Now this is an interesting topic to write about! My self portraits during the solo trips have been a point of discussion quite a few times now – main question being – ‘who is it that take my pictures on these trips?’. Even when I was discussing about starting a blog with my friends, the first ask was to write about how I take self portraits.

Now, I’m not an expert to guide someone on how to take pictures. So I’m writing about what I do and hopefully others who are interested find it useful. This is by no means a tutorial, just a blog about how I do it. Now without further ado…..

I will take some pictures as I’m writing this so that I can show what i’m talking about as well. So the example is going to be indoor photography – as we are stuck indoors – but the process is going to be the same outdoors as well.

So what do I use?

• Camera + lens (Lens change depending on situation)
• Tripod
• A remote shutter release
• Phone or a tablet
• An idea

Camera : Now this is the most critical part for me. I can do without anything except my camera. My camera has a feature which allows it be controlled via a smart phone or a tablet. Most cameras these days will have this feature or it should be something that can be enabled with the help of an adapter that plugs into the camera. If you are traveling with only a phone it can be a little tricky, but it is still doable. I believe if you have an iPhone and an apple watch, you can project your camera on the watch? (Not sure if this is still a feature. I used to have an iPhone in the 6s days).I’m not sure what will work on Android, but there should be an option for it as well.

Tripod – I carry a light weight tripod everywhere I go – whether by car or by motorcycle. If I carry my camera, rest assured my tripod will be with me as well. It helps me keep the camera steady and setup the composition. For mobile users a mobile tripod might be good as well. Tripod beats having to fiddle with leaning the phone on a wall or something and allows more freedom.

A shutter Remote – The one I have is a wireless which works via Bluetooth. May not be necessary for a self portrait, but it makes life a lot easier. Alternative would be to set up a timer and run for the shot. iPhone + Apple watch combination might help as well if the feature is still available. When I don’t want the remote to be seen in the frame, I setup a timer and then press the remote shutter so that I can pocket the remote before the photo is clicked. But I usually don’t really mind if the remote is seen or not.

A phone or tablet – My camera allows me to project what it is seeing on a secondary display. So I use this to help frame a shot. I use a phone when outdoors and tablet when at home (Also why you might see a phone in my hand in most of the outdoor shots).

An Idea : Unlike when taking photo of others, in self portraits I cannot compose on the fly to get the perfect scene. So I find it helpful if I already have an idea on what the final photo should look like when I set up the tripod and camera. I’ll talk about some of the things I have tried at the end of the post.

Let’s talk about the process in the next page