Seven Great Reasons for Taking Self Portraits

In today’s blog post, I will cover all the great reasons for taking self portraits (and there are many!).

Even though taking self portraits can be challenging and frustrating at times, I’ve found it to be the most rewarding kind of photography of all the genres I’ve tried.

Firstly, it has it helped me to massively improve my technical skills.

But more importantly, it has also been a fantastic way to express myself and to gain additional skills such as art direction, posing and retouching.

This is why I’m such a fan of self portrait photography and why I would 100% encourage you to give it a go despite the challenges it poses.

One of my self portraits, shot during a holiday in Latvia.

In today’s article, I want to give you seven great reasons why taking self portraits is one of the best things you can do in your photographic journey.

Let’s cover them one by one.

1) Total Creative Freedom

Usually, a portrait shoot involves a photographer and at least one model.

In most cases, there will also be one or more assistants, as well as additional people such as art directors, clients, stylists, hair and make-up artists, etc.

Conversely, when you take a self-portrait, there’s only one person on set–you.

The downside of that is of course that you’ll have to do all the work yourself, but the massive upside is that you have total creative freedom.

You don’t have to fulfil anyone’s expectations or brief.

Since the creative concept is yours alone, you can make your unique vision a reality without having to compromise.

Even better, though, is the fact that your creativity is not restricted by your working environment.

First of all, you don’t have to book (and pay for!) a model.

You actually already have the easiest model to work with: yourself!

This is great because you already know what you want to express with your self-portrait.

Hence, you don’t need to rely on anyone else to understand your concept or to do their job well.

Instead, you can simply get started whenever you want, at whatever time of day.

I cannot stress enough how freeing this is.

In fact, this ease of getting started was one of the reasons why I first began taking self portraits:

I wanted to realise an idea in my head, but didn’t have access to a model.

Therefore, I simply put a dress on, quickly did my make up and took a photo with myself as the model instead.

Before I get to the next section…did you know that you can download my free self portrait ebook? More info below:

…but now, back to the blog post!

2) You Greatly Improve Your Technical Skills

Did I mention that self portrait photography is challenging? 😊

When you take your own picture, you’re the one making all the decisions in regards to camera settings, backdrop, hair and make-up, clothing, styling, posing, props, and editing.

In addition, you have to figure out how to actually focus on yourself and take the picture while “modelling” at the same time.

When I first started taking self portraits, I hardly ever managed to get the focus right, and it was so frustrating!

I have found some solutions to this problem now (read more in this post: How to Take Self Portraits).

To get there, I had to learn a lot about depth of field, the right aperture choice for sharpness depending on distance, and how autofocus works (your best friend when taking self portraits).

Self-portrait shot using slow shutter speed and flash, requiring some technical knowledge.

Photographer and Model at Once

But there’s way more to gain in self portrait photography than just technical skills:

By default, you’re also the model, so you will learn how to use body language and facial expressions in order to convey certain emotions, as well as how to use clothes and make up to emphasise that effect.

Also, you will start to understand how to pose, what angles work well depending on the lighting you’re using and which poses look flattering or unflattering.

(If you need help with posing, check out my post Self Portrait Posing: How to Pose Like a Pro).

All of these are skills that might come in incredibly handy if you ever photograph a model or a client because you will know how to direct them and how to make them look their best.

3) Taking Self-Portraits Boosts Your Creativity

OK, so I did state earlier that using yourself as the model is very easy and comfortable, since you don’t need to book an external model and can really make your creative vision a reality.

However, you being the model can pose creative challenges, too, because you don’t have the luxury of working with different models that all offer different looks and body shapes.

I do actually see this as a positive, though, because it will ultimately make you more creative:

Since you always work with the same “canvas”, so to speak, (your own face and body), you have to find other ways to express your vision.

This could be achieved through hair and make-up, props, different effects like camera filters, or creative editing.

(By the way, a great way to overcome this creative challenge is by using wigs. I have about 10 of them by now, and they really help me become a different character for each shoot; here’s an example:

So, to sum up:

Yes, using different models for each shoot and relying on that as a differentiating factor may be easy, but often, there is more creativity to be found in limitation.

If you’re the only model available, you will naturally work really hard to create different images every time, which will ultimately make you grow as a photographer and artist.

