Has your Instagram game been lacking? Are you planning on posting a third mirror selfie in a row? There are two ways to go about this: if you are feeling yourself and that selfie is hawt, you go ahead and bless your followers' Instagram feeds. Or, if you want to spice things up, we've assembled plenty of self-portrait ideas that will make your content pop!
Let's first distinguish the difference between self-portrait photography and a selfie. The subject in both photos is you; however, the image is typically taken with the phone's front camera in the latter. In (self) portraits photography, it's more common to use a DSLR camera, yet the smartphone's back camera will do just fine! You would also want to equip a tripod (or stack some books) and utilize the built-in timer.
However, don't get mistaken. Creative portrait photography requires more time and effort than 'classic' mirror pics. Snapping a self-portrait often requires preparation beforehand. Depending on how seriously you approach this, the background, lighting, composition, color scheme, clothing, hair, and makeup can really impact the result. Also, depending on your photography skills, some self-portrait photography ideas might be more difficult to implement than others. Psst, remember that post-processing does wonders, so make sure to play and experiment with editing!
Below, we've compiled an exhaustive list of creative self-portrait ideas that will surely make your photos stand out! Alternating between easy shots and some rather challenging photography tricks, the examples below will inspire you to create some bomb dot com content yourself. Should we do an article on cute selfie ideas? Let us know! Also, if you want even more creative photoshoot ideas, check out our recent article next!
#1 Emphasize Color
Light is the most fundamental aspect of photography. Using natural light will never go out of style, yet, try playing with colored LED lights and color gels to add vibrant color to your shots.
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#2 Levitation
In photography, levitation is a simple concept of layer masking in Photoshop. Simply put, a scene is captured on camera without the subject first. Then, several pictures are taken with the subject by suspending the model in the air. Tripod is essential if you want to do it by yourself!
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#3 Include Motion Blur
Motion blur in photography is the deliberate streaking or blurring of a moving object in a picture for aesthetic effect. By blurring the background, for example, you can center the viewer's full attention on the subject, which almost works like adding layers and dimension to the photo.
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#4 Make Use Of Shadows
In photography, shadows can often become one's greatest foe or amplest friend, especially when shooting in direct sunlight. However, there are multiple ways to work around or with shade. Shadows give our imagery depth, shape, and texture, not to mention adding contrast and balance.
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#5 Use Expressions
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#6 Find Or Build An Interesting Background
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#7 Reference Other Creative Works
If you have stuck with us for a while, you perhaps have noticed that we love this style of photography and have covered plenty of articles showcasing people's recreations of famous works! Make sure to check them out for more inspiration!
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#8 Use Flowers In The Background
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#9 Use Bubbles
While yes, you can take photographs of bubbles with a point-and-shoot camera, if you really want to achieve excellent results, you should consider using a DSLR. To ensure that your bubble shots are sharp, we recommend using a small aperture between f/11 and f/16.
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#10 Make A Faceless Portrait
Something you wouldn't expect from a portrait, right? Even without a visible face, a faceless portrait is still a portrait!
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#11 Use Fairy Lights
The aim of fairy light photography is to take tantalizing, magical pictures. This style is fantastic for photographers who wish to sharpen their lighting techniques and capture compelling images perfect for Instagram!
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#12 Experiment With Depth Of Field
While there is such a thing as "the perfect" depth of field (DOP) for portraits, which is a shallow DOP when you want your subject to stand out from the background, try experimenting with it and what fits your portraiture style.
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#13 Work In Black And White
B&W photography is distraction-free. Cluttered or overly colored photos can often mislead the eye because sometimes there is just too much going on. Black and white photography removes any color distractions, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the subject, textures, shapes, patterns, and composition. There's not a single thing that looks bad in black and white.
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#14 Use Glitter
Literal way of adding some sparkle and bedazzle to your portraits!
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#15 Create A Silhouette
A silhouetted subject can still display some detail, but the less detail is seen, the more drama it adds to the image. Backlighting is essential for an effective silhouette. Place a subject in front of a background, then expose it to the background while keeping the subject in shadow to make a silhouette.
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#16 Become A Work Of Art
Makeup, body paint, glitter, stickers, flowers, or various tiny objects or even edibles can become your finest companions wanting to create a unique portrait.
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#17 Use Contrast
Colors that are warm and chilly contrast with one another. Those are the so-called complementary colors. They are the ones that appear on the color wheel in opposition to one another. For example, complementary colors are red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple). With contrast photography, you may adjust the contrast in several ways to change the tone, texture, clarity, and colors of your image as well as its mood. Altering the contrast can significantly impact the final image!
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#18 Use Your Smile
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#19 Stick To One Color Scheme
It is worthwhile to take some time to choose colors that work well together. Your portrait photograph will become even more artistically beautiful as an outcome!
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#20 Choose Really Professional Editing Services
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