How to take a picture of yourself: the technical and historical aspects of self-portraiture

Self-portrait is, perhaps, one of thethe oldest art forms. Cognition of the world begins with self-knowledge. And against this fact it is difficult to object. From time immemorial, artists have tried to convey their inner state by portraying themselves. Practically all the classics, from ancient artists to post-impressionists, preferred to depict themselves, revealing their vision of the world through their own image, through their experiences, sensations, closing the circle of their creativity on themselves.

Self-portrait is akin to an autobiography in whichthe artist tries to tell about his life through visual images. Albrecht Durer and Leonardo, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo left behind a vast legacy of self-portraits that tell about their lives much more fully and expressively than any evidence of contemporaries and research biographers.

With the advent of the camera, the process of creatingimages was greatly facilitated. Today, in order to create a picture, which the ancient masters took months of painstaking work, it is enough to press the trigger one time. However, the question arises as to how to photograph yourself, without the help of outsiders?

There are several methods for creating photosself-portrait. First of all (and this is the most popular, simplest and most logical option) is photographing yourself in the mirror. In the case of a SLR camera, when you need to look into the viewfinder to control the frame boundaries, this process is somewhat difficult, although of course you can make several attempts and sequentially check the result until you achieve the desired quality. However, practice shows that such images are rarely expressive from the artistic point of view, since it is very difficult to control the facial expression in a situation where it is necessary to monitor the position of the camera, but try not to move so as not to "fall out" of the frame. In addition, in order to understand how to photograph yourself in a mirror, it is necessary to take into account that the shooting should take place in a rather bright light, excluding the use of a flash, which is incompatible with the mirror. And in conditions of usually insufficient illumination inside the premises this is always a problem.

The second answer to the question "how to photographyourself "is shooting on an elongated hand.This method is associated with some difficulties and requires the training of spatial vision and remarkable coordination of movements.In addition, the parameters of the camera should allow shooting from small distances.It must have a sufficient depth of field to the background on which the The shooting was not blurred, and all the details turned out in focus.

Perhaps the most optimal answer to the question "howtake a picture from a tripod or tripod.This method requires you to mount the camera on a tripod, send it to a pre-selected location, mentally mark the boundaries of the frame, click on the timer and have time to take the necessary position for the time that is provided by this function. this is 10 seconds, but there are cameras with a discrete timer that allows you to vary the delay time of the start up to 20 seconds .This time is enough to get a picture of good quality. Today there is a remote control with which you can push the trigger button at a distance.

If you do not have a tripod, this is not a problem. You can simply place the camera on a stiff, stable surface, if necessary, by placing the objects under your hand under it to give stability.

In addition, today there are many devices that have a rotary screen, which greatly simplifies self-portraits.

Any schoolboy on the question "how to photographitself "will answer that it is easier than using a computer webcam to make it easier.This is probably the easiest way, but the quality of the snapshots of many webcams leaves much to be desired - and the image usually turns out to be mirrored, and the subsequent processing of the frame in photoshop or another graphic editor.

In general, today the question "how to photographitself "is rather an aspect of creativity and imagination than of technical equipment.Each of the described methods has the right to exist and gives good results. It is only necessary to make a little effort.