One of the most impactful types of outdoor portraiture is what you might call the ‘epic’ selfie: a self-portrait where the landscape photographer becomes a tiny fraction of his or her own composition, giving a sense of scale and awe to an already epic vista.
This is the subject of photographer Mads Peter Iversen‘s latest video tutorial. In this video, he shares the techniques, settings, and posing that he uses to capture these kinds of images, so that you can go out and try to do this yourself.
For this particular demo, Iversen chose one of Denmark’s epic bridges as his background (out of necessity, since he can’t travel at this time). Once he’s arrived at the location, he explains the gear he’s using, how he frames the shot, what settings he uses to ensure he’s getting a good shot, how he properly positions himself inside that shot, and, of course, how he triggers the camera itself.
The results, when done right, should look something like this:
The trick to capturing the scale you want in these kinds of shots, says Iversen, is to ensure there’s enough distance between your camera, yourself, and your background. You need to use a telephoto lens to compress the background, while keeping yourself tiny in the frame, so you may find yourself walking very far away from your (hopefully secure) camera.
Check out the full tutorial up top for a step-by-step breakdown of Iversen’s whole process, and if you want to see more from the landscape photographer (who usually does not show up in his own shots) be sure to check out his YouTube channel.
Image credits: All photos by Mads Peter Iversen and used with permission.
