Model Eyes & Portraits- Week 7 of Selfie Saturdays

Welcome to Week 7 of Selfie Saturday.

If you’re new here, read what this is all about.
If you missed last 6 weeks of challenges and tutorials, here is what we learned:

Week 2: Basic Full Body Shot
Week 3: Couple’s Selfies
Week 4: Arm’s Length Selfie
Week 5: Conceptual Selfies
Week 6: Me Myself and I: Multiplicity
Week 7: Portrait Selfie + Squinty Model Eyes

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MODELS… Who doesn’t want to look like a model?

Today I’d like to give you one little tip on how to look more like a model in your self portraits. It will give you a sexier, more confident look in your photos.  {It’s not a make up tutorial}.
Watch the video first and try practicing in front of the mirror. Then go on to read about this week’s challenge, which should be easy enough for most of you to participate.
So if you’ve been sitting these out, out of fear of failure (you know who you are), there’s nothing easier than a simple portrait, especially when you know how to make sexy eyes that will have your hubby drop dead at the first sight of them.

You can see this trick used in pretty much any magazine and model photoshoot. I will post a few still photos below that are NOT self portraits, to help you further understand “the squint”

  

Now onto the portraits themselves. There’s not much to a simple self-portrait. You don’t necessarily need a tripod or even a remote ( just make sure you have a chair to use as a stand-in for the focus}. Most of you take portraits of your children on daily basis. The concept is the same, the subject is different.
When it comes to portraits, props won’t matter much. You need to pull from within and get that particular  look or that particular mood through. The focus is on you and you alone. It’s about your face this time, about your eyes, your lips, your emotions.

• You need to find a nice background.
• Use a larger aperture than you normally do (I want to see blurred background on ALL of them)
• Make it all about your face.
• Let’s keep the portraits above our chest level or so.
• Cleavage is greatly welcome, but try to stay at least that close to your face.
• No arm’s lengths this time.

 

The photos below are purely for inspiration. They are all self portraits, except for the wedding one, which is an “assisted self portrait”. Some of them are quite old, therefore are not of the quality I am now used to. I shot most of these with a Rebel in the beginning of my pseudo- photography ” career”.

This photo below is a great example of how little you need to shoot a decent self-portrait. It was taken in Ecuador. While playing in the pool, I decided to take a few shots. After “surveying” the area, I figured the pool ledge would be good enough to use as a tripod. A few shots later plus a crop and some editing and I had this shot. No preparations, no make up, no hair, no tripod. Just a remote that you can actually see in my right hand

Another GREAT idea for a simple portrait is to recreate your wedding day. I had the most horrible photographer on my wedding day and still hide those pictures. So one day I dragged my husband out to the beach to take some shots in my wedding dress. This is what I call an “assisted selfie”. It was back before I was so heavily into self portraiture and didn’t mind having my husband press the shutter button. Most of the times, I would create the shot, set the settings, tell him exactly what to shoot and go back to pose. Later, it became more of a pride and a challenge thing to do it myself, regardless of how much easier it’d be to have him hit the shutter button.
But either way, pulling out your wedding dress and tiara, and pretending for once that it’s all about you is a great way to shoot a selfie.
Some of you are fortunate enough to be getting married in a few days, T…
Others will just have to play pretend

 This was a very unexpected selfie shoot. I loved the light in the backyard and wanted to create something beautiful with it. These shots are very simple as you can see, but that’s how a portrait is supposed to be.

 

 

In addition to that, attempt to play with some make up and rooms in your house. Bathrooms always have great light. Window sills serve as great  tripods and provide amazing light.
Don’t be afraid to experiments: with locations, make up, looks, clothes, props.

 

This is going to be one of the EASIEST weeks for a while. So if you’re thinking about joining, do it now.

Here are the themes for the future weeks
{I reserve the right to move them around}  

Week 8: Focus Pocus
Week 9: My friend, the FAN
Week 10: Magic Tricks
Week 11: Anonymous: Shooting Body Parts
Week 12: Jump Shots
Week 13: Collaborations
Week 14:Stop Motion Photography (non-selfie week)
Week 15: Me now, Me then
Week 16: Suggestions?

You can also refer to the sidebar for the full list of all Selfie Saturday weeks with links to tutorials

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