Category Archives: Self Portraits

October 13, 2014

Bring a Friend & Join Beloved Beginnings!

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From now until Friday if you sign up for Beloved Beginnings (which is already super affordable self-paced class) you can bring a friend for FREE! Yes…its a 2 for 1 sale.

Maybe there is someone you’d like to encourage to a Be Your Own Beloved class by doing it together?

Or you’d like to take it with someone in your family?

Or would like to gift the spot to a friend?

OR get an even better deal by splitting the cost!

I also wanted to do this offer right now in case you were pondering doing the November Session of Be Your Own Beloved but might be feeling a bit nervous to jump in and go for it! This is a gentle 10 day version of the class that can be a great warm up for the November class and a way to ease yourself into seeing yourself with kindness through your camera.

Just let me know the email address of the person you’d like to join you when you sign up! Class starts right after I receive your registration.

The offer ends Friday and you can register here!

September 24, 2014

Behind the Scenes of my Favourite Selfie Photo Shoot Spot

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Want to know more about what happens behind the scenes of a Selfie Photo Shoot?

I’ve shared a some behind the scenes before like this one where I share all the outtakes of a photo shoot but in this case I really wanted to tell you a bit about finding a location for a selfie photo shoot.

I know it’s easy to see a photo someone takes and assume it was simple and easy. Or that in order to you to make that happen you’d have to go to that perfect spot, on a really good hair day in that outfit that you have yet to find, on a day you really feel good about your body. Then it becomes one of those things on our list of someday…right?

It’s easy to think that everyone is finding these dreamy locations right? But we aren’t. Most of us are making the most of the places we can find and are just going for it. Thats truly the difference in between someone with a camera full of awesome photos they took for their business or blog and those who don’t!

So here’s a bit of the behind the scenes about how I make this one work for me! But first, let’s break it down.

It looks serene doesn’t it? Like I’m in a forest way out in the country.

You’re hearing birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees, right?

Not so much.

Here’s the truth.

I ride my bike out to this spot and park it, seeing what exact spot seems right on this day. To the right of me in the photo is a small creek with this trail built beside it. It’s lovely and thankfully not so picturesque that this is a really busy spot. To my left is a small patch of forest. While its lush enough to be a backdrop for photos, for much of it I can see through to the gigantic office buildings on the other side.

Behind me, and at the other end of the path are two very busy roads. So I don’t hear any bird chirping or wind blowing. It’s beeping of horns, car doors slamming in the office parking lots just past the forest.

While it is a generally quiet path, every 5 minutes or so someone comes by running or taking a walk on their lunch. They generally don’t ask too many questions, but it isn’t completely quiet. There is also a path along the other side of the creek but I often forget that it is there until someone is walking by on the other side, with me in full view jumping and twirling in front of my camera!

But it’s a place I can get to, on my bike that while it may not be perfect, or as serene as it looks…it doesn’t need to be the perfect spot to be a great place to rock a selfie photo shoot.

Why? Because if we wait for a place that is ‘perfect’ or totally serene…we’ll keep putting this off until ‘someday’ but really the imperfectly awesome location might be exactly what we need to take those photos that will help us rock our blog our business!

I hope this might make you look around you a bit differently and spot some selfie photo shoots you might otherwise overlook!

P.S. If you didn’t get your 72 Hours to Gather Your Superpowers Bundle? It’s not too late to in on this amazing offer!

September 20, 2014

Reclaiming our Power in Front of the Camera

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Their camera is aimed at me.

Be it a total stranger, a family member or a portrait photograher, the same thing happens for me. I feel awkward and outside of my skin. I feel like I need to pose. So I stay as still as I can and wait for it to be over.

But when my camera is aimed at myself it is different.

I set it down and while I push the timer button or get ready to press my remote, I take a second to do a little silly dance to shake out the nerves. I adjust my clothing and then move in a way that feels like me. I press the button and settle into the experience. I may close my eyes and move or look right into the camera.

I am in my own body, not outside of myself.

I am in control, not out of control.

I am the narrator, not just the subject.

I am embodied, at home and enjoying the experience.

And the photo shows it.

