How To Take a Self Portrait with a Point and Shoot

 
Taking a self portrait photograph is becoming even more popular these days as a result of Myspace and many other sites requiring such photos. If you want to take a self portrait photograph with your regular digital point and shoot camera, then there are certain things that you will need to do. Taking a self portrait without looking funny can be challenging for even the most experienced photographer. It is, however, something that you must practice doing.

As with every other type of photography, it will take a lot of practice to get the self portrait photography just right. Once you get some experience, though, you shouldn't have a problem taking this type of photograph of yourself.

Step 1: Setting up the Camera

For best results, you should use a tripod to ensure that the camera is steady and doesn't move. Fix the camera onto the tripod and position it so that it is pointing at a light background. You will need to adjust the height of the camera so that it is possible to take head shots. Make sure that the camera is around one foot away from where you intend to stand.

Step 2: Timer

In order to take the best self portraits, you will need to use the self timer function on your camera. Every camera should have this, but if you don't know how to use it, then you should read your instruction manual.

It is normally either turned on in the menu or by pressing a button. If possible, set this to as long as possible so that you have enough time to get into position and compose yourself before the photo is taken.

Step 3: Taking the Photo

With the timer set, press the shutter button and then stand where you will take the photo. The camera will typically flash a red light until the photo is taken.

It can be frustrating to take photos using a timer because quite often you won't be in a position or have your eyes open at that moment in time. However, don't let this worry you. Continue taking lots of photos until you have at least 10. This will give you plenty to choose from. For these photos, you can try something different and you can decide whether or not it worked later on.

 

Step 4: Review

After you have taken 10 or more photos, you can review them on your camera. This should only be a fairly quick look to check that you have some promising looking photos. If you're not in any of the shots, then you will need to continue until you have some useable photographs.

Step 5: Review on Computer

Connect the camera to your computer using the Firewire or USB cable and download all of the photographs as you normally would. You can save these in a folder on your computer.

Open all of the photos in your favorite photo editing application so that you can see what they really look like. This will give you a much better view of them compared to the screen on your camera. Choose the photographs that you want to use as your self portrait once you have compared them all.