5 Creative Self-Portrait Ideas

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May 9

Written By Julia Malinowska

Self-Portraits Creative Ideas, Photography Tips by Personal Branding Photographer, Barcelona

Five creative self-portrait ideas: stay at home photography tips by Barcelona branding photographer

Have you been thinking lately about shooting self portraits while you stay at home and wait until the outside world is a bit safer?

Have you got stuck with some creative ideas and you feel like you need to boost your creativity and create a bit different photographs than everyone else does: me and my home office or me drinking a coffee.

Self portraits are a great way to express your feelings and thoughts. It doesn’t matter if they are for your social media or just for you. Through the history of art and photography they always played an important role, they were an integral part of exploring the ways of creativity.

Thats why I prepared 5 creative self-portraits ideas to boost your imagination.

I started to shoot self-portraits from the beginning of the self-isolation time in Barcelona (8 weeks already).

It has been a long introspection and a long journey for me. It was my visual diary and a form of escape from reality.

You really don’t need a great gear to start.

If you shoot with your mobile camera remember to clean your lens before taking pictures and use a self timer. If you have a DSLR camera you probably can turn on a function to control it by your mobile, if not by a remote trigger that you can find really cheap on Amazon.

As it goes about how to focus your camera on yourself, there are some steps that help you to obtain a perfect focus, such as using a smaller aperture and shooting on a manual focus. To choose a spot to focus on I always place an extra object in the spot where I will be in the frame, sometimes I also use a paper tape to mark where to stand . So it’s easy to focus the camera on it and then remove it from the frame before taking a pic.

So let’s get started!

Read through and experiment with any of these creative self - portraits ideas.

1. Blending in

I love mysteries, when the story is blurred and fuzzy, when there is more space for interpretation.

That’s a beautiful way of visual storytelling, a way of leading the narrative in a surprising direction. This is the perfect method to move away from standard self-portrait.

Get lost in the scene. Find a unique landscape that reflects your mood or character and try to make composition about it.

It can be a living room, bedroom, you can hide behind the curtain, or just cover yourself with a blanket. In this way ordinary spaces gain other meaning and transform into the unique backdrops.

SelfPortraits_Creative_Tips_by_branding_photographer_Barcelona_Julia Malinowska_24.jpg

2.Play with shadows

Observe the light and how it moves around your flat and how it spreads on the wall.

Depending on the time of the day you will have shorter and longer shadows. Incorporate them into the composition, play with the meaning, shapes and reflections.

You can make them the most important element of your composition or you can create patterns on your body or face.

You can get creative by using different props to create shades: flowers, palm leaves, fruits, textiles. If you want to make hard lined shadows just use a piece of paper. If you have shutters in your windows, use it, they give a really cool effect.

3. Search for transparency

Play hide and seek. Use different thin fabrics, scarfs, cloth, glass doors or a plastic foil to achieve a semi transparent effect.

The pics become more delicate, soften.

Play with composition and with transparency levels.

If you shoot a close up portrait through glass doors take your head a bit further from the glass and touch the glass with your hand. If you shoot the whole body, get closer to the textile with only one part of it.

What's situated closer is more visible, and what's further away is more blurred and unclear.

FaceTime Photoshoot in time of lockdown, Barcelona Branding Photographer

4. Use props

Use fruits, flowers, shells, mirrors, hats and whatever you have and you can incorporate into your photo.

Be creative, use daily, natural objects in a surreal way.

Don’t get stuck only with a cup of coffee! It gives more meaning to your photo and tells more about your mood and character.

5. Use some movement

It will bring some dynamic to your composition.

If you shoot on a DSLR camera it’s cool to do it on manual option and set the long exposure. You will see some elements that are blurred and other that stay in focus.

For me self-portraits are like a diary, especially now I use it to express my feelings and show my different daily quarantine rituals.

Remember that they can be creative, and that the most important is to show a story behind the pic.

As a branding photographer, I was used to stand on the other side of the lens and in the beginning was very difficult for me to pose, even for myself. That’s why I started to explore more distinguished ways.

Remember a self-portrait is not just a selfie and you can play around with many elements.

One more tip: show some details. For me, hands are magic.

Let me know if you got inspired by this article and while posting on Instagram and Facebook use: #portraitswithjulia so I can see your work.

Let’s stay creative!

Read More about Self-Portrait Photography on Pixpa.com

Together but alone, supporting each other and waiting for a new world.

If you have any questions let me know. And if you are interested in creating some stunning content by virtual FaceTime photoshoot or soon in new reality I would be delighted to talk about your project. Just shoot me an email at: julia@juliamalinowska.com

Or find me on Instagram: @jul.malinowska

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Julia Malinowska