Category Archives: Photo Walks

A Selfie Photo Shoot!

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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.

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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!

Tips for Taking Self-Portraits in Public!

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So, we’re out on a photo walk or on an everyday adventure and we see the perfect spot to take a self-portrait with our camera or iPhone, but….there are people around!  Do we take the photo?  Do we move on?  What will they think we’re up to?

These questions come up a lot in my self-portrait classes and it such a good one to chat about!  So I thought I’d share a few tips with you about how to take self-portraits (especially full body photos or those in which we step into the frame) in public!

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Find a Bit of Privacy in a Public Space

You might be surprised to know, there are plenty of times I don’t take a photo because I do feel too in view of other people.  One trick I really like to do is to find a bit of privacy in a public space.  This could standing behind a tree, or on the other side of a fence, or just go down the beach a bit to take the photo.

Indeed, if you are setting up your tripod, you likely won’t be too inconspicuous, which is why I love to take photos from the ground (or near the ground, on a rock, on top of my purse)!  That way your camera can be out of view (or like you just put it down) and you can take your self-portrait!

To me, it does feel really important to find a little bit of privacy.  My personal exploration through self-portraiture is really based on finding my way back home to feeling present & at home in my own body, my own skin and a big part of that explored through movement.  So finding these little bits of privacy even in public places, feels important to create that safe space to move or dance or whatever I need to do to feel grounded in my body on that day!

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Have a Couple Camera Options! 

One of the ways I really like to listen to my gut when taking these self-portraits is whether the moment I want to take the photo in public calls for using my iPhone or my DSLR.  iPhones are much more subtle as they are so much smaller and someone would have to be pretty close to see that I’m taking photos from the ground with it!

My DSLR on the other hand, is much bigger and I’m more likely to be noticed using it!  If you have a Point and Shoot, that is a great option too as it is pretty subtle!

Having these options feels really important too when I’m in a place where I don’t want to make it too public that I have a big fancy camera or if I don’t feel too comfortable being too far away from my camera bag.  In these kind of situations I like to use my iPhone as it is much easier to set it down and step into the frame without being too far away!

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Scout out Locations (and sometimes, just go for it)

If you’re craving to take more self-portraits out ‘n about, I totally recommend keeping your eyes open for good spots to go to and to make note of them!  Places like parks, community gardens, in front of murals, in touristy places, in fields, in the forest, alleys!

I love to jot down places that I haven’t tried yet in a note on my iPhone as I see them and if at the moment it doesn’t seem like its going to be a fit to take a photo, you can always come back!

Yet, sometimes you might just see a spot that you REALLY want to take a photo.  Sometimes we just need to go for it!  The time we’re spending wondering if someone will come around the corner seeing us might be the exact time we need to actually go for it and take the photo!  Often on my photo walks I’ll find a ray of light that is just asking to be stood in for a photo and there are plenty of houses around.  Is someone watching from inside their house?  Perhaps?  But I like to remember that all the jumping and twirling might just add a bit of joy to their day!  In this case, like my last point, I might decide to use my iPhone to make the photo more subtle to people watching!

For more locations ideas, check out this post: 10 Great Places to Take Self-Portraits!

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Listen to Your Intuition, Not Just Your Inner Critic

I go on LOTS of photo walks, especially when spring arrives and the light has returned! I often try to go out every evening even just for a walk around a few blocks of my neighbourhood.   What I’ve discovered about taking self-portraits in public is that it really helps to notice what is my intuition speaking and what is my inner critic.

When we can listen to our intuition, we can notice if it feels like a safe or comfortable spot to pause and take a self-portrait in public.   We can notice what feels like the right type of photo to take in that moment.  Do we feel brave enough to put down our camera and step into the frame? Or would this be a better moment to stretch our our arm and take an arms length self-portrait?  Or do we feel most comfortable in that moment taking the oh so subtle foot self-portrait style photo?  In each moment we have lots of options.

If none of them feel like a fit in that moment, I encourage you to just keep adventuring and not see it as not being brave enough or failing.  Its listening to our intuition about whether or not it is a good moment to go for it!  To tell you the truth I often find that when I have a moment of not feeling comfortable taking a photo in a certain spot in public (even if it is a place where I normally might take it) there is often a new spot, a different place that I’ll find further along on the photo walk to try.

Now, our Inner Critic on the other hand, might be that voice telling us that “We’ll look silly” or “People might laugh at Us” or “I’ll make a fool of myself”.  These voices are trying to stop us from going outside of our comfort zone.  Stepping into the frame and taking a self-portrait with our whole selves in it, especially in public, is vulnerable.  Our Inner Critics…in a mean way…are trying to protect us.   I know its hard to push past them ALL the time, but I really encourage you to not let them stop you from taking self-portraits in public all the time.  I tend to like to remember different locations when I’m really having a rough Inner Critic day.  On a day like this, I’ll try a location like the community garden near my house that is pretty quiet…and has a lower risk of people seeing me take my self-portraits than, for example, taking a photo standing in the sidewalk.  Sometimes finding a space that feels a bit less busy is enough to help the Inner Critics take a hike!

