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#AdvancedSelfie – by Kim Fisher

Kim Fisher

Visual Artist | Creative | Fashion | Editorial
I help you create ✨

“I hate being in front of the camera”
Every non-model client ever.

 The first thing every first-time non-model client tells me is “I hate being in front of the camera” or “I hate photos of myself”, to which my standard response is “me too, that’s why I’m behind the camera”.

But in this day and age where a photographer’s reputation, which is what books us work, is showcased mainly
(for better or for worse) through social media, how much longer can we remain behind the camera?

The voyeuristic nature of social media demands an insight behind the perfectly curated Instagram feed.
The hashtag #bts has over 84 million post alone with many more images and videos being shared on Instagram and Facebook stories as well as in YouTube tutorials.

People want to see who you are and how you live.

As the old marketing saying goes

“People buy/do business with people they know, like and trust”,

so we need to be out there showing people who we are, getting them to know, like and trust us, and most importantly getting them to hire us.

And in a sea of photography feeds that all look the same the only differentiator is you, the person behind the camera.

I still very much stand by my initial avoidance of being in front of the camera, so I thought I would try something different by being in front of my own camera. It is also then technically my own photography, so I feel better about sharing that on my feed. A “professional selfie” of sorts if you will.

Enter Sorelle Amore, the queen of the #AdvancedSelfie! She has a YouTube channel with tips and tricks on taking your own advanced selfies. Side note: it is not as easy as it appears! She truly has a talent and is worth checking out.

You can watch her full tutorial here:

Or this one by Mango Street Lab:

In essence:

  • 1. Examine the location for a spot that is aesthetically pleasing
  • 2. Wear clothes that suit your body, fit with look you are going for and complement the location you have chosen (in style and colour)
  • 3. Carefully choose what to include in your photo to ensure it keeps with the style you are trying to achieve and adds to the narrative
  • 4. Purposeful close ups to include enough of the background to tell the story
  • 5. Environment choice, closely linked to the first point, if you can’t get into a picture-perfect hotel room you can always use nature
  • 6. You will need patience! Try changing positions, outfits, angles, lighting until you get the shot you are happy with (as with any photoshoot)
  • 7. You’ll need a remote trigger! Or self-timer, but I found remote trigger is best, bonus points if its your phone so you can see the shot before hitting the button
  • 8. Focus can be tricky, her tip (echoed in the Mango Street Lab video) is to place an object where you want to set the focus, set focus, change the lens to manual focus so it can’t refocus, remove the ‘focus’ object and place yourself in that spot. Tricky to explain in writing, it’s clearer when you watch the videos, I promise.

When was the last time you shared yourself in front of the camera?

 

Here are a few advanced selfie ideas

for the camera shy person like me:​

Louise-Dahl-

Louise Dahl-Wolfe

American photographer most well known for
her work with Harper’s Bazaar.

Mango Street

Mango Street

Daniel DeArco and Rachel Gulotta

Amanda Shadforth

Amanda Shadforth

Creative Director . Photographer . Visual Artist

Plus some of my attempts at an advanced Selfie:

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