Taking photographs of myself as Isabelle has become one of the things I spend a disproportionate amount of time on. I'd say that at least 50% of the time I spent as Isabelle is dressed up at home, taking photos of myself in different outfits. I started with my Samsung S9 handphone camera, but over time I felt that the quality of the photographs simply wasn't as clear or sharp as I'd like. When editing photos using handphone apps such as Meitu, snapseed or many others out there, they all seem to have this nasty habit of lowering the sharpness, which makes the photo appear of an even lower quality. Learning how to use Adobe lightroom and photoshop was an option, but that would take some time since I had zero skills on that front. And if the base photo quality wasn't great, there is only so much photoshop could do. I tried using a remote and my phone's rear camera, but the downside was the inability to see how I was posing, resulting in huge number of poorly taken pictures (it was basically a spam fest. Pose, shoot and hope for the best). Wasn't long before I decided I needed to use a digital camera if I wanted better results.
I owned a Sony a-5100 (kit lens, 16-50mm, f/3.5-5.6) which is a pocket-sized but nevertheless powerful camera that served me well on many holidays over the years, so naturally it was the first thing to try. Despite its age, it had an app that allowed Wifi tethering of the camera to my phone, turning my phone into a remote trigger that also allows me to see my expression and poses. This really changed the game for me when it came to self-portraiture, since I could see myself pose and frame each photo properly before pressing the trigger. Indoor lighting wasn't adequate, so I bought a $30 softbox and light from Taobao as an added light source. It was a fair bit more inconvenient to use a digital camera, but my photographs became noticeably better. Over time I also grew familiar with the equipment and became more efficient in taking photos that I liked.
(the trust Sony a-5100. I still bring it out for holidays and it works superbly)
After about 1+ years, I grew curious about flash photography. Very pretty photos online, especially of cosplayers and wedding shoots seemed to require good lighting; which was something that my room did not have. I remembered from my bridal photoshoot that even though the studio was quite dim, it had two massive softboxes (probably 150cm diameter or larger), which created very soft and flattering light that hid a lot of the flaws on my skin. While the Sony a-5100 was a very capable workhorse, it had a downside of not having a hot shoe. This meant that shooting with a separate flash was possible, but required jumping through a number of hoops; a hassle I was unwilling to deal with. So after a bit of research, I decided to jump ahead to get a new set of equipment to play around with. I bought a Nikon D5600 (an entry level DSLR), a Godox TT685N speedlight, a Godox X2 trigger, a massive 140cm octabox and the tripods to hold all the new equipment up. Total damage: $1000 (ouch). I justified the purchases by bringing out the camera and flash out more on family outings to take photos of my kid....which proved to be quite a game changer. Taking sharp photos of children in perpetual motion is nearly impossible without a flash.
(Equipment I use for self-portraits these days, sans the massive 140cm octabox)
Ok, back to crossdressing and photography. It took me a while to get used to the equipment, but when I finally did, I liked what I saw. My photos were brighter, there was a nice catch light in my eyes during close up portrait photos and photos were sharp. My main regret was getting an octabox that was oversized and too large for my house. While the light from it is super soft and makes my skin look incredible, 140cm is VERY unwieldy in a small HDB flat, meaning that I didn't have too much manoeuvrability. Setting it up is challenging too, as it comes with 8 spokes that needed to be attached individually. So my advice if you're planning to get an octabox is to get those with the quick release feature. Yes it will cost 3 times as much, but you're likely to want to use it a lot more. Alternatively, you could get an umbrella, which is very easy to set up as well.
While this post is a bit about how I gradually upgraded my gear over the years, an important point to make is that photography isn't about how powerful your gear is. Upgrading your equipment also isn't always necessary; our trusty handphone camera is usually more than adequate for taking pretty photos to post on social media. It's about using that gear to its fullest potential, capturing the pose and expression that reflects the creative idea you have in mind. I'm a fledgling in photography; barely competent in using my latest gear to its fullest potential and still a huge work in progress with regards to framing (I sometimes just spam shots and hope for the best), but I'm trying to improve slowly, trying to take more photos. While Instagram is a source of envy, it is also a great source of inspiration, so I save looks, poses and expressions that I want to emulate or try out during my next dress up session.
Call me a narcissist (yes I admit I am a bit of one), but when I get praises for my photos it does make me feel quite good. I derive great joy in doing self-portraits and immortalising my various looks and outfits, for future viewing and admiring. It has become one of my main drivers behind crossdressing these days and will continue to be so for a while.
