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 If you are one of those who hates photos of yourself, a computer webcam is a tool that can teach what works for you. With webcams, you instantly see results of this angle or that, how lighting works if it shifts, what backgrounds help, how to hold your hands, and as you begin to see positive results, the camera becomes a friend, not an enemy.
Webcams have the advantage of not using a flash and that actually is a big one when it comes to portraits. Professional photographers use lights, filters and reflectors to get th eir photos. Webcams can offer some of the same results with a lot less set-up. Yes, you can't blow it up to an 11x14. Did you need to? A webcam with less pixels generally won't be as sharp as a snapshot-- and, at my age, that's a problem why?
Having played with cameras for photographs since I was a little girl, I have tried many different methods to get mood photos, the kind I most enjoy taking, and have to say my favorite is the webcam. If I use my laptop, I can get almost the whole body in the shot. If I want to change backgrounds, I move to the place I prefer.
One thing I have mentioned before when discussing portrait photography, I am the cameraman. I don't see these photos as me. I am the one behind their creation.
Photographs are images and illusions taken for a reason-- sometimes to use in art, sometimes to have fun, sometimes because a photo is needed, but they aren't me-- to me. No picture is anyway, but these are done for a product-- picture of woman who is sexy, kind, moody, happy, angry, or to illustrate something. The best way to describe it is they are about an idea, not just a person. When you divorce your physical self from the image, you are more capable of looking at whether it met your goals.
A lot of my personal photos in Rainy Day have been taken with my Canon Rebel. To get them with aut o-timer, I set it up, click the button, move quickly to where I plan to be, hope the camera focused there, wait for the snap (assuming I got in position before it did), look at the results, see if the lighting was right, change it if it wasn't, and do it all over again until I get what I wanted. Try getting a mood right after that-- let alone any kind of interesting pose. Having someone else take it, who says oh no, not that way... doesn't do a lot more to get a mood right-- unless it was frustration.
Webcams are low pressure, let me work by myself, play with angle, expression, lighting, see what I am getting, and only then snap the picture. Surprisingly when I printed some the other day, just to see how they did in 4x6, they were almost as sharp as with the digitals. The more light on the subject, the clearer the image will be.
Of course, the other advantage of owning a webcam is in instant messenger conversations with family or friends. If you have a wireless, you can take someone through the house, show them anything you want, but most importantly make your conversation seem more real.
Some people feel webcams are not flattering and don't like using them for that reason. Most of the time, that is because of lighting. Play with it, adjust it to where it hits your face where you want. Generally speaking, more light is better as it allows for more details but you want it where it works for you, not against you.
For me, webcams have been a fun tool. Mine righ t now is a Creative because I am very color particular. I have tried other brands, but they had too much coolness for my computer and light situation. Looking at other people's webcams and liking their results is how I found mine. Its price was under $50 (the microphone is separate which makes it cheaper). It gives me focus and color adjustments to get as close as possible to actual color. There are fancier ones with zoom but nothing matters more to me than color and simple adjustments.
All of these photos were taken with one of my Creatives (I have one for the portable also) illustrating  how mood, angle and lighting can change the message. Want to look happy, sad, thoughtful, illustrate a topic, take some fun shots, need a profile picture for an internet site, all are easy to do with computer and a low cost webcam.
And then, suppose you don't have a background that says what you want, with computer tools, you crop your photo, copy and paste it onto a different background more like where you wish you had been when you took the photo. Hey, the lighting might not be exactly the same, but it's all part of the fun of working creatively.
(The background sky was taken in Montana using the Canon Rebel.)
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