlight outside pointing at my face

 

[tirediron]

Nice. I would like to see it leveled/squared, and perhaps just a little more light on your body.

 

[a.rodgers]

by leveled do you mean that you want the frame to be less crooked?

 

[a.rodgers]

bump

 

[a.rodgers]

nobody at all?

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I think this is good. It doesn't look like your face is completely in focus and it could be a tad lighter. Overall though, it's way better than I could do.

 

[a.rodgers]

thanks for the comment! I agree it could be lighter, but I am limited in my lighting equipment (flashlights, desk lamps, etc)
The focus is defiantly off; i find it so difficult to make self portraits sharp!

 

[LCARSx32]

Get a remote for your camera. It makes it much easier because you can use the camera's autofocus. The other option is to have someone else sit where you are going to be so you can get the focus right. But then you have to get exactly where they were. Using a smaller aperture will help by increasing your depth of field, so you won't have to be as exact.

What kind of camera do you have? If it's a Canon DSLR, you can make your own remote out of a dollar store cell phone hands free headset. I made one myself and it works great.

 

[Retro_10s]

Self Portraits are by their very nature very personal - So I'm wary of giving criticism as it's easy to take these points personally - so please don't ... however since you asked for CC i will give you some.

In my opinion It's all underexposed, and very poorly lit. The focus is very poor, and I'm drawn to the background rather than yourself. I would crop it tighter to get rid of the upper portion of darkness and your legs etc. There is an awful lot going on - the border is messy and are you holding a cushion, or something?

If you don't have a remote for the camera - try using an object to focus on that you can then take the place of when the camera and yourself are ready take the picture. I do this all time with great results (I don't have the luxury of autofocus on a fully Manual film SLR)

 

[a.rodgers]

LCARSx32- i have a nikon D3000, does it work with nikons as well?

retro_10s- thanks for your critique! i don't take it personally at all, and i thank you for your advice and honesty. i'm relatively new to off camera lighting, so im not surprised at all that i made mistakes.
also, the thing that im holding isn't a cushion, its my leg i guess that proves how little detail there is on my body