Lockdown Self Portrait Challenge

I have really missed taking photos whilst we’ve been on lockdown and staying safe at home. I wanted to flex my creative skills by doing some self portraits and I was inspired by Rebecca Carpenter’s IGTV post about just going for it, trying your best and see what you get. Self portraits is something that I have never done before and I was really keen to give it a try.

Here are some steps to help you take your own self portraits

The first set of photos that I wanted to do was take new headshots. I had a great one but it was at this point about 7 years old. It made sense to use my own skills for once. So I set up my camera (a 5D Mk IV) on a tripod and connected to it using the Canon Camera Connect app. This means that I get a live view of what I am shooting. When you’re using the live view on the app, it’s important to make sure that you have correct focus. I made sure that I set the focus to ‘face detection’. This made it a lot easier instead of setting focus and trying not to move from that spot. I also set the self timer to 2 seconds, just to give myself a little bit of time! You can set to 10 seconds if that make it easier for you. The other benefit of using the app is that you get a look at the exposure levels. Make sure that it looks right. Once I had the headshots that I was looking for, I moved on to do something a little more relaxed. We get great light coming through my patio door. It made sense to use it.

All in all, this whole process took a couple of hours but it was really worth doing. I just found it a strange experience posing myself and trying not to laugh. I even managed to grab my husband for a couple of shot while he took a lunch break. The important thing to remember through the whole process of taking self portraits, is just to relax. Some shots just aren’t going to work but that is OK. It’s all trial and error. Why not give this a try?