My Quarantine Hobby: Self Portraits
Updated: Feb 28, 2021
So what does a portrait photographer do when they can't take photos of people?
I won't lie, the boredom of quarantine made me download TikTok where I quickly ended up in the photography side of it. I have seen many creators use their DSLR cameras on a tripod to take professional photos of themselves and it inspired me to try my own self-portraits in an effort to challenge myself creatively. I set up in different areas of my apartment, tried different outfits and props as well as different types of lighting to produce a unique result. And to take it a step further, I filmed the whole experience each time and shared the videos on TikTok to hopefully inspire others to try it. So below I will share with you some of my favourite quarantine self-portraits and the video of how each was captured!
This concept was fully inspired by the black dress I bought for my university's business ball in February last year. Convinced I was never going to wear the dress again, I had to use it somehow, so I found a little corner in my office room where the sun was shining through the window and came up with these!
This was a fun one! Main elements: a neon pink eyeshadow (that stains your lids for hours) and a TV. I simply put a colour changing video to play on my TV, sat in front of it and shot away as the colours slowly changed.
This was a tricky one. Taking photos during golden hour is challenging enough on its own as it's a race against time. Add a few clouds to the mix, and then try to take your own photos with a camera, it was definitely challenging to say the least. But when I saw the sun shining through the window I knew I had to try and I absolutely loved this dreamy golden photos!
This one was challenging for a different reason. I had a concept in my head the second I saw this purple flower and could not wait to start shooting. But while taking pictures I got frustrated as I didn't like the way I looked. The model part of this photoshoot really put a strain on me and I was so sick of my face. Luckily, this was the last self-portrait I took as quarantine had finished.
This was a learning curve and an interesting experience. But with the end of quarantine, I'm really glad to finally be taking photos of other people!