{H&M Striped Top, Uniqlo Midi Skirt, Ralph Lauren Heels}
Recently, I found myself on the road for a business trip with my photographer (aka husband) left behind. Rather than skip a few days of outfit post, I decided to bring along my tripod and remote and get back to early blogging roots. Way back when, I used to sneak out during my lunch break to find a secluded corner in Manhattan’s financial district to take take my own blog photos. Those were fun times, and it definitely helped me develop a high threshold for embarrassment. But I digress…
For this particular session, I decided to challenge myself by shooting indoors. Luckily, my hotel room was flooded by afteroon sunlight which made my job a lot easier. Which brings me to the first of my Top 4 Tips for Better Self-Portaits:
- Follow the Light – When you’re scouting locations, the most important thing to be on the lookout for is good natural lighting. When I first started out, I invested in a studio lighting kit and quickly learned that it was a waste of money since the best light source of all is free… the sun!
- Invest in a Decent Tripod & Remote – Notice I said decent and not excellent (i.e. expensive). Seriously, I’ve used cheap-y $20 tripods (like this one, and this one) that work just fine. I also have a selfie stick for my iphone that converts into a tripod and remote that I’ve used to take some bomb@$$ vacation photos, if I do say so myself. Yes, you can use a self-timer, but I’ve found it takes up too much time trying to focus correctly and move back into place at exactly the right time.
- If a Blogger Falls in a Forest and No One’s Around to Hear It… It indeed does NOT make a sound! But seriously, if you’re shy in front of the camera, then taking your own portraits should help you get over yourself. Indoor photo shoots especially are a great time to experiment and work your angles without fear of embarrassment. I tried all kinds of poses (some of the quite comical/tragic) during this particular shoot because there were zero consequences for failures (or falls, lol)! So relax, and have fun!
- Use a Mirror – Taking your self-portraits in front of a mirror is great because you can see exactly what you’re doing and make adjustments as needed. If I’m indoors, sometimes I’ll place a mirror directly behind my camera so that I can see exactly what’s going on in the viewfinder.
