How to Take Great Self Portraits: What I Learned From My Mistakes

How to take great self portraits?

This is a question I have asked myself MANY times over the last ten years.

My first self portraits were taken as part of my then-fashion blog:

I had no idea about the technical aspects of photography, but I wanted to take cool photos of myself wearing different outfits.

To improve my blog photos (and since I have always liked photography), I booked a one-year photography course in London.

The irony: While doing the course, I realised I liked photography so much more than running my fashion blog!

Hence, I eventually gave up that blog and invested all my time in improving my photos.

These days, I’m a fine art photographer, and almost all my images are self-portraits.

By now, I’m mostly happy with my images, but over the years, I’ve made all the mistakes in the book.

What about you?

Do you love taking self-portraits but sometimes run into technical challenges?

Or maybe your photos are pretty but don’t seem to have that polished, “pro” look?

If that’s the case, I can relate, and this article will give you some helpful pointers on how to take great self portraits.

In the post, I analyse three images in-depth, telling you exactly what I did wrong and what lessons to learn from it.

Let’s get into it!

Self-Portrait 1: White Boots

This is one of my earliest self-portraits from the days when I still had a fashion blog.

I took this photo as a tongue-in-cheek image of a “fashion victim” who cradles her boot like a little baby.

I actually still like the colour scheme and vibe of the picture.

However, there are so many things wrong with it! 

Let’s look at things I could have improved one by one.

1.1) Image Quality

The first thing that jumps at me when looking at this self-portrait is the poor image quality.

First of all, this was actually shot in JPEG rather than RAW.

That’s because it was taken in the early days of my photography journey when I didn’t even know that RAW was a thing.

You can see the low image quality in this closer crop; notice the uneven colour and blurriness of the image:

What I Should Have Done

I should have shot this image in RAW.

RAW is a file format that contains unprocessed data directly captured from the camera’s image sensor.

It’s essentially a photograph’s “digital negative,” i.e., not yet adjusted or compressed like a JPEG or PNG.

This does increase the file size, making RAW files quite large.

However, that also means you have the most image information available in the file.

The result is sharper, higher-quality images you can edit in Photoshop without losing detail and quality.

Additionally, you can print RAW files at high resolution and in much larger formats.

I would advise you to ALWAYS shoot RAW; otherwise, I guarantee you’ll be annoyed at yourself later.

1.2 Out of Focus

The next issue with this image is that I am actually not in focus.

This is something that I struggled with for several years, and you may relate:

Getting the focus right is one of the most challenging aspects of self-portrait photography.

What I Should Have Done

To get this shot into focus, I should have used eye/face detection autofocus in combination with a remote or a remote shooting app on my smartphone.

I was using the wrong focus mode then, and my camera didn’t understand what it meant to autofocus on.

Today, I always use eye-tracking autofocus and hardly ever have blurry images.

If you need help with focusing, you can check out this post.

1.3 Didn’t Pay Attention to the Composition

Another mistake I made:

I didn’t pay attention to the composition.

Have a look at the image again:

You can see on the right side that I included the corner of the room, which is very distracting.

I could remove this in post-production, but there would still be uneven lighting, which is harder to fix.

What I Should Have Done

I should have moved myself and the shoe box more to the left, parallel to the back wall.

This would have prevented me from having that corner in the frame and created a more harmonious composition.

1.4 Didn’t Fix General Exposure and Colour Balance

Finally, with more experience in image editing, I can spot lots of general adjustment issues:

For example, the whole image is too underexposed/too dark; I would fix that now using the Exposure and Curves tools.

Next, I would adjust the colours, shadows and highlights:

The red is too bright compared to the other hues in the image, so I would either desaturate that or increase the saturation of the different hues.

I would also adjust the shadows and highlights to create a more even exposure.

Lessons Learned:

Always shoot in RAW to have the best possible image quality for editing and printing.

Also, set your camera to eye/face detection autofocus.

Use a remote shooting app on your smartphone or a remote to get the focus right.

If thats not available, manually focus on an object, then sit or stand in the same position (check out my detailed focusing tips here).

Pay attention to the composition and distracting details you don’t want in the frame.

Post-Production: Fix exposure, colour, shadows, highlights, etc, to achieve a balanced image.

Self-Portrait 2: Riga

This is a self-portrait I took in Riga, Latvia, in a beautiful AirBnB.

I like the moody vibe of the shot, but there are many issues I could have fixed to improve the overall image quality.

Here they are:

2.1 Colour Noise

As you can see, this photo was taken at night, with very little ambient light.

That in itself is not a problem if you have the right camera.

However, I was using a Nikon Z30, a perfectly good camera, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have excellent low-light performance.

For this image, I used a high ISO (I think ISO 800).

The Nikon Z30 is a crop sensor camera and not all that powerful in low light.

That, combined with a high ISO, has led to very unsightly colour noise.

You can see it quite well in this detailed shot here, especially in the curtain area:

This kind of colour noise is very hard to fix in post-production and overall greatly lowers the image quality.

What I Should Have Done

For this kind of shot, it’s a good idea to use a full-frame camera that will deliver higher-quality results.

