0:00
Hey guys, we're back with another video.
0:02
Today we're in Paris, so I want to show
0:04
you five different ways you can take
0:06
self-portraits while traveling if you
0:08
don't have a lot of equipment. Let's get
0:09
started. I shoot self-portraiture
0:11
because sometimes the photographers I
0:13
know can't translate the idea that I'm
0:15
thinking of as the same way I could, or
0:18
the model friends I know are busy, or I
0:20
do it because I don't have gear, I'm
0:22
traveling, or I'm just trying to get
0:24
back to my roots of photography and
0:26
become better as both a photographer and
0:28
a model. For the first self-portrait, I
0:30
want to take it in front of this window,
0:32
but I don't have a tripod for this one.
0:34
So, I'm going to use my camera on a
0:35
selftimer. We have this shelf here. So,
0:38
I think that the best height angle I
0:40
could get would be using this. When
0:43
you're setting up the camera settings,
0:45
you want to aim it towards where you're
0:48
going to shoot it. So, I'm going to use
0:52
A good way I like to make sure it's
0:54
focused on me if I want to use a lower
0:58
aperture is kind of set something
1:02
if I'm sitting about right here. I'll
1:04
move this to here and then I'll make
1:06
sure my focus is on the flowers. So
1:09
going over to the camera.
1:11
I'm focusing on the flowers.
1:17
I'm just going to take a test shot to
1:19
see if I like the settings.
1:22
For this one, because it's so backlit, I
1:24
kind of like the silhouette look, and I
1:26
think my settings are perfect.
1:29
I'm shooting at 100, one over 100 for
1:32
the shutter speed. My f-stop is 2.8, and
1:36
my ISO is 100. So, it keeps it very
1:42
So, I'm setting up for selftimer here.
1:47
Now, for most selftimers, you have like
1:48
8 to 10 seconds. So, it's enough time
1:50
for me to move the object and kind of
1:58
For self-portrait, it's a lot of moving
2:00
back and forth. So, I'm going to look to
2:02
see if I like that photo.
2:06
It's a little bit higher than I want it
2:08
to go. So, because I have this handy
2:10
dandy shelf, I'm going to lower it.
2:16
Make sure I haven't touched the focus,
2:18
so it should still be right now. Let's
2:34
I think it looks great. I think the
2:36
focus is perfect, but I think it's a
2:38
little bit dark. So, I'm going to use
2:40
this lamp here. So, I don't want this
2:42
lamp in the photo, obviously, but I just
2:44
want it to illuminate my face. So, as
2:47
much as these flowers are beautiful, I
2:52
and just aiming it to where I think my
2:54
face will be. And now my frame is about
2:56
right here, so I know that this lamp
2:59
will be out of it, but it'll give me
3:01
just enough light to be able to see me
3:08
The light looks great, though. Let's try
3:10
one other location. maybe
3:14
this chair on the couch cuz it's just
3:16
enough height. And obviously because no
3:19
one's making sure your camera is safe,
3:21
you want to make sure it's Don't do it
3:23
on anything too risky. I have faith in
3:25
this, so I'm going to leave it here.
3:27
Same thing. I think I'm going to stay by
3:30
the window. So, I'm going to put an
3:31
object to focus on. This is really
3:34
important for self-portraits. If you
3:35
want to use a small a short f-stop, make
3:38
sure that it's in focus.
3:54
Looks great. You can't see a lot of the
3:55
scenery, but there are good portraits of
3:57
yourself. For the next one, let's try it
4:00
outside with a tripod. Now, if you're
4:04
able to store this in your luggage, this
4:06
is a great tripod. this jobies tripod.
4:08
It can attach to fences or any
4:10
surroundings and if you're shooting by
4:12
yourself and you just want to prop it up
4:14
on something short high, this is a great
4:21
So, now that we're outside and we have
4:26
this can attach to things, but it I
4:28
don't necessarily want it sitting on the
4:30
ground, especially as a tourist. You
4:31
have to be smart about it. Um, so let's
4:34
go to the park up the street
4:37
and we can attach it to the fence there
4:39
and take some selfportraits in the grass
4:42
while we walk. I'm just going to adjust
4:43
my camera settings so that I'm ready to
4:45
go once we're there. So, I'm going to
4:51
around this fence here.
4:55
Make sure it's nice and tight. This is
4:58
great. An onthe-go tripod.
5:03
Make sure we're on selftimer.
5:06
And same as last time, to make sure you
5:08
have the focal distance correct and you
5:10
don't have anyone around to focus on, I
5:12
just pick a spot on the ground. Like
5:15
over here, I'm looking at these leaves.
5:17
So, I'm going to pick a leaf on the
5:18
ground and I'm going to focus my camera
5:21
on that. Remember, this is while you're
5:23
traveling and while you're alone.
