First of all Thank you so much for the success of the previous article you can find here:
THE ART OF SELF-PORTRAITURE I
It is my pleasure to support the wonderful artists I find daily here in DA and your support is important to me too

Now this is the second article, I plan to submit one every month, so keep sending me notes suggesting SP`s…

1.- WORDS OF WISDOM FROM SP MASTERS

Who knows you better than you? And who will be less embarrassed by you than you? And that's why a self-portrait may be the most fun and creative picture you'll ever take.

Here, some words from a SP master, the great Arno Rafael Minkkinen :

“ Why I Work The Way I Work
I consider myself to be a documentary photographer. If you see my arms coming up from under the snow, I am under the snow.
I treat the medium the same way a street shooter does. What happens in front of my camera happens in reality. There are no double exposures, no digital manipulations.
But I also look at the world through the mind. "What happens inside your mind can happen inside a camera." It is the line I wrote as a copywriter for a camera campaign before becoming a photographer.
Instead of giving expression to the world's outer appearances and perplexities, I have wished to explore the inner world of our fears, hopes, and desires in an attempt to make communion with the one world we inhabit.
Just as rocks and trees have not changed much over time, so our bodies are not much different today than they were five hundred years ago; hands, fingers, toes, all those basic things are essentially the same.
For thirty years now I have been engaged with this single idea: to use my own body as a means of expressing our relationship to nature.
As Georges Braque put it: "Out of limitations, new forms emerge." To know what it is that we want to do, Braque was saying, we had to know what it was we did not want to do, what it was we would never allow ourselves to do. For me, it was the documentary nature of photography that provided the discipline.
After that, it was simple. "Art is risk made visible" is another line I wrote, much later in life when I understood better just how difficult it could be”.

It is always good to read about this great famous photographers, to find inspiration from the ones who know best…

2.- TIPS TO ACHIEVE GREAT SELF-PORTRAITS

Photos in the mirror
• Use a household mirror to take a picture of yourself. It is best to disable the camera's flash so that it doesn't show in the reflective surface. You'll want a sunny room or bright light fixtures in addition to a faster film (ISO 400 or higher). If your home does not have a suitable location, grab a mirror and take it outdoors for your self-portrait.
• When taking outside pictures, stick to the shade or take the photographs later in the day when the sun is low and the shadows on your face will be soft. Look at your image in the mirror through the camera's lens and compose and focus accordingly. Move the camera away from your face, point it toward yourself in the mirror, hold the camera as steady as possible, and take the picture.

Self-timers and remotes
• Many cameras have timers or remote-control devices that are well-suited to getting yourself in the picture. You'll need to steady the camera with a tripod or even a stack of books. Look through the lens to where you will be and frame the picture. Most cameras have an auto-focus feature that focuses on the object that is in the center of the frame so you will want to be in the center of the picture or disable the auto-focusing mode (if your camera allows it) and pre-focus on the spot where you will be standing. Carefully set the timer without moving the camera and get ready for the picture. The same setup would be used with a remote control, but you maintain the ability to snap the picture when you feel ready. If you have a remote-control device that attaches to the camera with a cord, you might want to hide the cord or even let it show so that it is obviously a self-portrait.

At arm's length
• Some cameras will take a decent picture when you hold the camera out in front of you and release the shutter, but others will have trouble focusing at close range. You won't know how your camera performs unless you try it. Having the camera at your eye level or slightly higher will be the most flattering. There is some distortion from using a wide-angle lens.

How to pose
• A high camera angle tends to be more flattering. Place the camera 6 inches to a foot above your eye level and keep your chin parallel or even lower. Keep in mind that whatever is closest to the camera will appear larger in the photograph. However, leaning toward the camera will visually take off pounds.
• While big grins are welcoming in person, they can add wrinkles in photos. If you are concerned about laugh lines around your eyes, smile with your eyes relaxed. Women will look more feminine when the shoulders are angled and men will appear more muscular if their shoulders are square to the camera. Look through magazines or here in DA for inspiration, but do not copy, try to be original.

What to wear
• Dressing for a portrait can enhance the overall feel of the photo. Solid colors and simple designs allow the attention to remain on the subject. Long-sleeved shirts tend to photograph better than short sleeves. You might want to coordinate the clothing color to the surroundings or with that shade of paper that you have been wanting to use. Look at the self-portraits featured in this article, you can try so many ideas!!! Try for example, some fun make up, clothes, hats, etc. Sky is the limit, we are hungry for originality, creativity!!!

3.- AWESOME SELF-PORTRAITS

Here a large selection of some awesome self portraits: