Selfie Saturday, Week 3: Valentine’s Couples Selfies

In light of the upcoming Valentine’s Day ( and our 8th anniversary), I went ahead and changed this week’s theme from Arm’s Length Portrait to Couples Selfies. We are all photographers, some amateur, others professional, so we ought to be able to take our own couples photos, right? And what’s a better time to do that than the Valentine’s week?

The toughest part of taking selfies of ourselves and our hubbies is that hubbies come in two sizes: uncooperative and completely uncooperative. It’s practicallyimpossible to get our loved ones in the picture, let alone make sure that you have enough time to set up a tripod and work with the focus or use the timer. So I say: “Girls, take this opportunity and talk your boys into a couples photoshoot under the pretense of it being Valentine’s Day!”

Again, if you have a remote and a tripod, you’re already ahead of the curve. If you don’t have one, I recommend this Canon Wireless Remote ( it worked with my Xtiand with my Mark II)
and this tripod . I’ve gone over a few tripods and this one is cheap but really sturdy.

Get your loved one to commit to at least an hour of unlimited pictures, so that he wouldn’t complain and wonder if it’s the last one.
Shooting a couples selfie is a lot different than shooting another couple as a photographer. You can tell them how to pose, you can frame it however you want and at least your clients follow your directions. Here, you are limited. So stick to some basic ideas and locations the first time. Now the possibilitiesare endless: around the house, in your yard, at the beach, in the snow, in a park. Just make sure to stick with one location, because as we all know hubbies don’t last too long when there are pictures involved. So make it short and sweet.

Now that location is picked out, start with one type of shots, so that you didn’t spend too much time moving the tripod and boring your husband, because you’ll spend enough time running back and forth from the tripod as it is. If you don’t own a tripod yet, find an area in your house where you can prop the camera ( chair, table, counter top). Don’t worry much about framing or keeping the camera straight, you can always crop and straighten in post processing.
The greatest part of taking a selfie with your husbands/boyfriends is that you finally have a stand-in for your focus if you’re using manual focus or the camera’s timer. That saves a lot of time and headache. Simply position your guy where you two need to be and focus.

Learning how to take couples selfies really comes in handy when you travel, and on family holidays and birthdays and anniversaries. Who here has ever come back from a trip only to find that they have no photos with both you and your guy in it ( arms length don’t count) ?

So here are a few ideas for you new project:

The Valentine’s Day Couples Selfie

{all photos below are self portraits}

1. Pose around the house

2. Utilize your outdoor space

3. Use costumes

4. Get Fancy

6. Have some fun

7. Kiss away
(our first Valentine’s Day selfie)

8. Be spontaneous.
If you find yourself in a cool looking place, find the nearest trash can and snap away ( taken on a side street in Universal with the camera propped up on a trash can)

9. Use the power of sun: silhouettes and flares and backlighting.
Set your shot against the sun and watch the magic happen.

10. Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty.

11. Spice up the same ol’ boring shot with a bit of a tilt. Set your tripod at a random angle

12. Don’t discard overexposed, poorly framed shots.
Sometimes those can be saved with B&W and a good crop. You can’t be too picky when you’re shooting selfies.

12. Jump! Jump! Jump!

13. Close ups.
Don’t forget to zoom in and come a little closer. Close ups can be great when the location is questionable. It’s easy to focus on a close up, so keep your aperture low and your smiles big.

15. It’s all about LOVE
It’s easy to get so focused on the getting the right shot that you forget to pose. Look in each other’s eyes. Remember it’s all about you two.

16. Imitate your favorite photographers.
(Bruce Weber , the guy that shoots Abercrombie black and white stuff)

17. Be dramatic

18. Be natural.
Some of the coolest photos taken tend to be spontanous and candid. Well, it’s pretty difficult to be spontanious when you’re the one pressing the remote button. So after you’ve done your posed shots, try doing some “posed to look candid” shots.

Ok, I think I’ve given you enough inspiration! I can’t wait to see what you come up with yourselves. I know you have been waiting to take your couples photos, but never had the chance. So this is it! You will thank me for making you do this later LINK UP  BELOW! IT WILL BE OPEN TILL NEXT SATURDAY!

FOR YOUR FULL BODY SHOT LINK UP, SEE THIS POST
NEXT WEEK’S THEME IS ARM’S LENGTH SELFIE.