A quick self-portrait guide

Self-portraits seem to be quite popular but, to be honest, quite many people don't seem to get it that well most of the times. Also it seems that the question "how to shoot good self-portraits" frequently comes up in dA photography forum. So this will also work as a reference so I don't have to type same things time after a time.

This guide will teach you the basics of photographing self-portraits. What to do and what not to do. I won't go too deeply into portrait photography though, so this concentrates more to normal problems people usually have with these. If you're interested in learning more about portrait photography, I will provide you few links that are good for learning that.

If you're impatient, here's a really quick version: plan the shoot like a normal portrait, put the camera on tripod, compose, focus and shoot with self-timer.

Basic principle

There is one basic principle with self-portraits that you should keep in mind: they're portraits. What this means is that people usually ask help with "self-portraits" thinking it's some kind of special area in photography. But it's not. They're portraits so think them as portraits, design them as you would do with portraits.

So lighting, composition and the whole concept of the photo work as it works with normal portraits. When you start planning a self-portrait, don't think it as one. Start as you would start with any portrait you might be shooting.

Things not to do

I will start here with few things people usually do even though they really should not. Remember that now I'm talking about portraits you might upload into art community like dA, not quick snapshots that you want for Myspace etc. Also naturally there's no absolutes in art. If it's part of your artistic vision, you might do it this way.

- Biggest no-no would be holding a compact camera on your hand and shooting yourself from mirror. Don't do it, 'nuff said. Naturally there's photos like this: eduardofrench.deviantart.com/a… Kind of clishe, but still something that might work as a portrait for photographer (though you could try to be creative with the idea too). Be aware of the background you have in photos like that.

- Another almost as bad thing would be holding the camera at your arms length and pointing it towards yourself. There's tons of this kind of "self-portraits" in dA too (some people even have galleries full of them). This is really bad clishe and if you want your portrait to be taken as a serious art photo, don't do this. Also you're shooting quite close from your face so it makes your nose look big (perspective distortion).

- Don't take the photo in bathroom, kichen etc unless it's part of your setup. This is more of an aspect of normal portraiture (minding the background) but people seem to miss it quite often. Pay attention into background. Try to either make it meaningful supporting the concept in your photo or try to make it neutral (and I don't mean white wall here). Using a wide aperture with dSLR is one good way to make the background (as long as it's not near you) blurred.

- Also aspect of normal portrait photography, but don't use the on-camera flash. It will just create a flat, harsh lighting. Absolutely don't ever use it if you're shooting yourself from mirror.

Shooting the self-portrait

Since you won't be using the mirror or shooting while holding the camera, this is usually the most tricky part of shooting a self-portrait.

First, you need a tripod. In some occasions, some other sturdy place works also nicely (like a book shelf or a table etc). But tripod is preferable since you it's more sturdy (you actually attach the camera into it) and you can control it better.

Next, put some object to the place where you would be. Best option would be something that is as tall as you are there. So if you're standing, have something (even a stick would be fine) that is as tall as you are. If you're sitting in chair, put something on chair that would reach the height of your head. And if you're... well, you should get the point. If you have somekind of stick, it's easy to mark your joints, mouth, eye etc locations into it.

Next step would be composing the image. This should be rather easy if the object is your height. If not, you might want to take few test shots before continuing, to get the composition right. Also rather make the composition a bit too wide than narrow. It's easy to crop it with post processing.

And then focus. So for this, you need to have the camera on manual focus and you need to focus on the spot where your head would be. This might be quite tricky though if you're using a fast lens to get a shallow dept-of-field. Basic princible of portraits is that make sure that at least the eye closest to the camera is sharp. So try to have something standing on the place where your eye would be.

Then fix the lighting. Again, with digital, you might want to take few test photos with the correct lighting before you start posing there seriously.

Now that you have everything set up, you can start shooting it. Quite often this might need few attemps before you really succeed, so have patience. Put the camera on self-timer (personally I usually use 20 seconds) and get yourself to right pose. An infra red remote would also be nice, but I still would recommend self-timer there (since you need time to get rid of the remote for the photo). I've done fine without it though.

Few other general thoughs

Just few other general thoughts that came into my mind. Mostly basic portrait stuff, but still worth mentioning.

- Worth of repeating: mind the background. Nothing is (well, almost) as horrible as self-portrait with just normal room stuff on the background, or even worse, the bathroom.

- Plan the lighting carefully. You don't need expensive studio lights for it, check the link below.

- A lens with high max aperture (low f-number, like 50mm f1.8) for dSLR will help you to blur the background to isolate the subject from it.

- Use reflectors outside to control the light.

- If shooting in low light without flash, mind the exposure time to get sharp images.

Few good examples

I don't want to provide you with bad examples since I don't want to start insulting people. But at least here's few good examples. Didn't bother seeking them, so just a few.


This is just excellent self-portrait. Good idea (photographer photographing himself) and just excellent execution. Especially the lighting works really well.

:thumb68376788:
As the title says, a clishe self-portrait. But one thing worth noticing: the background. It is completely white, something often used with normal portraits too. Nothing distracting there.

And few from me too, though not necessary that good.


A self-portrait of photographer doesn't need to be shot through mirror. At least if you have two cameras. A really traditional one, not even trying to be original. So it has a really basic studio lighting setup for a basic portrait.

:thumb93063166:
Meant to be a bit caricatyre-style self-portrait. Again with few studio lights.


Really simple photo, testing low key here too. Camera on tripod, one normal reading light for lighting and a black jacket for background.

Portrait photography resources

If you're planning to shoot any kind of portraits, I would recommend learning the basics. Start with these, for example.

news.deviantart.com/article/53… Article by me, some ideas for a home studio
www.professionalphotography101… Basic portrait lighting setups
www.photoflexlightingschool.co… Lots of different lighting setups
photo.net/learn/portraits/ Photo.net portrait photograpy guide
www.anandtech.com/digitalcamer… Nice basic portraiture guide with good examples


My previous articles:
news.deviantart.com/article/55… Beginners wedding photography guide
news.deviantart.com/article/54… 7 Photos as an Example - How did I make them?
news.deviantart.com/article/53… Do-it-Yourself Photography Studio
news.deviantart.com/article/46… How to analyze and critique a photo
news.deviantart.com/article/43… Photography as a Hobby: How to start improving
news.deviantart.com/article/42… Guide to better sunset photos
news.deviantart.com/article/41… Photography learning resources on internet