Experimental Outdoor Self-Portrait Photography

What if your self-portraits could speak for themselves and were capable of communicating how you feel? Through his introspective and intimate perspective, photographer Cristias Rosas achieves this with every picture he takes. He believes photography to be the only way to process and express his life experiences.

Learn to channel your emotions in outdoor self-portraits using experimental photography techniques. Play with space and light to reflect feelings that are usually hidden from plain sight. With this course, you’ll discover how to connect your inner world with the nature that surrounds it.

Start by getting to know Cristias, how he became a photographer, and see some of his photography work. Discover the artists that have inspired him and led him towards his journey as a photographer.

Analyze a selection of self-portrait photographers that have represented themes across various time periods, from intimate emotions, to political and social ideas. Then, see how to start planning a photography project and get ready to shoot by learning about the materials you will use.

Practice Cristias’ experimental techniques with the sole purpose of practicing and getting familiar with them. Then, work on long exposure shots, your body’s expressiveness, and light painting.

Apply all that you’ve learned in the next unit by taking shots of the space and natural setting you chose. Then, find the frame you want to use and shoot until you are happy with the result. Lastly, apply light painting techniques to your outdoor setting.

To finish the course, edit your photos in Lightroom and Photoshop and learn how to create a simple montage with two images to achieve evocative results.

Create a small sequence of images combining self-portraiture and landscape photography, with the aim of expressing an emotion.

For photography enthusiasts who want to experiment with self-portraits by learning innovative new techniques to apply to their outdoor photography.

To take this course you need to have basic photography skills.

As for materials, you need a digital camera, an angular lens, a telephoto lens or a 50mm lens, a neutral-density filter, an LED flashlight, a camera trigger, and a computer with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop installed.