Self Portrait to Selfie
There's no real need to explain this - you know what a Selfie is and how to take one - except to say that we begin our exploration in 1510 with Leonardo Da Vinci's very hairy self portrait and continue through the history of art and into the photographic age with the very first camera self portrait taken by a good looking young American in 1839. Millions of images later we come to the modern smartphone age of the social media self portrait. We don't get anywhere near the dreaded word Selfie until it is announced as the Oxford University World of the Year in 2013.
Today everyone takes Selfies and it's ok.
Whether it's a thoughtful photographic image or just to celebrate a birthday or a new outfit or to say
" here I am everyone - and this is how I'm looking today !!"
These pictures can be serious or light hearted. You can dress up or stay in your pyjamas. If you have a great idea but no tripod or you need the shot to be taken from a specific angle - you can ask someone else to shoot the picture. As long as it's your idea it's your picture. (unless it's a macaque monkey called Naruto pressing the button and you spend 10 years in court trying to prove the pictures are yours )
IF YOU SMILE - IT'S A SELFIE.
IF YOU FROWN - IT'S A SELF PORTRAIT.
No thanks you say ?
Ok not everyone wants to show the world their mug so our tutorial includes a gallery of No Face selfies. It's mostly feet to be honest. When we start our school lessons the first thing students do is take a picture of a friend jumping in the air. The second picture they take is of their feet. Don't ask me why.
You might decide to wear a mask or disguise yourself as a Swedish pastry chef - or think that your elbow or left knee says something amazingly profound about who you are.
Technique
Nothing too complex - If you shoot outside stay in Auto Mode or maybe choose the Portrait mode to improve skin tones.
Set your camera to Auto ISO
If you are shooting a mirror selfie or working anywhere else inside your house make sure to work in the brightest part of the day and hold the camera really steady. Auto ISO should keep your shutter speed at a safe level - but you should check the images to make sure they are not shaky
If the pic are a bit shaky you can switch to Shutter Priority (TV or S) and set a shutter speed of 1/125. Make sure ISO is set to Auto.
This will keep everything sharp.
Self Portrait Tutorial or click the picture
