Why Photographing Yourself Is Beneficial For You?

Throughout art history, self portraiture has been a way for the artist to reflect and capture themselves in a unique way. Nowadays, with the phone camera we have a constant access to we also have the ability to capture, portray, and record ourselves. Being an artist or not, photographing yourself can be beneficial for you in a few ways.

• Helps you release emotions

As living life and going through experiences, we’re faced with variety of emotions, that often can be overwhelming. All of us humans have moments where we’re faced with challenging emotions, very often unable to express them due to lack of understanding or deep rooted traumas that might not allow us. Here is why standing in front of the camera (and ideally a mirror) by yourself, honest and with all of those bare emotions, you experience an allowance to realise and share. Movement, facial expressions and gaze are all channels to release what you’ve had trapped inside. Unreleased emotions get stored in the body and convert into diseases at some point. Therefore releasing what is bothering you, what has been hurting you, is healthy for your mind, body and soul.

• Helps you get to know yourself better

Self portraiture is true mirror that you put in front to observe, examine and learn more about your own self. Trapped in the human body, your soul is directly expressed through your eyes. How often do you look in your eyes? How often do you stop and stare, examine your facial and body features, but also pay attention to the energy that your souls is transmitting to you? By portraying yourself you get closer to your own soul by paying attention to what’s inside that wants to get out.

You can also learn to accept your physical form, your body. We’re here for a certain amount of years, occupying a body that we often want to change and modify instead of accepting and loving it so it can serve us longer, which is directly related to our life time. Getting to know yourself and accepting yourself as you are here and now would benefit you enormously - you’ll live a more fulfilled and peaceful life, with less anxiety and worries. Because fighting and denying it will only lead to more suffering.

• Helps you learn more about photography

You have a constant access to yourself and your body. Photographing yourself is the quickest and easiest way to practice posses, to play with light or explore further. By practising it you’ll become more confident in your craft and with your clients/sitters. You’ll see and correct mistakes that you might be making often. You can learn more about how light and position can change the feeling of a final image. Never the less, you will end up with interesting body of work that you’re proud of, can use in other ways for variety of purposes, but it will also give you a memory of the captured moment in time that will never return. Self portraiture can become a present that you leave behind to your family and children, to the future generation to remember you and your special light.

In conclusion, photographing yourself is beneficial for you in the form of therapy, art or memory. It can enhance your professional work, but will also develop stronger connection with your soul. Practiced regularly, self portraiture can give you a personal, mirrored look of yourself and where you stand at this point in life, that you can’t find anywhere else. A unique reality check to learn from in a deeper level. Looking and accepting yourself is powerful practice. Being your own art piece will give you joy that you can tap into anytime you want.

I’d love to know how you get along. Let me know in comments! :)

How to photograph musicians with their musical instruments?

Most professionals require certain tools or instruments to be able to perform or create their work. Musicians included. As creators, their musical instruments are an inevitable part of their everyday life and quality of their work. They spend hours in practice and usually carry their own instruments for their performances or rehearsals.

When photographing musicians with their music instruments you should keep in mind that it’s important to capture the essence of the artist, but also to compliment their pride towards their craft and tools.

Here are a few tips of what to keep in mind during your photoshoot:

• Don’t hide the person behind the object
  Not every professional (especially in the early stages of their career) is confident to be photographed. Some might try to hide their body or expression behind the instrument. Your job as a photographer is to capture the passion, the movement, but also the performer. Make sure you have enough frames of your subject with their instrument in movement/performing and also of them proudly posing with their instrument. Keep in mind how you crop your frames, how natural the image looks and how both musician and instrument stand together. Even if your sitters might not feel it at the time, later on they will thank you for sure.

• Reflections, reflections, reflections
  Most music instruments have glossy, shiny finishing that reflects not only the light but also the objects surrounding it. So, while you’re thinking about the framing and position of your subject, you should also keep an eye on the reflections that appear on the instruments. You don’t want to see a selfie of yourself or the backstage on your amazingly lit and positioned professional photographs. And more often than not, it’s easier to correct it on the spot, than later in Photoshop.

• No fingerprints
  One way to make your life and job easier is to make sure the instruments that you photograph are well polished and clean. This will not only save you a good amount of time in post production, but it will bring the best out of the item. It’s like when you like your shoes but if you polish them you fall in love with them again. Also the performer would feel more proud while posing for their photoshoot when they see their instrument shining bright. After all this is not a performance, but a photoshoot and you can take your time with every detail on the set. (Of course, this is not the case when you want to explicitly show the work marks of the craftsman on its equipment.)

