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I am obsessed with getting my own perfect travel photos. The problem is, I usually travel by myself, or when I hand the camera to someone else, this is kind of what I usually end up with. (fun techno music) How can no one use a camera! Why do you keep cutting off my feet? Why do you keep cutting off the sky? Why? So finally my solution was just to take my own photos, because as the saying goes, if you want something done, you might as well do it yourself.
And so, here are some of the photos I’ve taken of myself over time. Firstly you wanna make sure you look your best. I am in Indonesia right now and I wanna show tropical. I’m about to have a bath and my hair is horrible (laughs).
So very easy solution is to put a headscarf on, and then tropical, voila. (loud finger snap) Voila. So, quick interruption of the broadcast. I might look different in this video, it’s because I filmed it about six months ago, when I was in Indonesia, during my third home-best-job on the planet, expedition.
Resume. Then you need to find some props that are gonna enhance your photo even more. So I wanna show off this stunning bath at the Mandala House in Bali. I have a bowl of frangipanis, and a tropical drink. Okay, so my bath is ready and I wanna just fill it up with these beautiful frangipanis. Now that I’m ready, my background’s ready, I have to find out the best angle for the photograph, so I’m gonna scope around with my big camera, trying to find out what side of the bath looks good to make sure you portray the most luxurious, delicacy feels.
Delicacy feels? And it might even end up being two, three photographs in one location, which is great. That means you just walk away with much more content. I now shoot vertically all the time because it’s much more appropriate for Instagram. Move yourself up and down, try to find the best angle possible.
In this instance, I love this look because of the reflection, and this look because it’s just simple and elegant. After fluffing around with the shot, it didn’t end up being so great because I was too busy, but that’s what happens with photography, you win some and you lose some. This doesn’t happen very often, needing to turn on the air conditioning for your bath.
It’s so warm and that water’s not even that warm. It’s just Bali. Me again, so here I am using an app on my phone, to have a look at what I look like on the screen. It is literally showing me, just like an example right here. I’m looking at myself on the phone to get the perfect shot.
So if my leg doesn’t look quite right, then I’ll adjust it. This is technology that will b-. I have a floaty in front of me (laughs). This is technology that blows my mind because, far out, it means that you cannot stuff-up getting the right shot. And if you’re not sure about posing your face and body, I’ll do a separate video on this, so if you would like that make sure you comment that.
But basically, this is a life saver. This is the only reason my photos always look so good and professional, because I can see myself. If you’re in the market to buy a brand new camera, just check if your camera will be able to WiFi-sync to your phone so you can get an app that shows you yourself.
Alternatively, I don’t have an alternative. And if your camera doesn’t have it, well a self-timer (chuckles) is the other option, which is not as handy, it’s kind of awkward. I used to do this a lot, run back and forth between my self-timer, it was horrible, and I didn’t get the best shots of myself, I’m just saying.
So eventually, try to work your way up to get a WiFi camera, and they’re not very expensive, so that’s a massive plus. After fluffing around, I ended up with this angle and this final photo. And here are the others that didn’t make the cut. So for this shot, I wanted to show off the beautiful kitchen, and there’s not that many props needed, except I really want a photo with my boyfriend, so I’m gonna get him in to the shot.
Next up is the couch shot. I really want to get the palm tree in the back, and the beautiful blue couch, and maybe some of this light. I think all of that works really beautifully together. So time to find some angles, start shooting. House lights on always makes everything look so much better in the house.
And here are some of the photos from the Mandala House. One of my favorite things is to see the final product of self-portraits, and I hope you guys love looking at them too, otherwise I just look hyper-self-centered right about now. It is probably gonna take you about four times longer to get the right photo for you.
I have worked a lot on set of professional photoshoots, and I know it takes sometimes between 50 to 100 shots just to get the perfect one because there are so many variables, the body pose, the head tilt, the location, your sitting position, so many variables. So don’t fret if it’s taking you a lot longer.
It is normal, completely. And it is also much better to spend that extra little bit of time perfecting the shot than getting it slightly wrong, and then you don’t love the photo. So take that extra five minutes and get your perfect shot for the perfect Instagram. Yes, photographing yourself with people around can be extremely intimidating at first, so my hack and my tip is to do it as early as possible.
Get up just before sunrise and take the photos of yourself then because a, there’s no one really around, and b, the lighting is perfect during those hours. The other good time for light is sunset, but there are way to many people around. So when you’re just starting, I really recommend sunrise, even though it sucks getting up so early, at least you’ll be able to get those photos with no one around so you can stuff-up as much as you possibly want, and no one’s gonna see it except for you, and your camera.
It sounds crazy, but it’s very important to match your clothing choice with the environment that you’re trying to show off. I generally go for very basics, black is kind of my favorite, because I’m a minimalist, I don’t have a lot of clothing, so I opt for black because it doesn’t conflict with the environment that I’m taking the photograph of.
And it shows off more the background, which is my intention, it’s not all about me, dammit. The exact same principles apply if you’re in a cold climate. Here are a couple of my self-portraits from the cold. If you’d like to see more of my photographs, and my self-portraits, then check out my Instagram and also subscribe, like, and hit the bell for more videos from me, travel-related and so forth.
