How to take good hair pictures by yourself

[TatsuOni]

I originally posted this as an article on my Swedish forum. Then I translated it for my blog, but thought that the tips could be useful here too. It's long and many pictures, so I'll have to continue in the comments.



Timer & positioning the camera

There's a timer on most phones and it is your best friend! If your to take pictures from a distance you need a timer. I usually put mine on 10 seconds.

Then you need to have the phone or camera positioned in a good way.
I have a phone case, that makes it possible to place my phone in a standing position. It makes things easier while out and not finding anything to lean the phone against.


My new case is harder and sturdier, making it better for taking pictures.

At home, one can be creative! Just lean the phone agains your soap pump, some books or perhaps a glass.

The hight you place your camera on, also makes a difference. If you for example, want a picture on all of your hair and most/all of your body, you shouldn't place the camera too high. If at home, I usually place mine on the kitchen table or the sink. Outside I use the garden table, a stone, a fallen tree or I just put it on the ground.


Left - phone on the ground. Right - on the kitchen table.

For pictures of shorter hair or an updo, you should place the phone higher up (unless you want to crouch down infront of the camera).

Preferably find a good shelf, get a phone holder for a mirror or a phone stand. You can also be creative and staple books, use a box or something else.

You also need to find a good distance. As long as you get visible details in your photo, it's better to stand too far, than too close to the camera. It's easy to "cut away" the extra backround on your phone.



Holding the phone in your hand

For buns and similar, you can hold the phone in your hand, behind the head if you have the mobility. It's a bit tricky at first angling the camera, but it gets easier with practice. Think about not holding the phone or stand, in a such a way that it places a shadow on your hair.


I prefer to use the volume button to take pictures this way.

Many pictures

Take many pictures! That way, you should get some good ones and can delete the rest.



Light

The light is one of the most important things, for how your hair will look in the picture! When you look at picures of really glossy hair, they're usually taken in good light! (Many are of course also edited)

Sunlight is the best! Regular outdoor ligh is also often better than your regular indoor light.

But if there's no daylight? If you're taking a close up, flash is great!

Some examples down below.


Sunlight


Left - regular indoor light. Right - flash

If you feel really serious, you can invest in a ring light or something similar. I got a not expesive one, for YouTube videos and pictures. There's obviously a wide range of lamps that will work, but it's for the best, if you can change the brightness and if it have a more wide spread of the light.


Here I've hung the ring light on my camera/phone holder, on the bathroom mirror.


Notice the difference in shine where the ring light hits, compared to higher up, where just my regular lamps reaches.

Continued in comment #4...