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