So does the one that someone else has taken. I can see my stress, thoughts of ‘What are they going to do with this photo’ and I didn’t take a moment at all to check in with my body and I can see it in my body language. Sound familiar?

I know this isn’t just my own experience. Except I think it is easy to think that because it is so vulnerable to be in front of someone else’s camera, that aiming our own camera at ourselves would be even more scary.

The more I’ve been using self-portraiture as tool for healing, the more I find that I can remember to take a second while they are getting ready to take the photo to just notice my feet on the ground and take a deep breath. Often that is enough to change the experience of being photographed and put me at ease again.

The difference between the two does feel like it is about power.

That somehow when someone else is holding the camera we hand our power over to them.

Yet that is the same reason why taking the camera into our own hands and taking a photo can be so empowering. It is a reclamation of personal power.

I see it so often in Be Your Own Beloved when the participants get to that one activity which for them flips that switch and they realize they are indeed in control of how they see themselves. I can see that embodiment and reclamation of personal power start to appear in their photos. They stand taller, they get braver and I start to see more of them appear in their photos, without apology.

Now, I do want to share that most portrait photographers I know…you can absolutely see in their photos that they put the client at ease, that they are deeply aware of this power and create a space where the client feels deeply safe.

I guess the thing I want to really share is that we can also create that experience for ourselves too. We can create that sacred space with our own camera too.

I want this for you, for me, for all of us.

Let’s transform the experience of being photographed from a place of fear or discomfort to a place of playfulness and openness, starting by doing this for ourselves!

We’re going to be exploring this in How to Rock a Selfie Photo Shoot starts soon, October 6th! The next session of Be Your Own Beloved starts November 1st! If you have any questions about which class would be the best fit for you, don’t hesitate to use the contact form and connect with me!

September 18, 2014

Tips for Using the New iPhone Timer!

One of my favourite photo tools these days is indeed my iPhone and I was THRILLED to see that with the new phone the iPhone 6 coming out today there was going to be a self-timer added to the camera. While I’d love to get it someday, I still have a lot of time on my plan for this iPhone 5 I was extra excited to find out yesterday that the timer was a part of the new upgrade in the operating system too.

So of course I had to do it right away.

As a self-portrait teacher & taker, a timer is pivotal. Especially in the way I like to take selfies which is to put down the camera and step into the frame. I’ve been singing the praises of the Gorillacam App for years now and still will probably use the App more than this timer but I’m so thrilled to now have both.

For those of you who use Google or Windows phones…you’re lucky ’cause you’ve had a timer on your phone since the beginning. More than that, these phones also seem to have a burst mode (which the iPhone upgrade is lacking and why I will still mostly be using the Gorillacam App still). If you see a burst mode option, try it! What that means is that it can take a whole bunch of photos one after another. This is so wonderful when you are stepping into the frame as you don’t need to run back and forth pressing the shutter each time!

So let’s talk about the iPhone! While these new features are pretty simple to use, I thought I’d share this here because, well….Apple doesn’t give you too much instruction on where new things are. While that’s okay because it is pretty intuitive to use, I found that many folks didn’t know the features I mentioned in the 10 Ways to take Better iPhone Photos post so I thought I might share a bit about this cool new way to use our iPhones for selfies.

You’ll find the timer at the top of the screen when you enter your camera (the basic camera on the phone, not through an App) right beside the Flash, HDR and where you turn the camera from front facing to back facing. They have 2 options for us, a 3 second timer and a 10 second timer. Even with Gorillacam I love using a 10 second timer. It’s just enough time to get into the frame!

In terms of the timer itself, one feature I really like which isn’t the case when using an App is that the flash on the back of your camera flashes to count down. Of course this is different if you are using the front facing camera, but in that case you’ll be able to see numbers pop up on the screen to count down! Good on ya Apple for doing that!

As I’ve been using my phone for selfies, I’ve really come to realize that the camera on the back of the phone is much higher quality than the front facing one (where you can see yourself on the screen). So I almost always use that lens for taking selfies even though I can’t see myself on the screen. Being able to see yourself on the screen is great, and I recommend starting off using the timer that way but maybe flipping it around if you really love what you are getting so you can get some higher quality ones too (especially if you are noticing some graininess).

