Ah, the dreaded selfie. Some love it, others hate it. You only need to look at a person’s social media profile to see which category they fall into.
I love a selfie with my other half to capture our latest adventure, or with a friend where I inevitably pull a silly face to distract from the discomfort I feel in front of the camera.
However, I really believe that to be a good portrait photographer, you need to be comfortable both infront and behind the lens. I’ve tested myself a couple of times by having portrait shots taken and volunteering for model calls. They both start the same way, with me awkward and giggling, but after a while, I start to relax and I learn new ways of helping my subjects relax when it’s my turn to capture them.
I still need practise at this though and I have a lot to learn about being at ease as the subject. So I decided to set myself a challenge. Over the next 10 weeks I’m going to take and post a self portrait. Each week, I’m also going to challenge a photographer friend to join in and do the same. Here’s hoping a few take me up on the offer. I think we can all benefit from being in our subject’s shoes.
This is a self portrait I took a couple of years ago for a different project. It doesn’t count as my first one, I’m posting those on a weekly basis on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. At the end of the ten weeks, I’ll post all 10 for you to comment on!
