How to take a picture of yourself: the technical and historical aspects of self-portraiture

Self-portrait is, perhaps, one of the oldest art forms. Cognition of the world begins with self-knowledge. And against this fact it is difficult to object. From time immemorial, artists have tried to convey their inner state by portraying themselves. Practically all classics, from ancient artists to post-impressionists, preferred to depict themselves, revealing their vision of the world through their own image, through their experiences, sensations, closing the circle of their creativity on themselves.

Self-portrait is akin to an autobiography, in which the artist tries to tell about his life through visual images. Albrecht Durer and Leonardo, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo left behind a vast legacy of self-portraits that tell about their lives much more fully and expressively than any evidence of contemporaries and research biographers.

With the advent of the camera, the process of creating images was greatly facilitated. Today, in order to create a picture on which the ancient masters took months of painstaking work, it is enough to press the trigger one time. However, the question arises as to how to photograph yourself, without the help of outsiders?

There are several methods for creating a self-portrait photo. First of all (and this is the most popular, simplest and most logical option) is photographing yourself in the mirror. In the case of a SLR camera, when it is necessary to look into the viewfinder to monitor the frame boundaries, this process is somewhat difficult, although, of course, you can make several attempts and sequentially check the result until you achieve the desired quality. However, practice shows that such images are rarely expressive from an artistic point of view, since it is very difficult to control the expression in a situation where it is necessary to monitor the position of the camera, but try not to move so as not to "fall out" of the frame. In addition, in order to understand how to photograph yourself in a mirror, it is necessary to take into account that the shooting should take place in a rather bright light, excluding the use of a flash, which is incompatible with the mirror. And in conditions of usually insufficient illumination inside the premises this is always a problem.

The second answer to the question "how to take a picture of yourself" is shooting on an outstretched hand. This method involves some difficulties and requires the training of spatial vision and remarkable coordination of movements. In addition, the camera settings should allow shooting from small distances. It must have a sufficient depth of field, so that the background on which the survey is being taken is not blurred, and all the details are in focus.

Perhaps the most optimal answer to the question "how to photograph yourself" is to shoot with a tripod or tripod. With this method, you need to install the camera on a tripod, send it to a preselected location, mentally mark the boundaries of the frame, click on the timer and have time to take the necessary position for the time that is provided for this function. Usually this is 10 seconds, but there are cameras with a discrete timer, which allows to vary the delay time of the start up to 20 seconds. This time is enough to get a picture of good quality. In addition, some cameras today are equipped with a remote control, with which you can push the trigger button from a distance.

If you do not have a tripod, this is not a problem. You can simply place the camera on a hard, stable surface, if necessary, by placing the objects under your hand under it to give stability.

In addition, today there are many devices that have a rotary screen, which greatly simplifies self-portraits.

Any student with the question "how to take a picture of himself" will answer that it is easier to do with a computer webcam. This is probably the easiest way, but the quality of the snapshots of many webcams leaves much to be desired - and the image usually turns out to be mirrored, and the subsequent processing of the frame in Photoshop or another graphics editor is necessary.

In general, today the question "how to photograph yourself" is rather an aspect of creativity and imagination, rather than technical equipment. Any of the described methods has the right to exist and gives good results. You just need to make some effort.