5:26
So, it's not as easy as just setting it
5:28
up on a tripod. as well as you have to
5:31
give yourself at least three shots of,
5:33
"Oh, that didn't look right. Oh, the
5:35
lighting was off. Oh, oh, I got to
5:37
adjust that." The first three shots are
5:38
all just to make sure you have it
5:40
perfect. With self-portraiture, I would
5:42
recommend like before you press the
5:45
selftimer to kind of have a pose in
5:46
mind. You can stand here while you're
5:48
thinking and be like, "Oh, maybe this
5:49
time I'll do this." Cuz you will just be
5:51
wasting time of going back and forth
5:53
between the camera. I think I'd feel
5:55
awkward looking at myself standing. And
5:57
that's okay. So, I think I'm going to
5:59
move to a more seated position um to
6:02
kind of give a more natural I didn't
6:03
just press the selftimer look. You want
6:06
them to look like someone else took the
6:12
have more hands than you do.
6:15
So, I'm going to sit for this one.
6:20
And remember, you are the photographer
6:22
and the model. So, you have to give
6:24
yourself grace in both aspects. I liked
6:26
my pose on that one, but because I
6:28
changed it and didn't adjust adjust my
6:29
focus, that picture was out of focus.
6:33
And that means I just need to readjust
6:36
some things. I also because there's
6:39
garbage cans in the background, you can
6:42
throw away an idea. I don't love this
6:44
one as much. So, I'm going to change.
6:47
I'm going to tilt it up. Make sure I'm
6:49
focused on that grass
6:52
because I focused on the grass. I'm a
6:55
little bit out of focus because
6:56
obviously the width of my body is
6:58
changing in focal. So, I wouldn't
7:01
recommend shooting on as low of an
7:03
f-stop as I am. I'm going to move up to
7:09
so that I give myself a little bit more
7:11
leeway with the focus.
7:15
I've been taking self-portraiture for a
7:17
long time now. And I will say the moving
7:21
It never gets easier, but you do find
7:26
make it faster after a while. You get
7:29
settings that you like, but with the
7:31
light changing, it's always a different
7:33
story. I started doing self-portraiture
7:35
a couple years ago as a photographer
7:38
that gets her best ideas or her most
7:42
exciting ideas to herself at late hours
7:45
or when I'm solo traveling, it's kind of
7:48
hard to rely on other people. So, being
7:52
able to do both the modeling and the
7:53
photography, you can get your ideas out
7:55
a lot faster. You can get your ideas out
7:58
um without the mediation of other
8:01
people. And as much as I do love
8:03
photographing, sometimes you you got to
8:06
get it out right now. And it's the
8:08
quickest way that I've gotten ideas out.
8:10
Another tip I use when I'm doing
8:12
self-portraiture if I know I'm going to
8:13
be sitting kind of nearby is I'll stick
8:18
and I'll focus on my hand. Now, because
8:21
I might not know exactly where my hand
8:25
is in front of me, I'll drop my hand
8:27
down on the ground and kind of make a
8:31
marker. I can put leaves. If you're
8:33
inside, you can mark it with a pen. Just
8:40
So, when I turn that on,
8:44
finding your frame. So, if this is the
8:47
top of the frame and I'm looking, my
8:48
hand just enters the frame. I know that
8:51
over here the top of my frame is very
8:53
low. So, I have to be doing some pretty
8:56
low portraits. Looking at the
8:58
surroundings though, I will say the
9:00
buildings back here are really nice. So,
9:02
you can always change your idea and not
9:05
having a model. You don't have to feel
9:06
very guilty about it. I'm going to tilt
9:08
it so I get some of these surrounding
9:10
buildings. Same thing. Hand in front.
9:19
Hands in focus. Now mark straight down
9:22
where my hand is. I'm gonna put some
9:24
leaves there. Find my top of my frame.
9:27
Top of my frame's right here.
9:31
Is a little dark. Nothing I can't fix in
9:34
editing, but it includes the buildings.
9:41
I didn't need anybody else. For the next
9:43
self-portraits, we're going to do if you
9:46
don't have a tripod, if you don't have a
9:48
camera and you're only using your
9:50
iPhone. So, using my iPhone, I have the
9:54
iPhone 14. The camera on this one, I
9:58
will say, is just below what Apple is
10:00
now doing, but it's still great. There's
10:05
a few settings that you can change on
10:08
your phone before you get started, which
10:11
is my first tip is that the camera
10:14
that's on the back of your phone is a
10:16
lot better than what the front camera
10:18
is. So, I feel like we're not taking a
10:20
selfie. We're not using this front
10:23
camera here because this camera is not
10:25
going to do you justice. So, use your
10:29
and turn it on. So when your self timer
10:33
choose 10 seconds. It'll do a burst.