4) It’s a Fantastic Way to Express Yourself

I think there are, broadly speaking, two types of photography:

You can take pictures of what is there already, for example a beautiful landscape or an interesting street scene, or you can take pictures to express a thought, an emotion, or a concept.

Taking a self-portrait clearly falls into the latter category:

After all, you’re not taking a mere headshot or portrait of yourself to use on your website or CV, for example.

Instead, the self-portrait is your creative medium:

Some people might use pen and paper, others might use paints and a canvas, and you, as the self-portrait photographer, create your “artwork” through the medium of photography.

When I take my own picture, I’m not trying to create a realistic depiction of myself, simply recreating what I see in the mirror.

Rather, I’m using myself as a model to make the viewer of the image feel an emotion or to simply create something that looks beautiful in its own right.

Composite self portrait inspired by an emotion I was feeling at the time.

Once you start taking your own picture, you will notice that self portraits are an incredible way to express yourself creatively.

You can do this through using different kinds of lighting, costumes and make-up, props, different backdrops, different environments, different effects such as shallow depth of field, or even creative editing.

If you need some inspiration, have a look at these self portrait photographers who work quite conceptually and have inspired me a lot throughout my journey: Brooke Shaden, Lidia Vives, and Ildely.

(You can find even more inspiring self-portrait photographers in this post.)

5) Increased Self-Confidence and Better Self-Image

On a more personal note, I can share with you that taking self portraits has been incredible for my self-confidence and body image.

This may be surprising, and you would probably expect the opposite to happen:

After all, most people don’t love looking at themselves in pictures (myself included).

What’s worse, when you take self-portraits, you have to sift through hundreds of pictures of only you, many of them shot at an unflattering angle or in an awkward in-between moment.

A Different Perspective

However, something else happens when you take a self-portrait:

You see yourself from a different perspective; especially when you take creative or conceptual self portraits and become “the model” rather than yourself.

You will notice that you can really surprise yourself:

I’ve taken photos before where I felt quite awkward and uncomfortable in a pose, only to look at the pictures afterwards and quite like them!

Of course, you will have to take quite a few pictures to get a good one, and sometimes it’s only one usable shot out of the whole series.

But when you DO get that shot, there’s something magical about looking at yourself in that way.

It’s almost like you can see yourself with more neutral eyes because you’re looking at your creative vision come through life through you as the “vessel”.

Also, taking self portraits is such a fun way to play different roles and to explore different facets of your personality.

For example, I took this self-portrait a while ago, expressing my aspirational  “alpha”  alter ego: the confident, strong woman I would love to be in every moment of my life:

You can really have fun with this and experiment with different costumes and wigs – it’s like playing dress up when you were a kid (which I always loved, so no surprise I ended up where I am now!)

6) You Gain Lots of New Skills

Another great reason to take self portraits is that you will really expand your skill set.

As mentioned, you can’t rely on a model, an assistant, a hair and make-up artist, an art director or a retoucher.

So, if you want to achieve certain results, you’ll have to try and learn some or all of those skills.

I’ve watched a lot of YouTube tutorials on make-up and hair styling, for example, and I always keep a Pinterest board with interesting poses to try.

I’m definitely not a professional model, and I’ve found posing to be one of the hardest aspects of self portraiture to wrap my head around.

Essentially, by taking self portraits, you will become a jack of all trades.

Naturally, having to gain all these skills can be frustrating at times, but also so satisfying when you do eventually master them.

One of my self portraits shot on film.

7) You Become Part of a Long-Standing Tradition

The final reason why I would encourage you to take self portraits is because you’ll become part of a long-standing tradition:

So many famous artists have taken self portraits throughout the centuries, be it renaissance artists, impressionists, expressionists or cubists.

In fact, Google any famous artist you can think of right now together with the word “self-portrait”, and you’ll probably find they created one.

All these artists painted their own portrait for the same reasons that I have given you in this article: to improve their technical skills or to depict their thoughts, emotions and identity.

Essentially, self portraits are a tool for self-discovery and self-expression and will help you to become a better photographer.

So, grab that camera now and get started!

By the way: Do you want to become a self-portrait photography pro? Then check out my in-depth guide below: