Hi everyone, my name is Laura. I'm a professional photographer and creative director and today I'm
going to explain to you how to take creative self-portraits. But I'm going to explain to you the technical side of it.
The step by step, the equipment you need and even if you don't have it, I'm going to
tell you alternatives. But at least I'm going to show you how I do it personally.
You have another video as well that I did time ago, where I explain the process to take
those portraits into creative ones. So I explain you everything you have to follow to be able
to do that. But today we're going to do the technical side so I'm going to start to explain
how I do it.
The first thing you need is a tripod. You don't need to have it so you can use anything in
your house like furniture, books, the sofa... You can put the camera anywhere but be careful
to don't smash it. But you can use a tripod. They are quite cheap some of them so if you cannot
afford an expensive one, just buy like a travel tripod. I do have a link in the description below and
it's quite cheap, it's like sixty pounds, nothing more than that and if it's going to make your life easier.
So you have to locate it the tripod first.
Now, you have the tripod located. So then what I do is to put it right in front where I'm
going to shoot. I'm going to be shooting here. So then you just put the camera on top.
This is the camera... And what I use and it's not too expensive either, you're going to have the
link in the description below as well, it's a tether cable. What a tether cable is going to do
is that when you plug it to the camera and then you plug it to the computer, where I'm at, I have
the computer next to me. So every single time I take a picture, I see how it is in the computer
and I know if I have to correct the light, if I have to correct my pose... So it's quite helpful.
This I didn't have it till one year ago more or less so you don't need it but if you have the budget,
this is going to help you a lot.
So once the tether cable is in the camera, the next thing I plug is the trigger to be able
to shoot with the remote control. They are quite cheap. They are around thirty pounds, something
like that so it's worth the money, believe me. Because I used to shoot with a timer and it was
a nightmare so now I have these little ones. This I plug it in the camera, and this I have
in my hand, while I'm shooting. So this one you connect it to the camera, it acts
as a receptor. And then you switch it on... So I'm shooting today with the 5D Mark IV
and a 24-105mm I have. I use it a lot for portraits. I prefer to use prime lenses but
because I want to put some examples to you about how to shoot portraits, I really want to
show you different focal ranges.
So once everything is set up, the next thing I do is to go to my computer and open Adobe
Lightroom, and initiate a tethered capture.
So now that everything is ready, I'm going to show you another kind of angle so you can see how
I use my light, the light I use, how I pose and the things I take into count when I'm taking
the portraits.
The next thing I'm going to do guys is to locate the key light. I normally work with just one.
You can use many and you can try more stuff with different lighting but with one light you
can create amazing self-portraits. This one is quite affordable as well, it's just a
continuous light and it's very very cheap, it's under 200 pounds.
Normally I like dramatic shots so what I mean with this is that wherever you going to locate
the light, it's going to change the feel completely. I normally like to put it in
one side or at 45 degrees. For women, I recommend you to use 45 because when it's
just one side is way too dramatic. It can look super cool as well, but you can try both anyway.
So I'm going to just put this light better... I normally locate it next to the camera so it's
very close but just enough so it doesn't show in the frame. And I will put it 45 degrees,
a bit taller than me, so you get the catch light in the eyes as well and that looks very nice.
So once the light is where I want to place it, what I do is with the remote control in my
hand, I keep trying and trying and trying till I'm happy with the lighting. I don't start
shooting the shoot I want till I have everything ready. So many people do the mistake of
start the photoshoot with the props or with the make up they want to do and then the
lighting is not good. So then you are wasting a lot of time.
So first, get the settings ready and whenever you're happy with the lighting, the settings
and the focus, you start to shoot the final project.
So in this case, the pictures are being too light, I want to create more drama.
So to create this, I'm going to put more depth of field which is going to
make the picture darker. So I'm going to have to be closer to the key light, and the
background is going to be darker. You will see an example now.
And that is a bit closer to what I want. I always prefer to take the best picture in the camera
so then you don't have to push the picture too much in postproduction.
So we're going to go again to the settings and we're going to change.