One place this upgrade is lacking though is with a burst mode. I mean, why add a timer without the ability to take more than one photo at once? It seems like that is indeed coming with the iPhone 6. I’m sure it was something they could have added to this upgrade but instead have it something you need to get the new phone for. Alas…that just means I’ll be getting more use out of the Gorillcam App as you can get it to take how ever many photos you’d like (up to 60 photos).

There are also a couple more new features on this ios8 upgrade that affect our cameras and I’m excited about them both. One is that there is now a favourite button at the bottom of the screen when you are looking at each individual photo. I can’t tell you how many times I scroll and scroll for ages to find one certain photo. So this will be such a great way to have one folder of the images we are most likely to want to refer to. The favourites end up in a favourite folder that you’ll see when you click on your camera roll.

The other feature is the deleted photos folder! It’s gonna be a lifesaver. Even today after I took the photos for this post I accidentally pressed the delete button when trying to send myself these photos and was mighty grateful to be able to go back and retrieve them!

I’ve been excited for the timer to become a new feature not just for my own use. I think a lot about selfies and both their history and their future (I can’t help it…I’m obsessed with the ways that selfies can be a tool to see ourselves with kindness). I have a big hope that people will experiment with the timer more and selfie culture will shift a bit more away from arms length and get us into the frame more. I truly believe that is where so much more of our healing of how we see ourselves can happen. I know the selfie trends have been in reflection of the developments in our gear (like when the front facing camera came and selfies took off because of it) so we’ll just have to wait and see what effect this has!

One more thing…if you do try using your timer today, I also wanted to share this post from the archives with you as it is one of my favourite self-compassion tools that makes using the timer even more fun! I dare you to give it a try and if you do, use the #beyourownbeloved hashtag to share it with us!

September 17, 2014

A Selfie Photo Shoot!

After launching the brand new class How To Rock a Selfie Photo Shoot yesterday I wanted to share a bit about how and why this came about!

As you know, taking selfies is practice for me that has helped me see myself with kindness and been a tool for body-image healing.

Alongside that, I’m also running a business, right? I need images to use for my classes and while I get a plethora of them participating in Be Your Own Beloved each time as well as going on my weekly photo walks, it felt exciting and inspiring to set a little time out every once in a while to do a Selfie Photo Shoot!

I love getting to help people have photos for their blog or business launches, so why not offer that to myself too, giving myself the experience that I offer my portrait clients. And it is much more simple than you might think.

As I’ve been teaching Be Your Own Beloved, I’ve been thinking about these photo shoots and how they are really a gift we can give ourselves. Because while getting a portrait session done is truly a gift we can give ourselves, it doesn’t ONLY happen when we pass the camera over to someone else.

We can do this for ourselves too.

I wanted to share one of these selfie photo shoots with you! This one happened last summer and I had been asked by the awesome Susan Tuttle to contribute some images to her new book as well as taking some photos for some upcoming projects.

So I went on an adventure to make it happen. I headed out to a small yet quiet path along a creek about a 20 minute bike ride from my house (yes indeed, this is meant to be fun so why not take the bike)!

I brought my tripod, DSLR as well as my iPhone.

I set it up the tripod and started getting playful in front of the camera using some of the activities I’ll be sharing with you in this class.

And then came home having so many photos that I could use for Susan’s book as well as my upcoming courses (like for the Beloved Beginnings class I launched soon after that).

I even ended up using one for an online dating profile! I’m pretty private about that part of my life at this point but I did want to step out of my comfort zone and share that in case that is something that you’d really love to have portraits for. I know I used not having photos as a reason not to do this for a while even though of course I have TONS of photos of myself. But I had concluded that I needed to have photos taken by someone else. Yup, I do that too…use ‘not having photos of myself’ as a reason not to say YES to parts of this beautiful life.

You don’t even need a reason (like a launch or an article) to do these photo shoots! You’ll simply have these photos ready for the next time you need a great photo of yourself and you can say YES without hesitation!

I hope this gave you a glimpse into the fun we’re going to have in the How to Rock a Selfie Photo Shoot class too…I can’t wait to get started and when you sign up I’ll be sending you an activity to get you started before class begins!

Come join in on the Selfie Photo Shoot fun!