If you don’t have one, the other alternative is to add more light to the scene instead.

Even just a small desk light would have enabled me to lower the ISO, resulting in less noise.

2.2 Small Details I Didn’t Pay Attention to

The next issue with this image:

I was so busy taking the photo that I didn’t pay attention to small details, like removing that plastic bag at the left corner of the frame.

I also wish I would have brushed my hair!

What I Should Have Done

Before starting my shoot, I should have quickly checked the framing to make sure it was free from distracting details.

I also should have styled my hair better so it wouldn’t look so messy in the frame.

Lessons Learned

For low-light shots, always use the lowest ISO possible, even if that means introducing a small additional light source.

Or, use a professional full-frame camera with high resolution and image quality, which will enable you to use a higher ISO with less noise.

Next, always check your final framing and composition to ensure no distracting details.

Also, take a few extra minutes to fix your hair, iron clothing, etc, so these small details don’t ruin your shot.

By the way…if you need some inspiration for your self-portraits, check out my free ebook below:

…but now, back to the blog post!

Self Portrait 3: Firestarter

This self portrait is a composite, i.e. it combines two separate images: one urban cityscape photo and one photo of me taken in my living room.

Creating composites comes with its own challenges, and I did not do a great job with this one.

Here are some of my mistakes with this image:

3.1 Lighting Doesn’t Match

The very first rule to obey when creating composites is that the lighting of the images you’re combining should match.

For my composite, I used this background:

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it was taken in the afternoon on a fairly sunny day, meaning the light source (the sun) was above me.

In contrast, look at the self-portrait I took in my living room:

Here, the light is directed at the white backdrop, which reflects it onto me.

This creates brighter contours on my legs and arms, whereas my front body is not directly lit.

The problem: The lighting in both pictures is totally different, making it very hard to combine them and make it look like I was in the scene.

What makes the composite even more complex is that I added a stock photo of flames.

If there were a real fire burning below me, it would create a particular lighting scenario:

much brighter light on my legs and lower body than in the top half of the picture, plus the light would be glowing orange and yellow.

What I Should Have Done

Having learned much more about composites by now, I would do the following to make this photo work:

• shoot the backdrop on a cloudy day, meaning I get even, neutral lighting
• photograph myself with a soft, even light source above me angled down, like a large softbox; this would mimic the diffused light on a cloudy day
• add a shadow around my feet in Photoshop to anchor me in the scene and make it look realistic.
• use Curves or another tool in Photoshop to brighten up the lower half of my body and darken the top so it would look like the fire was illuminating me from below.

3.2 Colours Are Not Harmonious

The next issue with this image is the colour grading:

I did try to adapt the overall colours so it would look realistic, but it’s not really working:

The colours of the flames and my clothing seem too bright and saturated compared to the backdrop.

What I Should Have Done

As you can tell from the above images, my backdrop was already quite dull and desaturated, whereas my self-portrait was very bright and vibrant.

Hence, I should have either desaturated the fire and self-portrait or increased the colour saturation of the backdrop.

I also should have used colour grading tools like Color Balance or Color Lookup in Photoshop to adjust overall colours and visually connect everything.

3.3 Depth of Field and Atmosphere

Finally, there is an issue with the depth of field and what I would generally call “atmosphere”:

If I were really standing in that scene within burning flames, there would be lots of smoke. 

The air would be much less clear, and I would look less defined.

What I Should Have Done

Have a look at my final image again:

Can you see how blurry the background is and how I’m comparatively sharp?

If I were really standing in that scene (with a burning fire!), my contours and edges should be much more blurred and undefined.

Hence, I would now add a blur to the subject (me) using the Gaussian Blur filter in Photoshop.

Next, I would use one or several smoke and dust overlays—you can get those from royalty-free image platforms like unsplash.com or pixabay.com.

I would add these smoke layers and blend them in using blend modes and masking tools.

Together, these overlays would create more atmosphere and ‘dirt in the air’ that you would see with a real fire.

Lessons Learned

For composites, make sure that you have the same or at least similar lighting in all your shots, such as diffused, soft and even lighting, hard lighting from an undiffused light source, etc.

The lighting should come from the same direction in all images, which will make the composite much more believable and realistic.

If you want to learn how to convincingly composite elements together in Photoshop, check out this excellent online course here.

Next, it’s extremely helpful to use colour grading tools to give your composites and images in general that “pro” look.

Again, check out my previous post on colour grading here for more detailed tips on this.

Finally, always think about:

What would this situation look like in real life?

As with my example of the fire, smoke and soot would be in the atmosphere, making me appear blurred and less visible in places.

Note: You will also need to add a drop shadow for each element you add to a scene.

If you want to learn more about creating shadows and compositing in general, check out the excellent compositing courses offered by nucly.com.

I hope you found this critique of my own images helpful!

Keep in mind that as photographers, we’re always learning and evolving.

A challenge that seems insurmountable today might already be a complete non-issue just a few weeks or months later, and every photo, editing session, course, or tutorial brings you closer to mastering your craft.

So, don’t give up and keep learning!

P.S.: Do you want to learn how to take pro-level self-portraits?

Then check out my in-depth guide below: