How To Create a Self Photoshoot

By Ana Oelen

You have probably seen the results of my content creation, but how exactly do I do this?

I am a blogger and an Instagram content creator. Therefore, I wanted to show you how I create some content! After 2020, I really care less about what I post on Instagram. I want to create content that I really love and enjoy. I want to be as honest through my content and as genuine as possible! So today, I am inviting you to come shoot with me!

SUNDAY- Beginning on Sunday, I was simply going to step outside and take pictures in our driveway, but I got cold feet as the neighbors across the street were home. I settled into the front room and began shooting by setting my phone on my chair. THAT did not work, and I began to feel incredibly frustrated. Since my last two tripods broke this year, I was feeling pretty anxious to ask for another one, but my father was supportive and agreed to purchase a slightly more expensive one for me that same evening. I began preparing for a full day of shooting by packing a duffle bag of outfits and making a notes list of each outfit.

MONDAY- On Monday, I began finding some inspiration on Pinterest and YouTube. I definitely wanted to have some options for poses I wanted to try. Made sure my nails were done and I had some idea of what I wanted to do with my hair as well. Today I also finalized a few outfit locations and worked on some new blog posts including the one you are reading now! The locations ultimately changed, and my nails ended up not working, but that wouldn’t stop me.

TUESDAY- Yay! My tripod arrived today, and I was beyond thrilled. I opened it up and set it up to take a few practice photos. I continued working on different blog posts today and posted a new Instagram photo. The blog post I put up today focused on my 2021 goal setting and taking action. Part of taking action in 2021 is getting out of the house and taking cute pictures by myself. Doing this is 1000% out of my comfort zone and thinking about doing it tomorrow would usually make me anxious, but I was filled with eagerness instead.

WEDNESDAY- Today is shoot day! That means getting up at 8 am, taking a shower, brushing teeth, combing hair, getting my makeup on, picking out my main outfit, and ordering a coffee downtown to pick up. I wanted to make sure I was downtown and at it by 11 am. That gave me about 2 ½ hours to ensure I was completely ready for my photo shoot with Leigh’s Boutique! I. grabbed my packed duffle bag, my new tripod, and I headed downtown to pick up my coffee.

This plan was put on pause as the morning was incredibly cloudy and cold and therefore, moved back until 11am to begin. Changes often happen and you need to be flexible as you do not control certain elements such as the weather.

I wanted to take my first photos in front of the aesthetic brick wall. How I discovered this brick wall is beyond me! All I really did was scour Google Maps of downtown for a few hours on Tuesday and don’t remember how I came across this building. I knew that I was leaving my hometown in a few weeks anyway, so I didn’t mind possibly being seen. Besides, it was part of my job as a brand ambassador to create great content. I did my best to keep this in mind to calm any nerves.

I picked up my coffee at Jude’ Health and Java Shop and headed downtown.

After recording myself taking a few Instagram photos in front of the aesthetic brick wall, I quickly hopped in the car to change outfits in the backseat as fast as possible praying no one would see me. Very cool.

(I set my screen record on so that I can compile a video for later on Instagram stories.)

I was hoping for some seclusion wherever I went to do this in peace, because my anxiety could really mess me. It was incredibly cold, and I ended up only shooting at one location, but the photos definitely varied anyway. And over all setting up a tripod and taking pictures was out of my comfort zone, but I felt ok with it after a while. I made sure the pictures were good and I definitely took plenty! It was a fun process after I got over my nervousness!

THURSDAY- On Thursday, I took the photos I had and began arranging them as well as continuing to edit them. I had a beige preset I had been using and using a preset has made my life so much easier! Among other things, having a feed planned, having captions ready, hashtags + location, among other things. One of the best things about my tripod was the clicker that took shutter photos! That meant I would have multiple options when I was picking for editing! Here is a before and an after of my two favorite shots! I decided to post 3 pics in each post so that meant I needed 9 good photos over all!

PROPS + POSES

For each post, I needed 2-3 cute whole outfit pics. Having a coffee in hand really helped to give me a few different pictures as having something to do with your hands is a great photo hack! Think of sunglasses, a bag, a drink, flowers, or whatever as a prop for your photos and it helps with the variety of poses you can do as well

For poses think of what you can do with your body. Move your arms, legs, and change the way you stand. One that I tried this shoot was the “Oops, I dropped something” pose where you look down at the ground and lift your foot or change angles. I absolutely love this one because the wind caught my coat just right!

FRIDAY- On Friday I posted my photos and made sure everything was linked for reader’s ease! I think the execution of the posts is what makes it all worth it! You have to think carefully about the execution your post and work on creating a good caption that will capture your audiences attention.