There’s a simple way to drastically improve your technical and storytelling skills as a portrait photographer, even if you don’t have access to an endless number of models: become the subject.

Self-portraiture has always been a way to explore ideas and setups with total freedom, taking away the pressure of the expectations of your subject. You don’t need to read between the lines, guess when the subject is tired, uncomfortable, or hates a particular shot. You also don’t need a release form. Self portraiture can be an extremely valuable tool to practice new techniques before you turn your camera towards your subjects, but it can also be a creative path in itself. It can be challenging, awkward, weird, and also extremely fun.

In this 1-day workshop with Sara Lando, you will be talking in detail about the technical side of taking a self portrait. You'll learn how to focus on a subject that isn't in front of the camera, how to set up a decent frame when you can’t see yourself through the viewfinder, but most of all, you’ll explore all the creative possibilities that open up when you’re both photographer and subject.

Although posing and lighting will be incorporated into the exercises, this is not a lighting workshop, so some prior experience with lighting is ideal. Taking the artistic exploration a step further, you will also experiment with masks to see how hiding one’s face and becoming a character can unlock creative potential even further.

Let’s hide in plain sight together.

TYPE 

One day workshop