How To Focus Yourself for Self-Portraits
Hi everyone!
Today I’ll be sharing a little tip that might help you get that self-portrait you want to create.
I’ve noticed that many people struggle with focusing and I get asked: ‘but how did you focus yourself when you were on the photo?’
Truth is, it’s SO simple, and I’m going to teach you how to do it in no time!
Let’s break this down step-by-step:
1. Set up your tripod with your camera in front of the scene you want to position yourself in.
2. Take a test shoot just to see if you fit into the frame.
Woohoo for yoga pants for test shoots!
3. If you DO fit in the frame, you’re almost halfway done! Position a fluffy teddy bear (or whatever else you want! Like a plant. Or boots. Or have your little brother do something constructive and stand there instead of you) in the exact place where you want to be in the final photo.
(A chair helps big-time!)
4. Now go back to your precious little camera and focus the teddy bear or whatever else you placed instead of yourself. This works both if you’re working with manual or automatic focus, so don’t fret (but DON'T skip the next step)!
5. VERY IMPORTANT STEP! - if you’re using automatic focus, be sure to SWITCH it to manual once you’re done focusing the teddy bear. This way you’re locking it from further changes. Otherwise, once you’d remove the teddy bear, the automatic focus would focus your BACKGROUND instead of the place the teddy bear was in, and that would do you no good.
Switch it from AUTO FOCUS (AF) to MANUAL FOCUS (MF)
6. Now that you completed the VERY IMPORTANT STEP, you can either set your camera on a 10 second timer OR you can use a remote control, if you’ve got one. Once the focus is set, it’s time for a self-portrait session. Have fun! :)