[ Outline ] · Standard · Linear+ Self-photo Instructions For Lynette, Who is too proud to ask for help...

Ideally, you want a digital camera. So, you can take a lot of messed up photos, and not waste film before you get the right photo. I used an old Olympus Camedia 3000Z. Make sure your batteries are fully charged.

The camera should have a remote, which allows for more control than a simple timer. No breaking the pose to get up and walk over to the camera to take the next shot.

You also need an adjustable tripod. Full size, not the cheap portable ones. Full size will let you tilt the camera sideways. Raise the camera above the subject. Shoot from below, etc.

Find a fairly neutral backdrop so that people aren't distracted by your laundry, pet, Charles Manson for President poster, etc.

Plan in advance the pose you want to try. You can tilt a mirror against the tripod to see how the looks real time.

Check the lighting and color balance. Is the flash going to be enough? Do you need side lights, etc.?

Put the camera in remote mode. Have your S/O sit approximately where you two will pose and check to see how everything looks in the frame. Hopefully, your camera will have real-time autofocus. Most do these days.

Get into position. Try multiple angles. And take multiple shots changing position slightly. Every once in a while, get up to check your results on the camera to make sure body parts aren't getting clipped out of the frame or that there is a focusing problem.

A future post will deal with photoshop editing.....

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This shot is about 2/3 of the original image. Surrounding detail not relevant to the shot was cropped out. The crop tool is invaluable for whittling away unnecessary detail in the outside of the photo. And the tool always looks the same, no matter whose photo application you are using.

In addition to being cropped and converted to grayscale, this image also had its contrast adjusted. The contrast and brightness were increased slightly. This tends to eliminate midtones and create a more idealized photograph in terms of smoothness of skin tone (in my S/O's case, this wasn't really necessary).

For photoshop-type work, make sure you know how to use both the cloning and smoothing tools. The cloning tools (which often looks like a large square or circle) lets you overwrite certain areas using an exact duplicate of the tool. One click puts the exact info from clone tool A into clone tool B.

Smoothing tools can take granular areas (uneven skin tones, stretch marks, birth marks) and make them much less obvious. Check to see if the pressure level is adjustable.

A note for Lynette -- the remote for the camera is actually in my right hand in this photo. I just clicked the button and then closed my hand.

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