I don't know if you can notice here actually in the camera what I'm seeing. You can see this
circle visually through the camera but I cannot see it in the computer which means that I need to
put the light more pointing towards the backdrop or closer to the backdrop. I normally like it because
it makes the portrait more interesting so let's change a bit the light and put it more towards
the wall, a bit closer. Now I'm going to shoot closer to the backdrop and you're going to see the difference.
Yeah, you can notice there, that I love. This is definitely the light I want to use. I use it a lot for
portraits for artists and I use it with self-portraits. I think is very moody and still is not super super dark.
That circle you find in the background, is something I really love when I do artistic
portraiture. So that's the way to get it. Be closer to the backdrop or put your
subject close to the backdrop and then put the light quite close to the backdrop too.
So it illuminates that circle around you and I think it's very great.
So the next step is to have an idea in my mind. I do show this in a video I shoot before but I'm
going to tell you again. Think about props, outfits, makeup, everything.
So, in this case, I'm not going to go too crazy about creativity because otherwise
the video would be too long. But what I'm going to do is: I'm going to paint my lips
in red and I have a vape I've just bought for the pictures to be honest because I don't
smoke and I don't vape. But the vape is going to create nice shots with smoke.
So what I'm going to do is: Paint my lips, take the vape and start shooting. And I will
see you now.
So this is the vape I'm going to use, I've just painted my lips in red and we're going
to start to shoot.
Ok, so for this one, for example, you have to check the pose and you have to correct the pose. In this one
I tended to put my chain up and it doesn't look nice. I recommend you to put always the chin
a bit down because the features of the face look way much better and also, you can look straight
to the camera (it's a very nice portrait), but if you do 45 degrees, just the enough to see this
eye and a bit of this one, normally that angle works really well.
For this one, I really aim to look straight to the camera and have a bit of shade
on this part of my face and I think it's going to be even more moody. I love these kind
of pictures so let's try again and correct that posture.
I love these ones already. You can see the difference it makes to check step by step
every single picture you take. So please, first set up the light, then check in the computer
what you have to correct and then correct it.
And you're going to neat those pictures. You're going to make them amazing because
so many people take pictures and they're desperate to make them perfect from the
beginning and that never happens. And you're going to have to shoot a lot but you're going
to get it.
So right now, because I love those, I'm going to do just a few more just to try different ideas
and develop it a bit further but at least I'm happy already with what I have.
So now I'm very happy with the pictures guys. I love the lighting, everything came back together.
But you have to follow these steps. Just the technical side. Then get creative.
But to get creative you have to start shooting, so please start shooting and you will see how many
ideas you're going to have. Because when you do one idea, then you check in the computer and
you're going to see other poses you can do or other props you're going to use...
So please, just start shooting and if you don't have the equipment I have, which is quite cheap
anyway, you have the links below in the description, just use alternatives.
No tether cable? you don't need to. Just check in the screen when you are shooting.
Check in the screen how is coming out. If you don't have a remote control, which
is 30 quid, no more than that anyway, you can just use self-timer. I used to use the self-timer
all the time and it's a pain in the ass but you can still use it if you don't have a budget.
So you can do these pictures right now in your house. If you don't have a tripod, use furniture,
use a chest of drawers, use anything! so you can make it happen because I did. And now after years,
and now because I'm a professional photographer, I've got the money to buy the equipment so don't
be discouraged about the equipment because it will come, just keep practising!
I hope you enjoyed the video guys, this is literally the step by step I follow for all
my self-portrait projects. If you don't have the equipment don't worry because you can
use alternatives as I told you before, you can use furniture as a tripod, you can use
the self-timer instead of the remote control and if you don't have the tether cable,
doesn't matter, you can still check in the screen of the camera while you're shooting how
everything is coming out. So don't worry about it. But if you want to take a look at my equipment,
is quite affordable as well, so don't worry about it. You have all the links below. If you have any doubt,
please comment, I would be very happy to help. Share your Instagram, I would love to see your work
as well and please subscribe obviously if you like photography and I will see you next week!