10:37
Now for this, you can change kind of the
10:42
This is a great tool where you're
10:44
adjusting filters so that it saves you
10:46
in the editing room. I want to take kind
10:48
of a warmer one since it is fall. Maybe
10:52
change. Make sure my boot looks nice and
10:57
Nice, rich, warm. All right.
11:01
Now, you don't have to worry about
11:03
what's in focus for an iPhone, which is
11:05
really nice. You just have to worry
11:06
about where you're putting it. So,
11:08
looking around where I can put my camera
11:14
Oh, I like this gazebo. It's got a good
11:18
architecture to it. I'm trying to think
11:20
of where we can set up our phone.
11:24
Maybe right here. Make sure my timer is
11:27
on. I prefer 10 seconds. I think
11:30
anything less than that is doing
11:32
yourself a disservice.
11:46
Now, there is still people in the
11:47
background, and that is part of the hard
11:50
thing about doing portraiture in a city.
11:53
And I'm trying to think of a good way
11:54
that we can avoid it. Like maybe
11:57
shooting a little bit closer. If we shot
12:11
We've now successfully kind of avoided a
12:15
but I don't love that photo. So, let's
12:17
try it one more time. Before we try it,
12:20
I'm gonna sit and I'm gonna think about
12:21
what I want this photo to look like.
12:24
I think that standing is good because
12:28
iPhones shoot very tall
12:31
obviously for shooting horizont or
12:33
vertically. So I think you can also just
12:36
play with them where I can sit in it and
12:40
see if I feel awkward. That one feels
12:42
awkward. This one feels awkward. So,
12:44
maybe I do something a little bit more.
13:08
You can always crop. And I like
13:13
I like the way the iPhone one looks, but
13:15
I think we could try one more with the
13:17
camera, not having to set it up
13:18
anywhere. I think we could do it either
13:21
holding it like this, cuz if you have
13:23
the tripod, you can kind of give
13:24
yourself a bit more length. If not, you
13:27
can always hold your camera like this.
13:29
But it's all about just making sure
13:30
you're in focus and making sure the
13:31
lighting's good. Come on.
13:38
So, because we have to refocus on
13:40
ourselves and we are doing it handheld
13:42
such as this, you have to kind of guess
13:45
where your arm length is because I can
13:48
only see this much of my screen. I can
13:51
see my jacket and I can see that right
13:53
now it's in focus. So, I can't extend my
13:56
arm any more than this. So, I'm going to
13:59
keep my arm just raise it up until I'm
14:03
Make sure my selftime is on.
14:06
Check that focus one more time and then
14:09
raise it up till I'm in frame.
14:12
For portraits like this, it's best with
14:14
a wide angle lens because I'm currently
14:16
using a 35. So everything I take within
14:19
arms reach is very close. So when you're
14:22
doing self-portraiture, any wide angle
14:24
lens will give you a lot more
14:25
forgiveness in what you're doing.
14:29
But being able to use, if you don't have
14:31
a tripod, just your arms width, making
14:34
sure you're far away and kind of keeping
14:43
When you're solo traveling specifically
14:45
and you don't have any other people
14:47
around you to take these photos, it's a
14:49
great tool to use. And any photo that
14:52
you've seen today, any style that you've
14:54
seen today is how I've taken all of my
14:56
self-portraits throughout my career. And
14:59
at the end of the day, don't get
15:00
discouraged. Not every photo you take is
15:02
going to be an absolute beauty. But it's
15:06
a great way to take photos alone and
15:08
when you're traveling that you might
15:10
take a museum worthy photo on your own,
15:13
or you might spend a day learning how to
15:15
take better photos, and both are
15:19
So, the apartment I'm staying in in
15:20
Paris only has one mirror, and I don't
15:23
really love the lighting and the
15:24
ambiance in this bathroom. So lucky for
15:27
me, this one is removable. So another
15:29
portrait you can do if you don't have a
15:32
lot of equipment is shoot with a mirror
15:34
cuz that way you can always see what
15:44
I think using the light, the natural
15:46
light that we have coming from this side
15:49
and maybe these flowers here, we can
15:52
prop up this mirror.
15:55
The safest way to do it is on this side.
16:09
So, looking at this mirror, I can see
16:11
everything that's in my frame. My light,
16:16
artificial light here. So, it's kind of
16:18
got a warm look. I have You've got to
16:22
use the stuff around you. I've got one
16:24
cap that'll bring this a little bit
16:30
So this way you don't have to find an
16:32
object to focus on. You can focus on
16:34
yourself in the mirror right here.
16:40
Perfect. And with that selftimer still
16:50
find an angle that we like.
17:10
You can also incorporate the camera with
17:13
it. This one you don't really have to be
17:15
on selftimer obviously, but you can
17:18
incorporate the camera to kind of make a
17:25
Try it again. So you can incorporate the
17:27
frame to kind of frame your photo for