Concept

First of all, you need a cool concept instead of just grabbing your phone and taking a selfie in the mirror, what I recommend is coming up with a concept -view this as a creative way to tell something about yourself. Think about what story do you want that photo to tell, think about the light, the colors and how they will enhance that story.

Lens

My favorite for self portraits is the 50mm lens. Since you can not adjust the framing to consider for every slight move you, the model, make you will have to go with lenses from the wider part of the spectrum to make sure you are still in the frame.

Setup

A remote camera trigger and a tripod are your best friends since you are both the model and the subject of this photo, but don't hesitate to prop your camera on a shelf or to use the timer on your camera for this if you don't have a remote. One trick I started to use recently is using an app on my phone and a 5 meter cable to connect my camera to said phone in order to see what the camera is seen and modify setting without having to make 100 trips to the tripod. It is basically like shooting theater but on my phone not on my pc.

Light

I think self-portraits are the best way to experiment with lights since there is no client/crew/model so you won’t waste anybody's time. You can spend all the time you want experimenting, testing light setups and learning

Autofocus

I have 2 tips for you to make sure you are in focus and the image is sharp.

close down the aperture a bit and just go with something approximative.
or switch your camera to live view and use the face tracking - this works wonders and nobody has to babysit the camera

Case study

Can you spot anything in the smoke?!

_{click the photo for better res}

Years ago when shooting this, I envision myself as a jazz player with a crush on a ballerina enjoying a smoke after a concert and dreaming of her while looking at the smoke. So I dressed accordingly, bought a pipe and started experimenting with the smoke coming out of it. Decided to add colored gels into the mix so I can get a better definition of the smoke shapes and then use photoshop to create a dancing ballerina in the smoke. So, in the end, the photo has both an easter egg hidden in it and a love story.

Photogames - SELF PORTRAIT ASSIGNMENT

In this game, I am looking for creative work. I want you to go crazy. The sky is the limit. So my recommendation is to go for bold colors, creative props, and techniques. Tell me a story with that photo. Make me say WOOOOW.

PHOTOGAMES INFORMATION LINKS

Please follow the photostars for week 1 to stay up to date and keep an eye on @photogames especially to see the updated leaderboards and to play Game 2. Reshare this WEEK 1 announcement post. Also we're really excited season two prize pool is now over 100SBD.

How to take awesome self portraits and win some SBD