Vol 2: Want To Take Better Selfies?

Thanks for checking out volume 2 of my blog series. This time, I want the theme to be based around the selfie. 

Self portraits as a photographer is always an awkward thing; most often preferring to be behind the lens rather than in front of it. But I think that this doesn't have to be the case. Being both the photographer and the model, you have the ultimate freedom to get the coolest shot possible.

If you follow many of my photographs, you’ll also find creative ways you can make these look fun and creative with playing with lighting and jumping in frame to add extra drama to the scene.

Here’s some of my top tips to get the coolest selfies…

1.Light

 Firstly, photography is all about light. Try not to photograph yourself in bright overhead daylight or the same with indoor lights. You’ll see the shadow in your eyes and you will not give off a bright and happy look that we mostly want. Instead, use more diffused light, such as finding shade outdoors or stand by a large window indoors. 

This will in turn, give you a softer and more flattering look on your face with no harsh or distracting shadows. 

Also, play around with the direction of lighting. For example, when the sun is lower (in golden hour times) you could think about having your back to the sun for the selfie. This puts your face in the shade and you can expose your face to be correct. Exposing this way will in turn give bright glowing light behind you, creating an awesome back lit scene.

Have a play around with these angles and have fun with it…

2. Action

If you're not used to being behind the camera, it is very easy to feel awkward when taking selfies. We go for these canned poses, hold them until it feels super weird as we try to take photos.

As an alternative, try to keep moving, move your phone around to adjust light and angles, and move in your poses to give more motion and fluidity to your looks. So instead of holding poses, try to move into them as you are taking the photo. It will feel so much more natural…

3. Get Creative

Selfies can really get dull. We see them all the time on Instagram, and almost always with the same poses. This doesn’t have to be the case…

You can either set a delay on your phone or buy a remote shutter to connect to your phone or camera and then set it down into a cool scene or view. From this point on, there are endless opportunities you have. 

You could run into frame, sit, stand, lay down, or my personal favorite, jump. Try to create a story and see how your actions can create that feeling. 

Remember, with selfies, you are the photographer and the model. Nobody is waiting on you or judging. You have endless time to play around and have fun until you get something that looks awesome. This tip is really where it comes into its own and a whole new realm of photography is opened up to you.

Bonus Hack:

OK so we did cover this one in the last point but here’s two pieces of kit which are essential if you want to up your self portrait game. Get a tripod and a remote shutter, so that you can set up your camera to exactly where you want it, get into the position you want to and click the shutter from any moment you could possibly want. This setup gives you so much freedom with creativity…

Story Time…

So for this segment, I thought I’d try to bring home a little more inspiration with my favorite selfie. And to show you the possibilities you can try too.

So I arrived early this morning at my favourite beach on the Isle of Wight. It’s super quiet, so I know I can play around with a bunch of ideas and not worry about too many people wondering what I am doing haha.

This morning was stunning. Just before the sun rose, the sky had a beautiful red/orange glow which was reflecting off the pristine wet sand that the tide had just uncovered. This brought an idea.

So I set up my camera on a tripod, attached the remote shutter sensor to the top and held in my hand the clicker. I set the camera's exposure to be adjusted for all the beautiful colours. Being the brightest thing in the frame, this meant exposing pretty low, meaning I will be silhouetted (all black).

However, this creates a cool dynamic to invoke more mystery and wonder to the story of the photo.

So I started jumping and clicking the image at the highest point. The results were cool, and the reflections were awesome, but I saw more…

I liked how the cleanness of the reflection looked almost like another self reflecting back at me. So I wonder if I could create the image of reaching or trying to connect with one another. 

I thought out how this might look and proceeded to try. I’d go back to the LCD screen to look and then learn and adjust to try and get the perfect shot. It took a lot of tries, but in the end I had a few I'm happy with.

Now comes the added creativity. In Photoshop I then decided to take one silhouette reflection out of one photo and add it to another. I can teach you this trick another time but this created the cool idea that sometimes we need to take a break, step back and listen to your bodies. Sometimes, we all need help and our first line of support should always be ourselves. 

Anyway, here’s a creative idea for selfies. I can’t wait to see what you try.

DM me on Instagram @harrybradleyphoto any creative self portraits you've been working on. I’d love to see what you've been working on and if this post has inspired you to get more creative.

Have fun with it,

Best wishes,