If you’ve ever scrolled through your camera roll and realized, “wow there are no good photos of me and the kids, literally none, then this video is gonna solve that problem for you. I know that as moms, all we want is a nice photo with our kids right? Doesn’t feel like it should be too much to ask but, here we are, with camera rolls full of adorable photos of our children and significant others, and photos of us sleeping. 😅
This video will help you understand why your presence in your family’s visual history matters, and how to take a simple, honest self-portrait without it feeling awkward or performative. I’m gonna show you the simplest, easiest ways to show up in your family’s story. Because at the end of the day, when your kids are grown up, they will want these photos! You are an important part of their story and they want to remember you!
We’re gonna walk through all the settings that you need to take self-portraits on phones and real cameras, and you’re gonna walk away knowing that you have the ability to take your own photos anytime or day without needing to beg, barter, or pay anyone.
TOOLS NEEDED
The first thing you’re gonna need is a tripod and that is going to hold whatever device you’re taking the photos with so that then you can get into the frame. If you don’t have a tripod you really just need a sturdy surface but a tripod is definitely ideal and the safest thing to put your devices on.
When you’re shopping for a tripod you’re gonna see about 800 million different kinds and brands just like when you’re shopping for a camera but the most important thing is to make sure that your tripod can hold the weight of whatever device you’re using.
I like this MagSafe tripod attachment when I want to use my phone because my phone can just come on and off it really easily. I’ve got a list of recommended tripods in this post, but this is the one I own and love.
Now If you feel like, “Megan, I am not about to take this thing out in public.” That’s OK. We don’t have to do these pictures outside. You can take all of these photos from the comfort of your own home. No one has to see you. It doesn’t have to be weird. We’re just trying to be a part our families’s visual legacy. Think of this as, we are going to make some family heirlooms and if you want to do it in the privacy of your own home, you totally can, but you still need some sort of tripod to put your camera on in order to do this.
Human Tripods
Humans can also work as tripods but I recommend showing them the exact photo you would like them to take or you may be handed back a camera with a bunch of crooked images. Set up the settings and frame the image exactly like you want it so you can just hand them the camera and step into the frame.
How to take the photo (Camera Settings)
Alright now that your camera is on the tripod lets talk about the settings required to take a self-portrait. I’m going to break this down into different levels of decision making, because there are a surprising number of ways to take a selfie with cameras and phones!
Drive Mode
Every phone and camera has a timer drive mode, so let’s start there. This option basically delays the shutter release for the allotted amount of time, so you have some time to run into the frame. This is a good base option, but it’s not my favorite. It may be one of the only ways your camera allows you to take a photo though.
Shutter Release Tools
The next thing you can do is pair your timer with a remote shutter release tool. You can get these on amazon (affiliate links in this post), just check that the tool you buy works with your camera model.
So you would connect the tool, put your camera in the timer drive mode (otherwise the tool won’t be picked up), get into position, and release the shutter with that button instead of having to run in.
If you want to level that up even more, you can use a remote shutter tool that has a screen!
With an iphone, you can actually use your watch as a remote shutter and it has a little screen to check composition! My watch is 6 years old and a bit finicky, but I have found I sometimes just need to manually close out the app and reset it to get the app to pick up the camera’s signal. On your real camera, you can check if your camera is compatible with your brands phone app!
For canon that is the canon connect app, for sony I believe it is called Sony creators app and Nikon is Snapbridge. My 6 year old canon has bluetooth capabilities, my 11 year old camera does not, so just do a quick google search to see if your camera has connectivity capabilities. I find the apps can sometimes be frustrating to connect to, but it is convenient to have the screen there and be able to control all of the exposure settings and shutter while seeing your composition!
Interval Timer
Now the final layer or option you can add to this is called an interval timer, and this is my favorite way to take a self-portrait, because you don’t have to use any external tools, and it makes it a completely hands-free experience. I can just engage with my kids and know my camera is snapping a series of photos that will probably work out! I’m not looking for perfection, I’m just trying to document the feeling of those everyday experiences I have with my kids, and make sure I am included in the story.
