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How to take a good (outfit) selfie

Claghorn

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This isn't for you. This is for me. I like looking at nice pictures of nice clothes. Sure, I'll settle for a bathroom pic of a brilliantly cut Liverano; who wouldn't? But I like looking at nice pictures of nice clothes. Nice pictures.

Unfortunately, not all of us have business partners willing to indulge each other (Braddock and Sander) or lifestyle photographers to follow us around (VictorSF and Stitchy, recently) or super accommodating spouses/SO's (EFV). So we make do. Some of us make more do than others.

I like to think I make a lot of do. So much do, in fact, that my own experience might not be too helpful to y'all. Unless y'all all (oh yes, that double all does make sense. Plural you. Then all. To indicate all of you) buy dslr's and tripods. Which y'all all totally should.

But perhaps certain elements might be useful. I'd also like to note that I have particularly high regard for the selfie abilities of @Gerry Nelson @EliodA and @Pingson and would be interested in what they have to say about the matter. @Henry Carter as well, come to think of it, who follows my school of selfie thought (one picture, no hassle). He also does great product photography. ****, and @An Acute Style



--------

Light obviously is key. Natural light. Stand by a window. You have one. Look around. I bet you have one. You have one, don't you? If it's too bright, use blinds. This actually is a big help. I open/close my blinds to control the amount of light getting in. My camera can adjust for it, sure, but it looks better when it doesn't have to. Best light in the morning. Leave too early? Cubicle jockey? (respek) Alright. Well. Damn. Have an office? Put your pants on and take advantage of that ****. Unless you don't have a window in there. In which case, get a promotion.




Keep the backgrounds simple. Unless you've got a camera/lens able to get a nice depth of field, so all your awesome paintings, hockey sticks, socks, vodka bottles, baby carriages and assorted prosthetics are super blurred, nothing beats a nice blank wall. In my opinion.




And if you do get depth of field, awesome. I love me some fit pics with depth of field. Not too much, though. Gerry. Looking at you.




Poses. I like sitting because I don't have to pose. But some of us have certain poses that work for us. Roboposes aren't for everyone. They're surprisingly tricky to do well. Vox was king of them. I do a pretty good robopose if I have to. I can't, however, pose all relaxed. That's @Tirailleur1 's forte. It works for him. I can try it. I can get the pose exactly right. And it won't look even a third as good. So find something that works for you.

@Braddock knows how to pose. But that's part of his job.

A good pose should accentuate your clothes, I think, and be consistent with its context. If you want to do the hands jammed in your pockets, it better be with a casual outfit because you'll be sending out a casual vibe. And if it doesn't look natural (long arms, short jacket), don't try it. I used to do it. It didn't work.




Get everything in there. Ironic, I know, since my shoes are never in my selfies. But I make sure to at least get the pants and the jacket in the same frame. Crucial, I think, to get the feel of the entire outfit. When I see pictures of a top block and a bottom block, no overlap, I struggle to put them together in my mind. Another reason that I like sitting for mine.




How the **** did I forget to tag the king of the selfie? @NOBD
 
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NOBD

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: )

Quality started with @Phat Guido.
 

Gerry Nelson

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Depth of field is like reverb - some is good but not too much.

Now I just need to practise what I'm preaching
biggrin.gif
 

EliodA

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Interesting subject, but I think you've basically said all there is to say about it in the OP. So I haven't got much to add, I'm afraid, except perhaps that personally I love me some chiaroscuro (to hide the mess in the background...)

Apart from the ones already mentioned, I'd like to point out @upr_crust for the sheer consistency of his selfies and @MrChris for understated minimalism.
 

Gerry Nelson

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I can only echo what Eliod has said. The OP pretty much says it all.

  • Lighting is key
  • Find a setup that works well for you and keep using that (once you find what works, you can always experiment but at least you have a baseline to come back to.)
  • No shame in trying to copy the styles of selfies you like - that's how you learn.
  • If you don't yet do any processing of your pictures then now is the time to learn. Get Google Picasa (which is free) and experiment. The more elements you get right in your initial photo, the less of this you will have to do. I keep my post-processing to a minimum - a maximum of five minutes. At the very least, learn how to crop photos.
  • The less distracting elements you have in your photos, the more the viewer will be drawn to the subject, i.e. you :)
 

Claghorn

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The proper southernese would be "Alla y'all."

I used to say such things in such a way, but it made me sound like terrorism, and being a good southerner, I never want to sound like terrorism.
 

Claghorn

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We call him Jesus in this country.
 

heldentenor

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Amateur tip: if you can do no better, the following recipe will at least allow the colors of your shirt, tie, and jacket to come through for the WAYWRN viewing public.

1) Set the self timer on your camera-equipped mobile device (preferably to 5 seconds or longer).
2) Place said device on the top of the rising pane of a conventional two-pane window. Adjust for height, so that the camera is about as high as your breastbone.
3) Face the phone's camera (not the selfie cam that shoots through your nasty, dirty, smeared touchscreen) toward you.
4) Stand in front of window.

This method virtually guarantees even, natural light for closeups. If you want us to see how your clothes fit, however, and are restricted to an iPhone et al, creativity is in order. The window-frame method does not address the problems of composition visible in my fits, particularly edge distortion, compression, and weak depth of field. For those, you (I) need a real camera.
 

Claghorn

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In another thread, some folks were a little confused at a person being as willing to spend as much as I do on jackets and ties (as a collection) while not being willing to spend even a fraction of that on shoes (as a collection).

On the same token, part of me doesn't get how people will spend thousands of dollars over the course of a year and not spend 400 for a refurbished dSLR (which has uses well beyond taking pictures of ourselves).

Just a part of me feels this way, mind you. The rest of me realizes that such a thought it silly. These people like clothes. SF and taking pictures of what they wear is a small part of that.
 
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EliodA

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You certainly have a point. OTOH, imagine the ties you can but for that money, or even a decent pair of shoes...
FWIW, my selfies are taken with an almost 10 year old Canon IXUS 950...

IMG_8485--.jpg


^ The poor quality of which, you can see in closeups.
 

Caustic Man

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I spend money on shoes and thrift, eBay, or vintage store, most of my jackets. On the other hand, I have thrifted some pairs of shoes and have paid premiums for bespoke jackets so, who the heck knows.
 
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heldentenor

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I used to be a devoted photography enthusiast. Graduate school and the digital revolution more or less sent my interest into dormancy, and I'm trying to calculate the level of camera I can buy that will prevent adding another expensive, perfection-driving hobby to my life. Probably can't be an SLR; lens upgrades would certainly become an obsession.

Recs on a good alternative? Something that will make me happy in terms of image quality and user interface but not lead to the constant demand for upgrades?
 

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