Hello, fellow shooters!
I apologize for the delay in this week’s photo challenge, but it’s better late than never. Today I want to talk about shooting arm’s length portraits.
What do you do when you look super cute and have no remote or tripod in sight and nowhere to place the camera?
You reach out as far as you can and shoot an arm’s length portrait. We’ve all done that, we all have a ton of shots with stretched arms and a head tilt ( sometimes even puckered lips). Someone eloquently called them “MySpace” photos due to an exuberant amount of teenage girls posting these types of shots on their MySpace pages a few years ago. These types of shots are fine for every day facebook use of “look at me”, but we’re not in it for the occasional badly posed and framed shots to post on our profile, but for the art and challenge of photography. The same way we’re in self portrait photography not to show off ourselves per se ( which isn’t bad occasionally too), but for the beauty of expression and creation.
So the question becomes:
“How do we shoot ourselves in a similar arm’s length way without imitating our 13 year old sisters, nieces and daughters?”
What we want to attempt to do is make the arm’s length look like a actual photograph taken by someone else. It might mean cropping out your arms, or straightening the photo, using the right lens or selecting a proper background and settings, as well as be mindful of the lighting ( no flash!). In the end our final arm’s length photo should look something like this:
{all shots below are self portraits}
PROPER ARM’S LENGTH SELFIE
1. First let’s start with the technical side of things.
Over the years of experimenting with self portraiture, I have noticed a few things that work and don’t work when it came to arm’s length portraits.
Do not go for your wide angle lens. Shooting that way will distort your facial proportions and features as well as show too much arm and surroundings, which is not what we’re going for in an arm’s length selfie. This shot below is very clearly an arm’s length shot. You can see the shoulders and arms extended outwards, as well as slightly distorted face.
WRONG- 28mm (full frame camera)
On the other hand if we use a 35mm or a 50mm lens with some minor cropping, we get true to life images that are tightly cropped on the face and right at shoulders ( straightening is almost always needed). The shot below is called a “beauty” shot in the modelling world. Focused on facial features, sharp and tightly cropped.
So 35mm or better a 50mm lens is a better option when it comes to a more artistic arm’s length shot.
RIGHT- 50mm
Another option for a “beauty” shot would be a clean look, hair pulled back, minimal make up, vertical orientation. Again, i cannot stress enough how important it is to use a 50mm lens or at least 35mm.
FOCUS ON THE EYES
Another issue is the focus. That’s the thing most of you struggle with and while it’s a matter of experience mostly, there are a few tips I can give you when it comes to arm’s length photos.
FOCUS ON THE EYES!
Easier said than done, right? If you are using low aperture (which is what’s advisable in an arm’s length shot), the camera will almost always focus on your nose since that’s in the foreground.
Who wants their nose in focus? 
haha
What you need to do is stretch the camera as far back and you can, while keeping it parallel to your face and on the same level, maybe even slightly lower than you’d expect. As you’re holding it, tilt it up to where your eyes are and press the shutter button half way to focus. Without releasing the shutter button or moving an inch, tilt the camera back in the original position and press down all the way ( without re-focusing the camera, obviously). Do try this technique several times to get best results.
Sometimes, out of focus eyes can work, especially if there is hair involved. These two photographs are ok because of the wind and the raw quality to them.
Another example of where soft focus actually works to the advantages of the photo.
Notice my favorite part: little pearl necklace bokeh
LIGHT
Never ever use flash on arm’s lengths. Personally, I almost never use flash in normal photography especially in self portraits, but that’s just my personal preference.
However when it comes to these types of shots, just don’t. Instead, find natural light sources that act like a flash. My three favorite locations for arm’s lengths are:
3. IN FRONT OF THE WINDOW.
You can get some GORGEOUS light if you position yourself to face a window ( see beauty shot #2 previously). If it happens to be around 4pm and your facing a west window, the setting sun can act as a flash erasing imperfections and illuminating your eyes better than any flash can. Just do your best keeping your eyes open and not squinting too much from the sun. In addition to that, if you use the right settings you’ll get a very dark, almost black solid background like in the example below.
2. AGAINST THE WINDOW ( back lighting).
Flares and softness are always welcome in the imperfect world of self photography. Play with the settings until you find the right exposure. This is where it will really help if you shoot in manual. I don’t remember last time I shot in anything but manual, but I think that it would be very tricky to get the right lighting otherwise.
3. IN THE CAR
Believe it or not, but some of the best light can be found while driving. And if your other half is driving, it’s even better because you’re probably sitting next to him with your camera, bored out of your mind attempting to find something to shoot while you’re getting to your destination. It’s also an added bonus that most of the time you’re looking all pretty and made up since you’re, well, going somewhere, rather than sitting at home in your pjs. You’re already in front of the window and any car tends to be filled with light as it is, so it’s a perfect situation.
ANGLES
As much as it may seem that the only angle one can have during an arm’s length shoot is a “not always flattering” straight-on angle, there’re quite a few ways you can show off your best side.
While I realize that the camera IS heavy, when you shoot with a light 50mm lens, you can realistically take it in one hand and shoot from the side.
If that’s not an option, turning your head to the side and using both arms will also do the trick. Don’t forget to throw in some hair, since it is our girls’ best asset when it comes to such close ups. Toss it around, let it out, throw it in. Just don’t forget your focus. If one of your eyes is obscured by the hair, the focus needs to be on the other eye. Get in position, move the camera to focus on the correct eye, and then back to the shot. When you turn you head to the side, you have to remember that most of the time you won’t be able to focus on both eyes, so you need your focus to be on the closest fully visible eye.
There are also plenty of other poses you can take. If you feel uncomfortable shooting yourself so closely, make faces and put them together in a collage.
You can even do a little photobooth project out of it, if you get carried away snapping goofy faces.
A few other tips:
- Don’t be afraid to overexpose yourself a bit. It erases imperfections and who couldn’t use that, when we’re going in SO close?
- Play with make up! Always wanted to try that bright yellow pigment you bought at sephora? Do it!
- Do not forget to straighten. There’s nothing worse than a badly oriented shot, unless of course, again, it is done for the effect.
- Stretch your arms as far as you can. If you’re using the 50mm lens, you need as much length as possible.
- If focusing is a problem, don’t be afraid to start with a higher aperture to leave more room for mistakes. Just move in closer to the window to give yourself more light. And remember, focus is super tough in arm’s lengths, so don’t beat yourself up for it. Noone will kill you for being a little off. We’re shooting self portraits, people!
- Photoshop away! Noone expects you to be perfect. And ART is not always about reality, it’s also about beauty and creation. Make your photos beautiful! Lighten your eyes, brighten your smile, erase skin imperfections ( keep things natural though, don’t go overboard). I will be talking soon about the post processing part of self portraits as well.
LINK UP:
I realize that some of you tend to get very excited and try shooting your Saturday’s selfie right away, and others wait a few days until they have time. Fo that reason, I will have a linky here in the tutorial post and well as the same linky each Saturday. Use whichever one you like, it’s going to show up on both posts. So if you’re excited to try this out, you have the option of posting it right away or keeping the image until next Saturday to share it with your readers.
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