Creative Self Portrait Photography: Going Beyond the Selfie

Join photographer Lindsay Crandall as she shows you how she approaches creative self portraits and beautiful, ordinary moments. In this twenty minute class, you will learn how to create a story through your photography, the importance of light and shadows, and how to shoot self portraits with your smartphone. With inspiration and insight, Lindsay gives you a peek into how she works and why she believes we should all be capturing the beauty that lies within each of us. 

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Class Outline

• Creative self-portraiture. Lindsay works with creative self-portraiture to explore light and composition to better relate to her subjects and to push her photography to the next level. In this class, you’ll learn about Lindsay’s approach to creating professional portraits, and you will develop your work along with hers!
• Creating a self-portrait. You will create three fun, easy, faceless self-portraits as you move through Lindsay’s class. The first will be taken from a bird’s eye view, the second will incorporate your hands, and the third will showcase your head, but not your facial expression. With these three assignments, you’ll learn to tell your story with body language, details, and props. Because photography lighting techniques are so important to practice, you’ll also be asked to take your portrait using a single source of direct, natural light. At the end of the class, you’ll be encouraged to upload your work for Lindsay’s review, feedback, and insight into your creative process.
• Using references and inspiration. Lindsay will share examples of studio portraits and other images that she has created to encourage your photography before you begin to shoot. She will walk you through what makes each image effective, and will touch on how to see color, background, and lighting for photography inspiration. Before encouraging you to create your own self-portraits, Lindsay will recreate three examples to give you a sense of how she approaches her work playfully and without pressure.
• Honing observational skills. You’ll hone your artistic eye as Lindsay discusses the ways that she pays attention to light, shadows, and beautiful everyday moments. She will explore how photography has changed her self-perception, and encouraged her to accept her flaws and idiosyncrasies.
• Working with iPhone cameras. You won’t need a professional camera or studio lighting setup to enjoy Lindsay’s class. She’ll teach you how to take beautiful photographs using only natural light, household items, and a simple camera phone. Even if you have very little photography experience, with the help of Lindsay’s class, you’ll be on your way to creating more beautiful, artistic images in no time!
• Developing an artistic process. Lindsay discusses the way that she approaches every shoot, how she styles scenes to tell different stories, and the angles she relies on to create compelling compositions. You’ll learn how she keeps her artistic process simple and efficient, and the tricks she depends on to give her photographs more life.
• Relying on timers and technology. You’ll learn Lindsay’s tips for working with your camera phone’s timer, useful timer mobile applications, and her suggestions for portable tripods to depend on when you set up your photographs. She will also touch on ways to keep your self-portraits relaxed, including different ways to position your body to get a natural-looking result.
• Lighting and editing. Lindsay will talk you through the considerations she makes when she is taking self-portraits, including the secret shooting techniques that she uses to for keep her image processing work easier and more efficient. She will touch on the editing software that she relies on, including mobile applications, to keep your work polished and professional-looking.