HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SELF-PORTRAIT. COOL PROFILE PICTURE OR TIMELINE PICTURE FOR FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM ETC...

There is nothing like Self-Portrait to have on your website or on your Facebook page.

     Why Self-Portraits are important?

Every artists subject of art is different but the self-portrait is the one subject shared by every artist.

Self-portraits are not just what the picture looks like but self-portraits also shows how the artist feels and see themselves and how they see the world around them. I would say that a self-portrait is a picture of what the artist looks like on the inside and his most important subjects.

     From another point of view, self-portrait photography is a great way to improve your skills and make you look like a pro. If you don’t have a model you don’t need one. You can work yourself into different poses like just a plain smile, a crazy look, that classy suit mode or even just yourself looking to the sky and etc. There are millions of poses that you can pose in self-portraits. So next time you have a free time and a camera available think about it and create some original photos.

     I recently got a new DSLR and I could not wait to try. I asked a friend to take some pictures of me, but as you know if you want something well done you have to do it yourself. All you really need is a tripod and of course a camera. Now if you don’t have a buddy or a friend you will need something to focus on. When you set your tripod and camera in place you look in the viewfinder and you will see that it will be hard to focus when there is nothing on the place that you will be standing, this is simple one easy solution to this problem is to bring another tripod or microphone stand (something to put on your spot) the height or size does not matter, what matters is the distance from you to the camera. Otherwise your pictures will look blurry.

     Use both auto and manual focus. Use the auto-focus to focus on the object that you placed in your spot then switch your lens from auto to manual focus this will look the focus at the distance needed.

    When it comes to lights try using as mauch natural light as you can or if you have a studio try different angles of lights playing with your pose and the camera angle. Maintain the ISO as low as you can so you don’t get any noise on the picture this will help you if you are going to work on your face and need to make some arrangements like spot remove.

     Now days most modern DSLR (cameras) comes with timers so you can set everything and go stand on your pose, give yourself plenty of time to get ready for the shoot. Once you have the pictures play with it until you find a filter that you like and makes your photo look professional

     My last tip is to use this self-portrait as a source of inspiration for your self-portraits.

This is the original picture I know it does not look professional at all but you will see how the experience and the practice helps you get where you want.

© RolandoPhotography 2013

After a few hours of thinking and editing I came up with this for my Facebook timeline.

© RolandoPhotography 2013

Of course you will expend more time thinking and looking at it from different ways that actually editing it but that is the point for a self-portrait you want it to be meaning full.

In future posts we will show how to do step by step editing in different kind of pictures.

Keep connected to our blog for more awesome photography tips. Please feel free to ask any question or if you have an idea that you want us to show leave a comment on the section below or email us at to abin.blogs@gmail.com. We hope you find this helpful.

HOW TO COPYRIGHT YOUR PHOTOS

    Well first I want to point out what are the benefits of copyrighting your photo or adding a watermark. It not only protects your pictures from been copied it also is a way of advertising your company or your blog.   Another thing and one of the most important it makes your photos look professional.

I want to start by defining copyright. The term copyright is the short for “rights of copy” by the time you take a picture that picture is yours and you own every right to it. But adding the watermark is the way of you saying that the picture is yours and that you own the rights to it.

To identify your pictures as yours you need to add a watermark (your logo) or just you name or company name on a corner of the picture.

Copyrighted picture.

This will be enough to make identify your pictures and make them look professional.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR PICTURES LOOK LIKE PROFESSIONAL SHOOTS.

Last month I went to Havana, Cuba it is a rich country in old buildings and beautiful passages that brings those colonial times but at the same time mixed with a new advanced technology of this world.

My main purpose of this post is to show how a simple picture can be edited making you look like a pro. It only takes a few a good picture, a few minutes on your PC or MAC and it will look like a professional photo.

This is the original picture. As you can see I shoot it from inside of the car. And it does not looks nothing special.

This are the steps to make it look like a professional picture

1.       Crop it to the area that you want to focus on.

2.       Add some color corrections based on what you want to show.

3.       Add a nice filter that defines your picture but trying to keep the originality and that natural look.

4.       Add the water mark.

This is the edited picture.

I always recommend to add the water mark to your photos it not only makes you look professional but it also prevent your pictures from been stolen or copyrighted by others. This is how to make your pictures look like professional pictures. 

I hope you find this useful please leave me comments what you think or if you have any questions I will be more than happy helping you.

© Rolando Photography 2013