Self Portrait driving me nuts

[astroNikon]

tested it with my SU800 and OCF, seems to work fine

 

[Derrel]

That helps alot guys. Thanks.
The PW solution is best but is way above my current budget of $0.00

So I ended up just putting a music stand with music on it at a good height and focused on it. Same concept.
But that makes sense on the string thing as I've seen that used before.

I was hoping there was some setting I was missing where when a remote is used it autofocuses before shutter release. Instead of just at the camera.

So I'm close, I got the concept now .. just have to get some better composition and such.
View attachment 57909
View attachment 57910

WTH happened??? You look so normal...so,so, well, so un-rabbit-like!

 

[astroNikon]

well I tried a few things in AFS-Auto
and truthfully, after experimenting a bit, I prefer doing the - focus on a target then put it in manual.

It took me a while to use something good at this but I use my music stand (adjustable up/down) and some really busy music on it. And the focus is great. Then I just replace the music stand with me.

I can see how the string from the ceiling target thing is so useful now. It seems like it is hard but I wasted so much time trying to take pictures without doing it. Wasted away time and effort.

So here is a quickie picture I took this morning. At 2.8. I'm going to increase the f stop to get more of the guitar strings in focus. But a good test on how to do everything.

 

[astroNikon]

That helps alot guys. Thanks.
The PW solution is best but is way above my current budget of $0.00

So I ended up just putting a music stand with music on it at a good height and focused on it. Same concept.
But that makes sense on the string thing as I've seen that used before.

I was hoping there was some setting I was missing where when a remote is used it autofocuses before shutter release. Instead of just at the camera.

So I'm close, I got the concept now .. just have to get some better composition and such.
View attachment 57909
View attachment 57910

WTH happened??? You look so normal...so,so, well, so un-rabbit-like!

I had my Halloween costume on. makes me look like one of you normal humans.

That could be one of my problems. I can't hold the camera, look through the view finder and press the release at the same time with my short paws

 

[kundalini]

I'm going to make an assumption on the menu options of the D7000.......

After going through the all the steps required for taking the shot for lighting, composition, exposure setting and pre-focusing as mentioned above and you have turned auto-focus OFF, (here's the assumption) dive into the menu and look for Interval Timer Shooting. Set it for 3 to 5 seconds between shots. This removes the remote shutter release from the equation and also keeps you from having to move from your spot and sneaking a peek at the LCD. Shoot a series and review for adjustments.

I usually set the aperture in the range of f/5.6 to f/11. This should give you plenty of wiggle room for sharp focus even if you don't always hit the exact mark of where you intially pre-focused.

 

[EIngerson]

^^^Valuable source for self portraits right there.

 

[astroNikon]

@kundalini
great idea. Thanks


a slight tangent here ...

One thing I noticed when looking INTO the camera lens, such as my 85mm lens at 2.8. I could see the dust/gunk that collects between the prism, focusing screen and condenser lens.

So while outside this past weekend while shooting soccer I turned my lens around and viola, it's like watching the game on TV in a way. Looking into the lens and through the viewfinder. kewl.

 

[kundalini]

...So I ended up just putting a music stand with music on it at a good height and focused on it. Same concept.
But that makes sense on the string thing as I've seen that used before.

You can use anything you have on hand to select your focus point. Before I started collecting "stuff", strings, broom handles, fishing poles and the like were used. Nowadays, I typically use the end of a boom arm and place it where my eye(s) will be in the frame. Using Live View and zooming in pretty tight, I manually set focus. BUT, before that, I loosely setup lights and framing to what I see in my head for the final result.

The setup:

The Focus Point:

The Vision & Final Result:

 

[kundalini]

Cool, I would underexpose the background. Almost black it out.

:scratch:
And how does one do that ??

1) Don't light the background.
2) Stop down your lens.
3) Set shutter speed to x-sync.

Okay. I did that experimenting with f/22 and OCF with some toy dinosaurs. Lol

f/22 is overkill and anything more than f/16 will probably introduce defraction.

^^^Valuable source for self portraits right there.

I live alone and have no friends. What's a po boy to do?