Embedded Files
Self & Portraiture
Self & Portraiture
Pre-Production, Conceptualizing, and Equipment Used
As someone who's not fond of taking pictures of myself and "camera-shy," I would have opted to do the one object activity, but then, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself to do new things I won't usually do.
As I was trying to conceptualize how I'd work on this task, I searched for a lot of inspiration and reference on how to pose, create a studio-like props/set at home, and even plan things like theme or clothes I could try to imitate for the pictures. But then I came across this video, and it honestly made me realize why I feel conflicted on how to do this thing. I was so focused on doing something "aesthetic" that it slipped my mind that it should also capture "the self."
That's why I scratched all my previous reference dump and started to ask myself what aspect of "self" I want to convey in the pictures I'll snap. I wanted to capture my personality, my hobbies, and my interests in my headshot and candid shot. And of course, have fun while doing the activity!
That's why I gathered available equipment like my reliable Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro phone camera, as well as my old tripod and two different phone stands with varying heights. But then, I was thinking of the poor lighting we have on our house, which is why I searched really hard for our ring light (that also has an electric fan), as well as two old phones at the house, which I'll be utilizing for adjusting the "natural" lighting for my pictures. But then, I realized that I don't have any remote for clicking the capture button, and how I would also like to see the composition before snapping the photo. This nudged me to download APowerMirror, which made it possible for me to reverse cast my Redmi Note 11 Pro camera screen and also control it using another phone, solving my problem about clicking the shutter while also seeing what my photo will look like.
✨ Now let's see my photos and how they turned out! ✨
🎨Equipment and materials I'll be using in this task
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro Camera
Huawei Nova 5T (for APowerMirror, used as a remote and to cast Xiaomi Camera's screen)
1 Tripod
1 Phone Stand
1 Ring Light (with fan)
1 Black Cartolina (headshot)
Newspaper as backdrop (candid shot)
Piles of books (candid shot)
1 phone flashlight and a Gallon of Plastic Water Bottle (for lighting effects at candid shot)
"Irony"
📸 Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
ISO 250 | f/1.9 | 1/20s
Headshot
Headshot
Concept
The word "intimidating" always comes up whenever I ask my close friends and acquaintances about their first impression of me. But then, as they get to know me, I was far from being like that and was easy to talk to about different topics, ranging from banters and "kanal" humor, diverse hobbies and interests, to deeper topics like views on life or even opening up their problems to me. I often listen to others' problems, offer solutions, or just lend an ear or shoulder to lean on, as it is a breath of "fresh air" on the fast-paced lives we lead. I wanted to capture these traits I have into this headshot!
Since people's first impression of me was intimidating, using the color black was the clear choice for my backdrop. In color theory, black is also the result of mixing all the colors, which fits my characteristic of being a good listener – "taking all in" the different stories shared with me, like colors in a palette! Since I've decided on the main color, I opted to use a contrasting color, which is why I've used the color white to represent my trait of being open-minded and my fondness for self-reflection. As for the pose, I've tried to do a variety of them and chosen this one, leaning slightly on the other side, to capture my "approachable" personality despite seeming intimidating at first. Lastly, I was contemplating my facial expression, trying out a fierce look, a serious look, or a poker face, but was not satisfied with the results. It seems forced and "out-of-character," which is why I opted for just expressing myself and getting comfortable with the camera. I'm glad with the result of this one, as it captured the contrast of first impressions and my real personality, just like an "irony."
Behind the Scenes
It was hard to look for an empty space with good lighting in our house, which is why I opted to use a ring light on this one to improve lighting on my face while also opening the light in our room to have enough light and prevent having a grainy picture.
After testing the lighting, I've done a lot of trial runs for the headshot, such as using different colors of cartolina as backdrops (yellow, red, brown), testing out various clothes that fit the traits I wanted to capture, while also testing the lighting. I was not satisfied with the results and scrapped these photos as it doesn't feel "me." But then, I tried using the black backdrop and another set of clothes that I feel will fit the theme I want to capture, which was my eureka moment! It was the "this is it" moment. Since I was taking pictures for a headshot for 2 days, I was also getting used to the camera, which helped me a lot with posing for this run.
Camera Settings & Post Processing
Since there was enough light in my self-made studio, thanks to the right light and our room's light, I was able to adjust my camera settings to a lower ISO, which is 250. Though the window was quite far from me, I still opted to face the window to have enough light source and prevent a grainy photo. The aperture is f/1.9, as I wanted the focus to be on me. The shutter speed on this one is 1/20s, as I'd like more light to be captured and brighten the picture to have that "ironic" feeling.
As for the post-processing, I just used Xiaomi's gallery editor and adjusted the exposure to 15, brightness to 9, and lightness to 10 to make the colors pop. I've also applied the Azure filter to 80% to make it brighter and have natural lighting. Since I don't have Photoshop, I was quite disappointed that I was not able to erase some creases of the cartolina and some strands of hair that bothered me. But overall, I was quite satisfied with the end result!
Candid Shot
Candid Shot
Concept
I've tried a lot of ideas here, but what was consistent in my photos was the appearance of books in these shots! I'm really fond of reading, from physical or electronic copies of novels to manga (Japanese comics) or even webtoon/manhwa/manhua. Reading is something I do when I want to unwind from the hustle and bustle of life or if I want to de-stress. This is why I wanted to capture that certain feeling of "respite" I find whenever I'm reading – a glimmer of light that shines even on the darkest moments.