So you can turn that on in your camera settings, and unfortunately not all devices have this. The interval is how much time you would like in between each photo. Then the number of shots is how many photos you want it to take. So here I have it take 30 photos, with 2 seconds in between each photo, meaning it will photograph for about a minute. If you have the shutter release tool or the canon connect app set up, you can release the shutter that way to begin, or just hit it then walk into the frame.
When it is done, you will have to go back in and enable the interval timer once more to take more photos. So I would suggest taking a shorter round, checking composition and exposure, then do maybe one or two longer rounds, then call it a day.
Focusing Tips
Now the trickiest part of a self-portrait is making sure you’re actually in focus! Phones are pretty easy, unless there is a really distracting background you’ll probably be in focus.
On real cameras we have more options and what options you have depends on the brand and model. I have talked a lot about focusing in some other videos and posts, and what I have said there still rings true: you’ll want a continuous focusing mode since we probably have moving people, and then on older cameras open that autofocus area mode up wide so it can find ya. You can always set a place holder if needed!
On newer mirrorless cameras I would make sure subject detection is set to people, eye detection is turned on, and on Canon also the whole area focus mode.
Aperture Settings
Now, what you’re able to get into focus is going to also be related to your aperture.
So your aperture setting determines your depth of field or how far you can see into the image. If you don’t fully understand aperture yet, one helpful general you can follow is to set the aperture number to the same number of people in the photo.
So if there are three people you’re photographing, make sure you are using an aperture of at least f/3.2, 5 people look at f/5.0. That way you have a better chance of making sure every person is in focus even if they’re not standing in a completely straight line.
Now what exactly that focal depth will look also depends on what focal length lens you’re using and how close you are to your subject, but you can use that as a bare minimum guide if you need it.
HOW TO POSE WITHOUT FEELING AWKWARD
If a self portrait feels awkward it’s actually usually not your face. It’s got more to do with your body positioning, and usually your hands. Your hands want a job to do.
If your hands are doing something real than the photo is going to feel more real. An example of this would be holding your child’s hand. Maybe your arms are wrapped around them, or one hand is brushing your hair back. Maybe your hands are resting comfortably on your knees while you’re sitting or you’re holding a book, a coffee mug, a baby’s foot, something like that. Anything to give your hands a job is going to make the photo feel more natural.
Avoid Stillness
On a similar note standing still or stillness in general also can create some awkwardness. Think of taking a photo as just jumping back into real life. If you’re already doing something like playing with toys or reading a book with your kids, that’s obviously going to feel a lot more natural than trying to sit still and get everyone to smile. Think of something to do with them that you’re documenting to make it feel less awkward and not like you’re just propping everybody up for a photo.
I also think that helps manage expectations to where we’re not just expecting everybody to sit and smile at a camera when there’s literally just a camera for them to look at. There’s nothing interesting happening on the camera so it’s hard to get young kids especially to look at a camera during a self portrait. If you can think about it as OK, we’re just gonna document what we’re doing. We’re playing or reading a book we’re cooking together. We’re outside together or whatever, that’s gonna make it feel less stressful for you because you’re not gunning for this perfect photo, you’re just capturing candid moments.
Reassurance
I want to emphasize again that photos don’t have to be perfect. It’s hard not to wanna make them perfect because we see everyone’s perfectness on social media, Pinterest, all of that right and it feels like if they can do it, I should be able to do it, but I wanna encourage you to document your real life.
Be comfortable with who you are and what you look like and know that your children love you more than the moon and the sun and the sky and all the stars put together OK. They want and need photos to remember you by. One day you will be gone and they will want those photos. I know that is morbid but they’re going to want to remember their childhood and you are a huge component of their childhood, right? You’re the memory maker, you’re the memory keeper, and you’re important, so GET IN THE PHOTO.
I hope that these tips help you today and I hope that you have a really happy Mother’s Day if you’re seeing this just before then. I hope that you feel loved and cared for know how important you are to your family.
If this all seems a little overwhelming still, consider signing up for our course to learn all about your camera and manual mode in detail! Then you’ll for sure be ready to tackle self-portraits! For more free education, check my other photo education blog posts or subscribe to our YouTube channel!