Self-portrait is perhaps one of the oldest forms of art. The knowledge of the world begins with self-knowledge. And it’s hard to argue against this fact. From time immemorial, artists have tried to convey their inner state by portraying themselves. Almost all classics, starting with ancient artists and ending with post-impressionists, preferred to portray themselves, revealing their vision of the world through their own image, through their feelings, sensations, closing the circle of their creativity on themselves.
A self-portrait is akin to an autobiography in which an artist tries to tell about his life through visual images. Albrecht Dürer and Leonardo, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo left behind a vast legacy of self-portraits telling about their lives much more fully and expressively than any evidence of contemporaries and research of biographical scientists.
With the advent of the camera, the process of creating images was greatly facilitated. Today, in order to create a picture for which the ancient masters took months of painstaking work, just one press of the shutter button. However, the question arises of how to photograph yourself without the help of outsiders?
There are several methods for creating a self portrait photo. 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, this process is somewhat difficult, although, of course, you can make several attempts and consistently check the result until you achieve the desired quality. However, practice shows that such pictures rarely turn out to be expressive from an artistic point of view, since it is very difficult to control the expression in a situation where you need to monitor the position of the camera, while trying not to move so as not to “fall out” of the frame. In addition, in order to understand how to take a picture of yourself in a mirror, it is necessary to take into account that shooting should take place in fairly bright light, excluding the use of a flash, which is incompatible with the mirror. And in conditions of usually insufficient lighting indoors, this is always a problem.
The second answer to the question "how to take a picture of yourself" is shooting on an outstretched arm. This method is associated with some difficulties and requires training in spatial vision and remarkable coordination of movements. In addition, the parameters of the camera should allow shooting from short distances. It should have a sufficient depth of field so that the background on which the picture is taken is not blurred, and all the details are in focus.
Perhaps the best answer to the question "how to take a picture of yourself" is shooting with a tripod or tripod. With this method, it is necessary to mount the camera on a tripod, direct it to a pre-selected location, mentally indicating the frame boundaries, click on the timer and manage to take the necessary position for the time provided by this function. Usually it is 10 seconds, but there are cameras with a discrete timer that allows you to vary the start delay time to 20 seconds. This time is enough to get a good quality picture. In addition, some cameras today are equipped with a remote control with which you can press the start button at a distance.
If you do not have a tripod, this is not a problem. You can simply mount the camera on a hard, stable surface, if necessary by placing objects at your fingertips under it to give stability.
In addition, today there are many devices with a rotary screen, which greatly simplifies self-portrait shooting.
Any student will answer the question "how to take a picture of himself" that it is easier to do this using a computer webcam. This is perhaps the easiest way, but the quality of the images of many webcams leaves much to be desired - and the image usually turns out to be mirrored, and subsequent processing of the frame in Photoshop or another graphics editor is necessary.
In general, today the question "how to take a picture of yourself" is more an aspect of creativity and imagination than of technical equipment. Any of the described methods has a right to exist and gives good results. You just need to make a little effort.