• Environment
  A photoshoot of musicians with their instruments doesn’t necessarily mean live, stage performance. But the place where you do your photoshoot might be the same. When planning your shoot be clear with yourself and the brief (if there is one), what is the feel/effect that you’re going for. In or out of a music environment, your photographs can capture the essence, the vibe, even the sound…

How to give your location shoot a Spanish feel

Location shoots can be an endless playground for creation. From background variations and light scenarios to unexpected situations and interesting probs. Despite how prepared you are, sometimes it’s good to just go with the flow and enjoy the ride.

My Spanish inspired shoot was done in the busy, industrial city of Birmingham (UK), way away from Spain or anything that can bring the feeling of it. But - when you put your mind and skills into something you image, you get rewarded at the end.

It was all done with minimal equipment and a small budget:

• 1 model

• 1 dress

• 1 location

• 1 light

That’s it! Really, a photoshoot doesn’t need to be complicated to look beautiful. Your desire for creation is stronger than you might think. You just need to get out of your own way, as they say, (wink, wink).

> Model

It’s good to know your preferences even choosing a person for your photoshoot. When I think of Spanish women, I automatically imagine a dark-haired girl with red lips. However, this is my personal preference and you feel free to experiment with all looks and backgrounds you like. For this shoot, I’ve worked with the British singer Siobhan, who went into the Latino mood with ease.

> Styling

The styling for this shoot was brought up by my model, who had a quite clear idea of how she sees her playing the beautiful señora on a hot summer day. I give her my trust and we went with it. We used 1 dress by Pretty Little Thing and a few of her personal accessories. The look was finished with a bright red lipstick by Fenty Beauty, that complimented beautifully her face and gave the look that classic Spanish feel.

> Location

Believe it or not, this wasn’t something fancy or outside of town. In fact, is a local pub near my place, which I had my eye on for some time. The shoot was done during the lockdown for Covid-19 and the pub was just about to reopen after a long break. It’s a big branch of Toby Carvery in a beautiful old building with a spacious courtyard, beautifully arranged with flowers and trees. I chose a few different spots that can give us the feel we were going too, but distant enough from the reality of the location. Not as a cheat, but more like a personal preference.

> Light

Last but not least and in fact the most important - the light! Unlike the typical recommendations of using the golden hour, this shot was done at noon on one of the hottest days in England this year. I’m a huge fan of daylight and used to take it for granted when growing up in Bulgaria. During most of the year on a sunny day, you can shoot from sunrise to sunset without a problem. No need to check the forecast or stress around it - the sun is not going anywhere. But in the UK is quite different - you need to use the sunlight when it’s there and not when you feel like it, because more often than not the forecast changes like, I like saying a woman’s mood.

So for this shoot, I’ve used the sharp noon sunlight and 1 strobe light to fill out the shadows. That’s all. I positioned my model in front and behind the sun, and also under trees so I can use the shawls of the leaves making her look like she is in an out-of-town county house. Yes, the red English bricks are still part of the picture, but despite being a traditional park for British architecture, I think it macked the Spanish feel we went for.

Additional tips…

> Poses - positioning your model to match the feel you’re going for is an essential part of the process too. When I think of the Spanish theme, I imagine sensual, feminine poses, flowers, and dress that compliments and sculpture in a beautiful way the model’s body. So be aware and look where hands, feet, and hips go. Don’t be afraid to ask them to move or adjust. When photographed, most people are focused on the camera and don’t think about how their hands and legs move. It’s your job as a photographer to make them comfortable and adjust their physique in the best way for beautiful results.

> Keep it simple - Be mindful of the number of accessories you add on. I like to keep it minimal, focused on the model and their captured energy than overlapping it with accessories. It’s your vision and preferences, but be mindful of how busy your location background is and what catches the eye first when looking at the photographs.

> Play! - Remember to have fun and enjoy the process. Experiment, move around your model and use the sun in different ways. Take breaks if you need to, and wait if you can for the perfect position of the sun.

This is how I did a Spanish themed photoshoot in England on one of the hottest summer days for 2020. You really don’t need much to create anything you put your mind into.