Happy February! While I’ve had some posts go up since the beginning of February, this marks the first post I’ve written during the month of February. (Let’s go pre-writing– proud of myself for sticking with it, haha.) With the pandemic still in full swing and school starting up again for highschoolers and college students alike, I’ve found myself in short supply of models. Even ever-dependent Kate has been pretty busy with her classes.

However, instead of taking this as an ominous cue to put a hold on photography for the moment, I’ve decided to make the most of it and take this time to work on something that always puts me a little on edge: self-portraits.

I’ve always found it much easier to stay behind the camera, and have total control of the picture from there. Posing in front of a camera has always been a challenge for me, especially when I still have to take the actual photo. There’s something about setting up a tripod in a public place to take pictures of myself for anyone to see that quite honestly makes me super uncomfortable. And my room doesn’t exactly have the most picturesque walls or the best lighting to take pictures in. However, life isn’t about being comfortable! It’s about pushing those boundaries and stepping outside of your comfort zone.

So, in order to continue practicing my photography, make good on one of my New Year’s goals, and snap a good picture to feature on my personal Instagram, I have decided to tackle taking a self-portrait.

Concept-wise, I had already decided to do a shoot centered around Valentine’s Day. Very stereotypically pink and red, hearts, girly, and cute. Maybe not the most creative, but I had the inspiration so I ran with it. With a new pair of pink pants coming in the mail, I had the basis for my outfit and added a feminine red top, my favorite go-go boots, and some simple gold jewelry. (Side note: I did change into a white top later on to get some other options.) Makeup was kept simple, and I was able to go with my makeup routine of choice lately: eyebrows, mascara, and lots of blush. I’ve been doing my best to not use heat on my hair recently, and luckily my hair was cooperating. With the look set, all I needed was the location.

I knew there was no way I was going out in the actual public eye doing self-portraits (baby steps, you guys), so I decided to transform my house into the perfect set for a Valentine’s shoot. I had a couple ideas, but ultimately transformed my room into my shooting space. I headed out to the store to get some supplies for the shoot, and was ready to set up.

For those who are curious, I went to CVS, Walgreens, and Dollar Tree for the various props and background materials, though if you can only go to one I’d suggest Dollar Tree. They have some really good basic stuff for– obviously– a dollar a piece. I ended up using the poster board, pink wrapping paper, pink tablecloth, and box of chocolates I purchased. Not to worry though– the rest of the props/set pieces I got will definitely go to use in a future photoshoot.

There was a lot of trial and error– and I mean a lot. For the sake of transparency, I’ll include some of the shots that didn’t quite hit alongside those I took that I actually really liked. Also, I was taking pictures on and off, from around 4 pm to 7:30 pm. This means that there was a lot of lighting changes to deal with as well. I used a self-timer 10-picture count on my camera, manual settings, and flash. Depending on whether or not my camera’s autofocus cooperated, sometimes it was on auto focus, sometimes on manual.

Without further ado, let’s get into the pictures.

I started out in the only blank wall space in my room: the corner behind my door. I had already put up the white poster board I bought, so as to have a semi-backdrop to shoot in front of. However, I quickly found a problem in that I had no idea how to pose. Between trying to make sure I was in frame and not look awful, I ended up just looking horribly awkward. Not to mention blurry.

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I soon figured out the blurriness issue, and had a stroke of inspiration with the red cellophane that was around the box of chocolates. (You can see a bit of the packaging in the second photo above.) I decided to use it as a filter on my lens, and I actually kind of liked the pictures I got from that venture.

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They still weren’t exactly what I was looking for, however. I decided to try different spots in my room, making mini sets at my vanity, on my bed, and on a little side table with my record player. Still, wasn’t really what I was going for, and I was getting a little discouraged.

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I decided to take a break and come back later. In the end, I went back to my original setup, but added a stool with a tablecloth over it and shot with me sitting down rather than standing. (I was actually doing a weird squat thing in order to be in frame but still have the mobility to pose for each shot, but ignore that.) I ended up taking a bunch of pictures, and they were by far my favorites of the entire shoot. You’ll notice both the shirt change I mentioned earlier, as well as a hair style change.

In some of the last photos, I even added back the red cellophane, though only over part of the lens. I think that having a prop and a set up that made it easier to interact with said prop really helped, and I’m glad I went back to the shoot after taking a break rather than just giving up.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the shoot went– even if there were plenty of bumps. For my first real self-portrait shoot, I think I got some good results. It makes me excited to plan another self-portrait shoot. Don’t worry– you guys will be the first to know.

Happy early Valentine’s Day, and see you next time! xo