Honeymoon Selfie Tips

Although I would love to be your personal vacation photographer (seriously, though – I’ll do it!),  you can take your own fabulous photos with these honeymoon selfie tips.  All it takes is a few extra minutes, a little forethought, and an inexpensive tripod.

Starting long before our wedding, John & I have been working on our selfie game.   We’ve set up self portraits using the roof of my Honda as a tripod, balanced the camera on a trashcan lid, set the camera on the ground, used rocks to adjust the angle.

After roadtripping across the United States, touring Hawaii, visiting China, and vacationing in Costa Rica, we have a streamlined system for success.

Tools

1. Camera. The easiest option is, of course, a DSLR.  However, with the newer cell phone cameras, you can achieve very comparable results.
2. Tripod.  Although I have had excellent results without a tripod, buying my Dolica LA600  has made self portraits a breeze. So much easier than using a book, a purse, and a garbage can to get the camera to point in the direction I need.
3. Wireless Remote. I don’t always use a remote (see instructions below) but it’s nice to have!   I bought this one for my Sony A6000.

Tips for Fabulous Honeymoon Selfies

1. Setting. Find a beautiful spot without many people, so you don’t have to worry about others in your portrait.
2. Timing. Choose a time just before sunset or just after sunrise to avoid squinting in the sunshine.  Or, if that’s not possible, wear sunglasses. 😛
3. Composition. Think both about what you do want in the picture and what you don’t want visible.
4. Posing.  Don’t just grin at the camera! Look at each other, look at the scenery, look down, look up. Keep moving! Start dancing, embrace, cuddle, kiss.   Don’t become frozen into one pose.

So how do I take our portraits without a remote control?  I use the interval timer shooting function on my Nikon D800. Sadly, not all DSLRs come equipped with this feature, but that’s why a wireless remote control will be your friend!  

In the shooting menu, I turn on interval timer shooting for 20 – 30 frames every 2 – 3 seconds. Yes, this means I will end up with 20 pictures to cull later, but it also means that I only have to go back to the camera after posing for those 20 images!

While the camera is taking twenty photos, I am with John and guiding our movement:

“Look at me while I look at the camera!”

“Look at me while I look at you!”

“Look at the camera!”

“Time to kiss!”

“Let’s dance!”

“Hold my hand!”

So now you have it. While I would gladly come along, you don’t have to bring a professional photographer on vacation with you.