How do you take your FOTD's?

[hundove]

Hey all,
Sorry if thisquestion has been posted before, but I really have no clue.
How do you take your FOTD pics? Dooessomeone take them for you, or do you do your own self portraits? Howdo you take the close ups?
Ihave a Nikon d70s and find it hard to do closeups, even if someone else takes it for me. As for self portraits, they never turn out good even though I have a remote. How do you position it to take good pics? Any tips/help is kindly appreciated and forgive me if I sound like a dummy.

 

[sharyn]

Hey hundove, MissChievous posted a great tut on taking better make up pics with your camera. It's in the tutorial section. On closeups: I just take a normal pic (camera about arm lenght away from my face) of my make up and then I kinda "cut" the part that I want out...going really close to your eye can be quite...uncomfortable when you're using flash.

HTH a little

 

[iamlelilien]

I take them myself, camera arms length from my face. If I want a closeup of my eyes, I don't actually hold the camera right in front of my eyes because then the flash washes out the colors. I hold the camera about a foot away from my face, then crop the rest of my face out when I have the picture on the computer.

 

[hundove]

Hey, thanks for the tips!
I saw Misschievious's incrediblepost, but I really don't even know how to start (where to position camera, how far, etc.).
When I do closeups, my nose stands out in the pic to give me a doorknob look (LOL!). I've tried theflower closeupthing in my camera, but still thecamerawon't even focus. Also, zooming photos usually does not give me clear eye pics like the ones you all post. My lashes barely show in the pics, or the detail of the eye makeup.

 

[sharyn]

uuuum, sweetie, could it be you're holding the camera to close to your face? If the camera is in the right position, you should get nice decent pics with the methods described above. How do you hold the cam? It should be at least a foot away from your face.(I hold mine about 2 feet away...) If zoom doesnt work for you, dont zoom with the camera, you can still crop the picture with a computer program after you took it. If all of this doesnt work, have a friend/family member take pictures of you. Good luck!

 

[mzcelaneous]

Holding a camera like that at arms length is a work out! It's not a compact camera, it's a dSLR. I suggest in investing in another lens. I recently purchased a 50mm f/1.8 and it takes sharp, true to color "close-ups". I'm assuming you're using your kit lens. I know my kit lens (18-135mm) SUCKS with close-ups. It's all in the lens, baby

I usually set my camera on a tripod, have my daughter model for me, then take her place, and use my remote. HTH!

 

[hundove]

Thanks, Sharyn.
My hands cannot reach two feet, lol...
That's why it's too close..no matter how far I reach it will be too close.

Thanks, Mzcelaneous. That's a good tip. I have two lens: the telephoto lens and the wide angle lens (35-70mm). Both come out weird with close ups and definately out of focus.