I was in Trish’s shop the other day marveling at her gorgeous new clothes (and Whosiepie’s fantastic spring flings, too) and she was saying she needed to find a model. I could tell it wasn’t something she was looking forward to, and is something that all designers have to deal with.
This got me thinking … while it would always be nice to fly Naomi Campbell in from Milan for the day, sometimes all you have is yourself, your camera, and a little time. But with a little creativity and your camera’s self-timer, this can be everything you need. Don’t count yourself out – you can be your best model sometimes!
All you have to do is set up the shot and put your camera on a tripod or something stable like a table. Then you’ll have to check and make sure the area you stand in is in focus. From there, just activate your camera’s self-timer function and get in position before the shutter goes off (check your camera’s manual to see how much time you have.)
Another good thing to remember is to put your camera within the flash’s range (usually around 10 feet away from what you’re shooting or less) and use fill flash, as in this sample shot. Or better yet, take the shot under available light and turn that flash off all together!. And as always, don’t be afraid to experiment. Your best tool is your own creativity, and it’s so, so easy to press that little delete button when the shot doesn’t work!