This concept was the last one I tried, as I was hesitant to set up the newspaper backdrop, but I tried it anyway since I was not satisfied with my previous shots. But what convinced me to push through with this one was because of a certain post that passed on my feed. There were pictures of my bias, Ken of SB19, that show a compilation of his photos taken in different years with a newspaper background. I was feeling whimsical and brave that day, which nudged me to just do it.
At first, I was planning to just go with a fierce look like what Ken did and then use a black and white filter to have that "maangas" and street-like vibe. The shot was good, but I was not quite satisfied, as I think it was just not my usual thing. Which is why I turned off the lights and covered the window across the room, and then used my ring light and a flashlight that shone on a plastic container, which was the "glimmer of light" effect that can be seen in this photo. I tried smiling in the camera and looking at the distance, but I was still not satisfied, as it didn't feel like the theme I am aiming for. Something was missing, the feeling of "respite."
"Respite"
📸 Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
ISO 500 | f/1.9 | 1/13s
This made me realize that I didn't need to smile, but enjoy the relaxing atmosphere, hence why I closed my eyes and slightly opened them for a little bit to have that "candid" feeling. The newspaper also added to the vibe I am going for, which is to represent the hustle and bustle of life, as newspapers tell stories of the realities of our society. Hence, it's okay to rest one's eyes for a while, but never forget to open them. Closing one's eyes also emphasized the feeling that it's not bad to rest for a while on our journey to reach our dreams in life ("the drive the dream" part of the newspaper fitted perfectly the theme!) It's okay to have a breather and respite when things get hard!
Behind the Scenes
This was the hardest set-up I've done out of all the concepts I've tried since I needed to cover the area with newspapers as much as possible, so I'll have the leeway to try various poses. Since I've also wanted to make the room as dim as possible, it was hard to set up the light effect while still having enough light source to prevent a grainy photo. To my relief, it wasn't as grainy as I expected, though there is still some visible grain effect. Nevertheless, I was quite satisfied with the "light effect" that shone on my face as I used another phone flashlight and then pointed it at a plastic gallon of water to have that effect.
Aside from the challenging lighting, it was hard to pose with the stacked books as leaning too much would make the picture unbalanced and awkward, while not leaning may also seem unnatural. I was also attentive not to cover the titles of the books because I want them to be visible in the picture!
Camera Settings & Post Processing
Since the only lighting I have here is from the ring light and the flashlight pointed at the plastic gallon of water that created the "glimmer of light" effect, the room was definitely dim, which was challenging as I needed to increase my ISO to 500 to capture everything clearly. I was avoiding a grainy photo, which nudged me to also set my shutter speed to 1/13s to have enough light captured and make the overall picture as bright as possible. As for the aperture, I've set it to f/1.9 to make the camera focus on me.
As for the post-processing, I opted to edit the lighting where I adjusted the exposure to -12, brightness to 29, contrast to -29, and lightness to 35 using Xiaomi's gallery editor. I've also applied the Azure filter to 45% to make things brighter and have that natural lighting. As I don't have Photoshop, I wasn't able to clean the visible creases on the newspaper background or improve the lighting to give it a more "dramatic" feeling. Instead, I've cropped (3:4) the upper part where creases and shortage of newspaper backdrop are visible, while maintaining my desired composition! Lastly, I used the healing tool in Snapseed to straighten some creases that bothered me to make it cleaner. And then adjusted the lighting again by using Snapseed's filter (Smooth) to smoothen the texture and give a glowing effect. ✨
Conclusion
Conclusion
How's the self-portraiture experience?
To be honest, I find the pre-production much harder than the actual process of taking the picture. It took me 3 days to shoot everything until I was satisfied, and 60% of that time was consumed with thinking of the concept, trying out clothes, setting up the set, such as backdrops and lighting, and testing whether it's all good. The remaining 40% is the actual shoot itself and the post-processing of photos I took.
Although the pre-production was physically taxing, filtering out and checking the pictures I've taken was more mentally challenging, as it made me self-conscious of my facial features, especially as I have a huge pimple on my forehead when I was doing the photoshoot (thank you, make-up concealer for saving my forehead). I was conscious to "angle" myself to make the pimples, the eyebags, and the asymmetrical parts of my face less noticeable, especially on the headshot that focuses on your face.
But as the day passed by, when I was doing these photoshoots, the more comfortable I felt facing the camera, expressing my facial expressions, and even trying a lot of poses that I think fit me, and not relying on inspirations I see online. It was learning how to do lighting and experimenting with the camera settings and filters, which highlighted the importance of techniques as well as knowledge about concepts on how to make your pictures better through lighting and post-processing.
I started this activity feeling lost on what to do, but in all honesty, it's not about being aesthetic or appearing beautiful on the camera. It's all about expressing oneself and capturing it through photography. It's all about appreciating the "you" captured by the lens of the camera. It's all about knowing yourself more – like how your hair curls, how you have eyebags, pimples, facial asymmetry, and many more "imperfections" that we should acknowledge and embrace. 🍀
"What?"
📸 Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro
ISO 250 | f/1.9 | 1/20s
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse