My friend, the FAN – Selfie Saturdays Week 10

Week 10 of Selfie Saturdays!

WOW! Those who have been with me from the beginning, you must be almost pros now!

So today we’re starting to get into more advanced self-portraiture. Nothing that beginners wouldn’t be able to do, but it’s definitely going to be a bit of a challenge.

Have you guys ever used a fan {the kind that blows air} to shoot self-portraits?

Well, I did ONCE. And it was a blast {pun intended}!

To be honest, I found it hard, really hard, to shoot with a fan. Maybe that’s why I never went back to it. However the result (photos) was amazing. Like no other self-portrait. The effect was subtle in some cases, but it really changes the picture. Using a fan in your selfies, makes your portrait so much more impressive and dramatic.

So I am sort of on the same level with you, guys, this week.
I’ve done it ONCE! Once is nothing!
I have a few tips, but otherwise you’re on your own and I’ll be right there with you trying to figure out how to balance a blowing fan while keeping my hair out of my mouth and pressing the shutter button while making a pose {yeah! I know!}

So the only shoot I did with a fan happened at a time when my husband wasn’t home, which made it a lot more difficult, because he couldn’t help me out with the fan.

What you’ll need to have is long-ish hair, flowing outfit, remote, tripod and a FAN ( it can be any kind of fan that blows air. The stronger, the better. I used a regular box fan)

TIPS:

• It’s going to be much much much easier if you have someone around to hold and direct the fan.
  If that’s not an option, use a chair and place the fan so that the airflow was directed at your hair and upper body
• Adjust the speed of the air flow enough to make sure your hair is being blown in different direction, but not so much that you can’t control it by moving
• Now mess up your hair, and let it catch in the air flow. Play around with it until you feel comfortable with how it moves and stop getting distracted by it ( remember, you still have to pose)
• I had to stand on my knees in front of a white wall with the fan on the chair to make sure it blows in the right direction.
• Air flow from the bottom up usually works better. Positioning the fan to blow straight in your face will likely cause you to squint too much and your hair will be whipped to to your sides disappearing from sight,
• Curl your hair or make it messy. It’ll catch the air better and will look more attractive on the photo. Don’t be afraid of leaving your hair naturally wavy (don’t blow dry).
• Shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot, moving your face side to side, letting your hair flow in the air. Because of the unpredictability of the air flow and your hair movement, you will need 3 times as many shots to get a good one.
• Hold your hair in your hands while focusing, and throw it into the airflow as you’re about to trigger the shutter button.
• Turning to the side like in the picture below might help your hair catch the air a little bit. I think this is the coolest shot of the whole set.

• Sometimes you’ll need to focus on your face, but not hit the shutter button until you feel the hair seems to behaving the way you want it. Let the air play with it
• If your hair is out of control, use your hands to tame it a bit as you pose, like in the photo below.
• Make sure the majority of your mane is up front.

• Try to wear lose clothing that would look good in the wind. Something with tassels or ribbons works great. I had to actually throw my ties into the air right before the shutter snapped to have them flow like this. The fan wasn’t strong enough to catch them on its own and when it did it simply blew them over my shoulder.

• Finally, if your hair is just so unruly that it’s not working for you, tie it up with a pretty hair tie and let some strands loose. It’ll create a subtle but nice effect.

So that’s pretty much it for any wisdom I can give you. I hope that some of you are adventurous enough to try it out. Be creative if you’d like and let your hair FLY!

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Selfie Saturdays Weeks:
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
Week 8: Self-Love
Week 9: Focus
Week 10: My friend, the FAN
Week 11: Magic Tricks
Week 12: Jump Shots
Week 13: Family Portrait
Week 14: Collaborations
Week 15:Stop Motion Photography (non-selfie week)
Week 16: Me now, Me then
Week 17: Anonymous: Shooting Body Parts
Week 18:Perfection: Editing Selfies
Week 19:Suprise!

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