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Take better self portraits with this advice from professional models

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Self-portraiture has been around for much longer than the much-maligned selfie. It is as old as art itself and is a real genre of photography in and of itself. But it’s not easy. If you’ve ever tried to take photographs of yourself, you’ll know just how difficult it can be.

Fortunately, advances in technology have helped enormously. However, the fact remains that what we think we look like in our mind rarely is how we actually look in the finished image. It can be an exercise in patience and trial and error. But it is possible to improve and get better at posing yourself. In this video from Mango Street, professional models give advice on how you can look better in your self-portraits.

How to create winter self-portraits in the home studio using a can of fake spray snow

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While winter portraits might not be on most of our minds with Summer about to officially kick in for the Northern Hemisphere, it’s certainly been on the mind of photographer Hamza Sleem, who created these amazing winter portraits in his home studio with the help of a cheap can of artificial spray snow.

Hamza’s home studio setup is fairly simple, with just a Canon EOS 1200D and 18-55mm kit lens, a single strobe and a backdrop. But his ingenuity shows that you can get some very captivating shots with very little gear if you know how to use it well and think a little outside the box.

Photographer looks at you through animals’ eyes in these creative self-portraits

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If the name Flóra Borsi rings a bell, that’s because chances are slim that you haven’t seen her work. And if you have, you’ve probably wanted to see more of it.

After sharing with you some of Flóra’s amazing self-portraits a few years ago, we bring you more of this talented lady’s work. Her series Animeyed II blurs the line between a human and an animal, staring straight at you with both human and animal eyes. Curious? Let’s dive in!

Three ideas for creative self-portraits at home

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The corona pandemic is also an enormous challenge for photographers. According to Google trends, for example, search queries for photographers in Germany dropped by about 50% during lockdowns compared to pre-corona times. In order not to get completely rusty, portrait photographers need some creativity to stay active. The solution for me was to sharpen my skills with self-portraits. In the following, I would like to show you three different setups to start with.

The healing power of self-portraits [slightly NSFW]

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Taking self-portraits is a great way to get to know photography, but also to get to know yourself. But also, it helps you in the process of emotional healing after a trauma or during a rough period of your life. In his latest video, photographer Sean Tucker talks about the healing power of self-portraits and how they’ve helped him get through a crisis. And if you’re having a rough time right now, I strongly suggest that you watch it.

Robert Pattison took his own photos for the GQ Magazine cover

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With coronavirus lockdowns and isolations, everyone works with what they’ve got and improvise to the max. Robert Pattison and GQ did it too for the June/July issue of this fashion magazine. While self-isolating in London, Pattison shot his own self-portraits for GQ, both for the cover and spread. And considering the circumstances, the results aren’t bad at all.

Photographers turn their homes into cameras to portray life during coronavirus times

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While staying at home, many photographers turned their houses and flats into studios. In fact, some of them even turned them into cameras! Brazilian photographer Bruno Alencastro turned the “camera obscura room” concept into a fantastic collaborative project. He teamed up with other photographers, and each of them turned their home into a camera obscura. They took some fantastic shots showing the “upside-down reality” that we live in and telling their own stories about these days of isolation.

The Ultimate Selfie – time to practice during this down time period

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Hey Folks the ultimate selfie not a post I thought I would write BUT I saw great value in sharing this even more so during this world pandemic which has hit this and many other Industries hard! as of writing this work has disappeared as it has for many and I now have more time on my hands BUT this is only temporary and it WILL get back to normal, just got to hang in there folks! So with all of these work responsibilities  being taking from us, take this time to have a breather, try and relax a little I know it will be hard but what’s the alternative right?

Five steps to creating epic environmental self-portraits

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Do you like expressing yourself through self-portraits? That’s something I personally enjoy it, and I even think it can be beneficial in several ways. Sarah Lyndsay is a fellow photographer and she makes fantastic self-portraits. In this video, she will guide you through five steps that will help you to make breathtaking environmental self-portraits. And even if you’re not comfortable in front of the camera, you can still follow these steps when photographing someone else and end up with some epic shots.

Lizzy Gadd’s photography truly shows the difference between a “selfie” and a self-portrait

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Selfies are probably the most common photographs created today. Most of us shoot them, but how many of us shoot them the way Lizzy Gadd does? Lizzy photographs herself in the various landscapes of the world and her work truly illustrates the difference between a simple “selfie” and a “self-portrait”.

Lizzy’s also the subject of SmugMug’s latest film, which sees her exploring Scotland’s beautiful Isle of Skye looking for new worlds in which to place herself. She talks about her motivation and technique, and it’s fascinating to listen to her insights and thought process.

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