DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Why taking self-portraits is good for you [slightly NSFW]

Jul 4, 2017 by Dunja Djudjic 11 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

As photographers, we find ourselves behind the camera way more often than in front of it. However, some photographers enjoy taking self-portraits as well. I belong to this group, and while I don’t feel too comfortable when posing to others, I am perfectly fine with posing to myself. I’m not a fan of selfies, but I think self-portraits can have certain benefits for photographers. I’d like to share them with you, and see if we think alike.

It’s good to note that this is my personal view and opinion, not based on the scientific facts or research. This is how I perceive self-portraits, and how I believe they shaped me both as a person and as a photographer – and hopefully, some of you will relate to it.

1. Practicing portrait photography

This probably goes without saying, but taking self-portraits can be a great preparation before you start photographing others. You get to explore the natural light or experiment with the best artificial lighting setups. You can learn which lenses work best for which kinds of shots. You can even try out the poses and figure out which ones you like best. All this could help you later when you start photographing others.

2. Self-acceptance

This is one of the ways self-portraiture has affected me the most. My body weight has varied ever since I was a child. Whenever I gain or lose a lot of pounds, I have a problem getting used to the person I see in the mirror. Taking self-portraits has helped me get out of my cocoon whenever I went through these transformations, and I learned to accept my body in all its stages. It has helped me get to know myself better, and see myself from a different perspective. It’s a bit hard to explain, but to put it simply – I started feeling better in my own skin after certain self-portraits I took. And I believe it could work for many people who feel awkward about themselves in whichever way.

“Confrontation”

3. Documenting the stages of your life and the ways you change

Many of my self-portraits are inspired by a certain emotion or an intense period of my life. It’s sometimes positive, but to be honest – more often it’s something negative. When I browse through these photos now, I remember what made me take them and what I was going through at the time. I wrote about it here so you can take a look.

Also, it’s a great way of documenting the way you change. If you take self-portraits inspired by events and emotions, you get to see how you change emotionally and preserve some striking moments of your life. And not to mention that you can also track the way you change physically, which I find fascinating and interesting to observe.

Back in the day when I first notice some gray hairs and freaked out about getting older

4. Expressing your emotions and feeling them more intensely

In most situations, I think that the message about my own feelings is the strongest if I show it myself. For example, I took a self-portrait for my boyfriend a couple of years ago, trying to depict how I feel when dreaming about him. You’d agree it would be a bit awkward if I took a photo of another girl, right? :)

This works in other situations and for other emotions as well. If you’re fully involved in both posing and capturing the photo, you can live the moment more intensely. This helps you focus on the emotion or the story you want to tell. If it’s a positive one, it just feels great to evoke it. And if it’s negative, confronting it in such an intense manner could help you get rid of it (like Anya Anti with her “Butterflies in my Stomach” photo).

5. Quality time with yourself

Do you enjoy being alone? I believe most of us like spending some quality time with no one but ourselves, at least occasionally. Well, taking self-portraits is an awesome way to do it. I feel like a child playing while I’m taking photos by myself. Self-portraits fall into this category of images I take when I just want to hang out alone and enjoy it to the max. Other than giving you time to practice photography, it also gives you some precious time to think and let your mind wander. It’s useful, and it’s beautiful.

Hanging out with the other Dunja and shocking her with some crazy ideas back in 2012 :)

Other than making self-portraits, I also love viewing those of other photographers. Since I’m definitely not the best self-portrait photographer there is, check out these posts on our blog for more inspiration:

  • Johnny Tang
  • Rob Woodcox
  • Flóra Borsi
  • Amanda Chapman
  • Samantha Geballe (NSFW)

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you enjoy taking self-portraits? If so, can you relate to the benefits I wrote about? Are there any you’d like to add?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below, and feel free to share your favorite self-portraits, too.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

The healing power of self-portraits [slightly NSFW] Toddler imitates his uncle’s modelling photos, and the results are hilarious [slightly NSFW] For the first time, Sports Illustrated publishes nude unedited photos for their Swimsuit Issue [slightly NSFW] Buzz Aldrin On Taking Self Portraits In Space (Plus, A New Service That Let’s You Make Your Own Space Selfie?!)

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: nsfw, portrait photography, self portrait, self portraits

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« How to retouch perfect natural looking skin using the clone stamp tool
Why I’ll Never Use FEDEX Again to Ship My Camera Gear »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Sony unveils three wireless microphones for content creators
  • This is why you should stop shooting music videos
  • First look at the Laowa Proteus Flex interchangeable flare optics
  • The Fotodiox RhinoCam Vertex shoots medium format images on L mount cameras
  • San Francisco filmmaker tracks stolen camera gear, police do nothing

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy