Over the weekend I decided to try some indoor self portraits. What did I learn? WOW is it ever difficult!! 10/10 would not attempt it again without investing in additional equipment first. The difficulty was getting the focus and cropping to be precise without standing behind the camera and seeing what the photos would look like before taking them. My camera does not have a screen that can pull out and flip over, like some do to allow for the subjects to view the photos being taken. Thankfully, I was able to get at least one photo that I was somewhat happy with, although I must say I’m not %100 satisfied with the cropping.

Auto vs Manual Focus

I started out on auto focus, and found that, because I had to push the button for the self timer, and then go stand in place, the camera would auto focus on me based on my location when pressing the shutter. Hence, when I stood in place for the photo, the focus was all wrong. Surprisingly, I had better luck with manual focus, but I had to work with it on a trial and error basis. Basically, I had to play with the focus without having an idea of what the sharpness on my eyes would turn out to be, press the shutter, stand in place, wait for the camera to take the photos, review, and adjust the focus accordingly/if needed. The moral of the story: not worth the effort!

Equipment I Will Need for Next Time:

There are a couple of options I have learned that I could get if I would like to try this again without having the difficulty of getting the focus and cropping correct.

  1. A remote to press the shutter. As far as I have read, this way, I can set the camera to auto focus, stand in place, then press the shutter with the remote to take the photo. My understanding is that this will allow the focusing to take place when I am standing in the correct place.
  2. A dummy! If I had something to focus the camera on, which I could then swap places with after focusing, I would be able to set the photo focus and cropping to my liking, and have an idea of what it would look like beforehand.

How I Worked on the Photo in GIMP

To edit the photo in GIMP, I practiced manual skin retouching using the “cloning” tool, and played with the colors manually using the “curves” tool. I think that I brought the photo to a level which I am pleased with, but, in addition to the equipment listed above, I think my next step is to invest in lighting equipment for indoor photography!