self portraits

[monkey]

i was thinking of just PM-ing cosmo, but i figured i would ask everyone.

for my photo project, im doing these images of pain, sadness, depression. one half are objects, the other half should be self portraits. basically, my class asked me to do more of them because they said they told a more intricate story.

so... im asking for advice. i dont know the finer points of self portraits other than setting up the camera and clicking. i mean... it's hard to do a good close up or get the feeling right. i want to convey a lot of feeling without looking fake.

any tips?

[TurdBerglar]

i have a mushroom tip and it goes drip drip drip

[pip07]

Environment helps a lot

For example for "depression" wear darker colors and don't look at the camera.

[zorra_chiflada]

i was thinking of just PM-ing cosmo, but i figured i would ask everyone.

for my photo project, im doing these images of pain, sadness, depression. one half are objects, the other half should be self portraits. basically, my class asked me to do more of them because they said they told a more intricate story.

so... im asking for advice. i dont know the finer points of self portraits other than setting up the camera and clicking. i mean... it's hard to do a good close up or get the feeling right. i want to convey a lot of feeling without looking fake.

any tips?

just remember, portraits are not solely a picture of someone's face or their body. they can be abstract, seemingly random objects which relate to the person on some level.
look deep inside yourself, and talk to people close to you, about what they think would represent you in a portrait.

[icy manipulator]

i was thinking of just PM-ing cosmo, but i figured i would ask everyone.

for my photo project, im doing these images of pain, sadness, depression. one half are objects, the other half should be self portraits. basically, my class asked me to do more of them because they said they told a more intricate story.

so... im asking for advice. i dont know the finer points of self portraits other than setting up the camera and clicking. i mean... it's hard to do a good close up or get the feeling right. i want to convey a lot of feeling without looking fake.

any tips?

what type of art course do you do?

[cosmo105]

self portraits are the worst. they're difficult, especially if you like being behind the camera better than of in front of it (i know i do). the most technically difficult part is getting the focus right, especially if you have a shallow depth of field. my advice? GET HELP! have someone assist you. tell that person EXACTLY what you want the photo to look like, sketch it and frame it and everything. it's helpful if you have someone that's also a photographer. i was lucky this last semester that one of my classmates became a good friend and we helped each other out on our assignments. it was a lifesaver.
anyway, either have someone be your stand-in and position him or her exactly the way you want, or have this person help you do the actual shooting. it is possible to do the entire thing yourself, but that's kind of a pain. obviously you want to use either the self-timer or a concealed cable release for that.
as far as the actual image? that's up to you. visualize waht you want it to look like, sketch it out (i ALWAYS do, it helps so much), and even practice in a mirror if you need to. it'll be worth it. good luck :)