Selfie.

[Derek.Laurence]

Hello everybody.

I was having a quick peruse through the 'Feedback and Critique' section earlier and was admiring someones Self Portrait.

The cogs started to tick, a faint grinding noise could be heard and my brain kicked into action.

" I might have a go at that....looks simple enough to set up!"

but then I started to wonder....how does one accurately expose for a selfie? Is it strictly trial and error? I do not have a light meter ( well, aside from my dads old leather bound thing from the 70s which ive just looked up is a Leningrad 4 Incident light meter ), but if I was stood in a doorway how would I be able to guestimate the light falling on my pretty face without a light meter?

Derek

 

[Yv]

your cameras inbuilt metering to begin with, take some test shots, perhaps using aperture priority or one of the other modes, then check them and adjust accordingly if not quite what you want.

 

[Derek.Laurence]

Thanks Yvonne,
I was thinking if I had myself off centre then i wouldnt be able to do that because id be exposing for the background but I suppose if i get the camera to expose on me and then like you say adjust the settings accordingly with everything in manual then that should work.

 

[Nod]

Another option would be to use somebody else as a model to set up the shot as far as exposure goes, or anything that has about the same reflectivity/tones. If in doubt (and if your camera can do it), auto bracket a little each way. Of course, you could also use Manual mode, shoot a test and alter settings until you get a result you're happy with. (Personally, I'm at my best with a 50 stop underexposure...)