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Bring a Friend

Sometimes it can be helpful to have a cohort in our selfie taking and it can make us feel much more comfortable having someone to stand near our camera or cheer us on!

For my own personal journey with self-portraiture it has felt really important to find outside spaces where I can really feel comfortable moving and dancing as I heal my relationship to my body and feeling present in it.  For me, this often has meant taking these photos solo as I feel more uninhibited and its that freedom, that ‘Dance like No One is Watching’ that I feel really in need of on this healing path.

But for you, going on photo walks with a friend might be the perfect answer, having support, and as you get even more comfortable taking photos out and about, you might try it on your own later on!  I encourage you to do what feels right for you on this path!

And you know what…sometimes people will see us! Sometimes they’ll walk right into the photo (which makes for a fun outtake)!

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I hope these have been helpful to you and I’d LOVE to know if you give taking a self-portrait in public a try!  If you share your photo on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook please do use the hashtag #beyourownbeloved so I can find your photo as I’d love to celebrate you and cheer you on!

For more self-portrait suggestions & prompts, come join me for one of the upcoming sessions of one of my E-Courses!  Beloved Beginnings starts soon, on March 10th, and is a 10 day exploration of seeing yourself with kindness through your camera!

Then starting April 1st, a new session of Be Your Own Beloved starts! This 28 Day class has been transformative in so many folks lives in shifting the way that they see themselves in photos from a place of critique to a place of self-compassion (and even seeing themselves with love)! 

Re-Sparking a Love Affair with my DSLR

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Last year was the year of the iPhone over here!

I most definitely took more iPhone self-portraits than DSLR photos, primarily because as I teach Be Your Own Beloved I like to participate alongside the participants with my iPhone rather than my DSLR…as the journey in that class isn’t just about how fancy your photo is…it is about telling your story through your camera (any camera…yes, even a cell phone camera).

Every month at some point I’d get out with my DSLR (if you’re wondering what gear I love, there is a post all about it over here), but after years of it being my primary way of documenting the world around me in that magical way that a DSLR can do…I confess I missed it!

I’m craving to re-spark a love affair with my DSLR.

So this year I want to make an effort to bring out the big camera more, both to document the world around me, step into the frame and I’m so excited to do more photo sessions too!

The other day I donned my thrifted cowboy boots and took my camera to the community garden and it was surprisingly quiet so I found myself feeling free to take lots of photos in some spots at the garden that are usually busy!

Here are a few photos from that adventure!

How about you?  Do you favour your cell phone camera over a DSLR?  What is your favourite camera to shoot with?

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San Francisco Adventures!

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I hopped on a plane last week.

Yes, a bit weary from the end of summer and all that the fall holds.

Yes, a bit overwhelmed at all the t0-do’s I have to do.

I hopped off that plane and let go of all of those things.  Unintentionally.  Blissfully.

First stop in the unexpected week of soul-nourishing was the one place that always lights me up with all its colour and vibrance.

Clarion Alley in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Valerie (my dear friend I was staying with) cracked me up later in the day saying “You are the only person I know who would hop off a plane and go directly to an alleyway” and its true (but feel free to confess if you’ve ever done the same)!

A few years back I had the chance to stay in the Bay Area for a few months.  It was around the time I had just emerged from my depression and was finding my way back to myself through photography.  The California light, the palm trees, the murals everywhere, the colourful houses…it was amongst them I found myself brought back to life and to joy…and to a large degree where my self-portrait journey really deepened…and where I realized that my story (and yours) was worthy of being told.

I try to come back every year, but it had been more than a year since I was last there and so much had happened in that time.  I felt in a way like I was coming home, full circle.

So the first stop, of course, was one of those places that so lit me up and that I don’t think I’ll every go a trip without visiting (its an alley around 17th and Mission that is full from one end to the other, wall to wall with gorgeous murals).

I have some other tales from this trip I’m going to share as I was there for the Wise Bodies, Wise Hungers retreat run by the amazing Rachel Cole & Anna Guest-Jelley and it was absolutely incredible!

But to begin, here is Clarion Alley and all its magic….

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Dancing in the Garden

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I’ve totally fallen in love with the community garden that is about a 5 minute walk from my house.

Ever since the winter I’ve been coming here once a week if at all possible.  As winter eased into spring I’d get to see the one or two plants that had started blooming and then spring hit with full force and now the garden is unbelievable.  Its always busy with gardeners and folks like me wandering through so when I went the other day I was surprised to have a quiet stretch of time there.  Since I was wearing a skirt with lots of movement I couldn’t resist dancing like no one was watching and twirling!

Here is a bit of the beauty and goodness I found in the garden that day!

Where do you like to go for photo walks?

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