Selfie Starter Guide

You’ve tried taking selfies, right?

You pick up the camera, take a selfie but it doesn’t look like you expected to or like the ones you see other people share on Instagram.

So you put down the camera and assume you just aren’t photogenic or just can’t take a selfie.

But you can.

You’re just assuming that everyone get’s the perfect selfie the first time (and believe me…they don’t).

Because selfies are more than a photo of our physicality as a definition of our worthiness. They are more than something we share to get likes or comments. They are more than society is dismissively telling us they are.

They can be a tool to reclaim how we see ourselves.

A tool for actively choosing self-compassion over critique. 

A tool too tell our story.

A tool for helping us slow down mindfully and engage in the moment.

And a tool for self-care and to show up for ourselves.

But where do we begin?

Here at Be Your Own Beloved we’re all about using your own camera lens (smartphone friendly of course) to learn to see yourself with compassion. We do so through E-Courses like Beloved Beginnings or Be Your Own Beloved but what if you want to explore a bit on your own before jumping in and taking a class.

That’s why I made you this E-Book! It’s 30 pages packed full of the information including 3 powerful activities to try (much like the ones you’ll get to experience in the classes).

I’ve made something especially for those of you who might feel like you want to begin seeing yourself with compassion through your camera but have lots of ‘how to…’ or ‘what if…’ questions in the way. Your answers are here!

Things like knowing how to use our gear, how to prop it down to take a photo, where to put our cameras. Often in our mind we think it’s really complicated and when they share their question with me I love to help it feel much more simple and accessible.

Other times it is the inner critic stories that might come up…things like “What will people think if I take a selfie” or “I take a selfie and it didn’t work, so I didn’t try again”.

This E-Book contains all the answers to the questions that might have been holding you back from trying to take a selfie with compassion. It’s a collection of my favourite tips, advice, selfie examples, inspiration and selfie secret tricks all created with the beginner selfie-taker in mind!

The Selfie Starter Guide is also a great companion for your journey if you’ve already taken the Beloved Beginnings or Be Your Own Beloved E-Courses and a reminder of some of the technical and selfie approaches you’ve explored in class (plus brand new prompts).

If you’ve had your eye on taking one of the Be Your Own Beloved classes but fear or feeling like you need to ‘be ready’ before joining has felt like they have been in your way, this is a great place to begin!

• What is a Selfie
• The Gear you Might Need (and my DIY approach)
• How to take your Selfie (all those questions you might worry are ‘silly questions’ answered).
• How to Hold or Prop Your Camera
• Types of Selfies (and tips for taking each kind)
• 3 Selfie Activities for you to Try
• Playfulness and Experimentation
• The importance of taking LOTS of photos (and having outtakes)
• Indoor and Outdoor Selfie Location Ideas
• Letting go of worries of what others might think
• My favourite resources and posts for you to continue exploring though!

Get the Selfie Starter Guide Free when you join in for the Be Your Own Beloved Newsletter!

Click here to join the newsletter and I’ll send the Guide your way!

It’s simple.  Join the email list and I’ll send the link to download it your way.

Then, as you take your selfies, don’t hesitate to use the hashtag #beyourownbeloved and share your photos.

While there isn’t a community aspect to this Ebook as it is designed for you to explore on your own, I’d love to see some of the photos you create inspired by it! There is no formal feedback to this E-Book but if you are looking for that, join me for one of my online classes!

Hi! I’m Vivienne, your guide for the Selfie Starter Guide! I wanted to create this guidebook for you to help you start to tell your visual story (with you in it). So many of us hide from the camera, worried that other people might think we are ‘self-centred’ if we choose to take selfies. But what they are missing (and a part of what we’ll dig into in this E-Book and all the E-Courses offered here) is that we aren’t just taking images of our body…we are using it as a tool to express that soul within our body too. It’s a way for us to connect with ourselves! I’m excited to help support you on your journey to see yourself with compassion through your camera and can’t wait to share all my favourite tips with you in this E-Book!

Is this an E-Book version of the Be Your own Beloved class? 

No, the Be Your Own Beloved class does come with an E-Book at the end of it complete with the activities plus journal prompts to dig into…but this is something different.

It is a place to begin! It contains lots of information you might be wondering about selfies, support around taking them, ideas of the variety of images you can take and much more. But it’s not a replacement for the experience of the E-Courses but I hope it will act as a support on your journey and allow you to feel more comfortable if you do decide to join the class…having a guidebook with all the questions that could come up especially if you’re new it. OR it can be a resource for you to start your journey on your own and see how it unfolds for you. It contains 3 activities to get your journey started!

If I’ve taken one of your classes before, will this be a repeat? Is it only for beginners or folks starting their selfie journey?

The Selfie Starter Guide is designed for folks starting their selfie journey, but if you have taken a class with me before, it will be a great refresher but is not an E-Book version of the E-Courses! Many of these things are topics I mention within a class post or on a group call for the Be Your Own Beloved class but are not gathered together in this way in any of the online classes. The 3 activities are different than in the classes too so indeed…some things will be familiar but lots will be new to you I suspect!

What if I have questions that aren’t in the E-Book? 

Do start with the E-Book, as I just might have answered them there! But if I don’t answer your question within it’s pages, don’t hesitate to click the Contact Form for this website and ask me! And remember, there are no silly questions! In fact, it is the fabulous questions people asked that alerted me to the kinds of things that folks were looking to have answered to start their selfie journey. So please don’t hesitate to send me a note!