Dana CullySelf-portraits are a good way to practice your photography skills and experiment with elements in the safety of your own presence. It’s also a great way to build up your confidence in front of the camera, figure out what angels and lighting you look best in, and just a fun activity to do while you’re bored!
However, sometimes it can be a little difficult to get started. Below are some fun and easy self-portrait photography ideas to kick-start your photography journey.
Start Simple
Starting with simple portraits is a good way to start with self-portraits, especially if you are new to photography in general. Find a blank wall in your house and set up your camera or phone a meter or so in front of you. It’s ideal to have a tripod, however, you can use chairs and books as a stand if you don’t have one. This is the perfect time to play around with heights, distance, and lighting. To snap the actual pictures, most cameras now have blue-tooth so that the camera can connect to your phone and you can see what you look like through the camera, and also control it from there. Otherwise, the basic timer on your phone works well too. Remember, these photos don’t have to be perfect, at this stage it’s about experimenting and familiarizing yourself with your camera and the photography elements.
Try some Filters & Editing
After figuring out how to use your camera with some basic self-portraits, it can be fun to play around with some filters and editing. This can be as extreme or as natural as you like, try both if you don’t know what you prefer! You can do this on your laptop through Photoshop or Lightroom. Otherwise, my favorite free app for editing is Snapseed, which is really easy to use. Make sure you save your edited photos as a new file, rather than replacing the original file. This way you can always go back to the start if you change your mind about the edits you made.
Use the Sun
The sun can be so useful for creating cool patterns and shadows that spice up your photos and is crucial for getting nice lighting. Simply sit in front of a window and snap away. This type of photo is easy to do on a phone as the sun and shadows instantly make it look more artistic!
Get Moody
Getting moody with my lighting is one of my favorite things to do, and you don’t need a studio to do it! For these shots, I set up a black sheet over a wall, shut the curtains to black out the room, and turned on a small desk lamp in the right corner. Having the small lamp in a black room works really well to create moody shots like this, with harsh contrasts and shadows. The lamp is also useful because you can easily change the angle of the light by moving it or diming it by putting a white sheet over the lamp.
Use Your Body
Self-portraits don’t always have to include your face, and they don’t always have to be pretty or perfect. Use your body to create interesting shapes and shadows that add depth to your images. This is a great way to explore your body and its shapes, as well as build up your confidence if you are a bit camera-shy and don’t wish to show your face.
Get Creative
By getting some old newspapers and sticking them together to create a paper wall, you can easily elevate the artistic appeal to your portraits. As the above photos show, this is another fun way to do self-portraits without showing your face.
Play Around
This might seem like a weird one, but there are unlimited ways you can use a playground for your photography. There are so many angles to play around with, while also exploring the shapes and tones the playground provides. A playground is also perfect if you don’t have a tripod as there are plenty of places to set up your phone for the photoshoot.
Stairs
Like the playground, stairs are another fun way to play with angles and your body shapes. You can set the phone up at the top or the bottom of the stairs and either face away or towards the camera, creating some interesting points of view.
Explore Your Surroundings
If you’re confident enough to take some self-portraits in public, go on a walk and see what you find! I found the above location by simply walking around my city and seeing how I could use the space for my photography. This will build your confidence and expand your skills by having to adapt to the different outdoor lighting and cloud movement, which can sometimes be annoying!
Remember, self-portraits are all about learning how to use a camera and building up your confidence in front of the camera. Don’t stress too much about the outcome, just have fun and keep practicing, and your photos will naturally improve!
Thanks for reading, be sure to check out my other blog posts on my website and my social media!