If you travel often then you likely need better photos from your adventures! You don’t always have a personal photographer to follow you around, so you do your best at self portraits… After capturing dozens of couples portraits sessions, we’ve discovered an effective way for content creators to get self portraits in photography!

Face it…you can’t hire a photographer EVERY time you go on an adventure! But you CAN bring back memories without settling on photo quality! Make sure to bookmark this page for your next vacation with bae, because these 10+ tips for self portraits in photography will elevate your content creation game!!

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Gear List for Self Portraits in Photography

You actually do NOT need anything besides your smartphone! You already have a phone that has a self timer, you’ve likely made a tripod out of makeshift home tools…this ain’t your first rodeo! But if you wanted to go above and beyond, you could get yourself a tripod like these:

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Camera Settings for Self Portraits in Photography

Your phone or camera has a self timer mode, but have you ever found the interval timer settings? This allows you to take up to 999 photos without stepping away from your camera and tripod! This helps us so much, our favorite settings are 30 photos at 2 seconds apart – or 1 minute of taking pictures and striking different poses!

Now let’s get into 10+ self portrait ideas to get your creative juices flowing! Note that we may generate income when you purchase through the links recommended in this article.

Self Portrait Tip 1) Do a Double Exposure!

A double exposure is defined as the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image! Simply put, you take two pics and smash them into one!! You can do this in your camera at your photo spot or you can even do this on an app like Lightroom or Canva!! 

Double exposures are a creative and thumb-stopping way to take your self portrait images to the next level! We recommend using double exposures when you have a boring backdrop like we did in this parking garage.

Self Portrait Tip 2) Bring a Prop!

When you bring a prop to your photoshoot, it elevates the scene! This kayak, for example, helped tie together the mountains and lake. When it comes to self portraits in photography, going the extra step will reward you in the long run!! Plus, it’s a blast to go kayaking with your dog!

You don’t have to bring a giant prop – you can use way smaller props like sunglasses, a hat, books, a laptop, makeup, etc. Something as simple as a glass full of water will do, just like we did in the following image:

Self Portrait Tip 3) Try a Crazy Pose!

Fun fact: we’re laying on the floor in this pic! Turn your head to the left and you’ll see the plant behind us. Normally we would run towards traditional poses like holing hands or kissing, but we channeled our inner-weirdness and laid on the floor with sequoia’s fur to get this spider-man-like shot. Don’t be scared to switch up your poses!

Posing is an important park of your self portrait because your posing will either add or subtract from the subject in the image! You can adjust your posing to match the mood of your images. For example, we used a dramatic pose on the floor to emphasize the moody edit in the photo!

Self Portrait Tip 4) Get a Drone Angle!

A drone is a fabulous way to switch up the angles in your self portraiture! The DJI Mavic Mini is less than $1000, easy to fly right out of the box, and weighs less than the limit for FAA regulations that require more paperwork! 

The best part about drones is they do photo AND video – so you can expand your creative self portraits into videos for YouTube, TikTok, IG reels, etc! A lot of the cameras these days shoot photo and video so a drone is often an introduction to video for creatives!  

Self Portrait Tip 5) Use a Seamless Backdrop!

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Sometimes you don’t want to go outdoors for your self portraits and that’s okay! Seamless backdrops are super helpful in this case, like this one we got on Amazon for less than $100!

Self Portrait Tip 6) Photoshop Something Surreal!

We got tired of taking pictures on the same boring hill with dead grass, so we (Bree’s talented self) Photoshopped the dead grass into moon rocks! One thing led to another and next thing you know we were placed on a different planet! Your imagination is your only limitation! 

Self Portrait Tip 7) Put the Camera on the Floor for a Super Low Angle!

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I know what you’re thinking..the double chin angle…but look at how we stand far back from the camera so you can’t quite see our double chins! Everyone has one at this angle…but it makes for dramatic pics! Whenever we go camping, we love to put the camera on the floor with a wide lens like the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 and it makes the trees look mega tall!

Self Portrait Tip 8) Try a Jump Shot!

Sometimes the location you are shooting isn’t as exciting (like this parking garage rooftop) so you can try a jumping shot to make the photo more exciting! Just make sure not to land on your partner!

Self Portrait Tip 9) Look Straight at the Camera!

An often undervalued shot is the “looking straight at the camera” shot! We’re always thinking of the most creative shots that we forget the most basic and important photos, like this classic pose!

Self Portrait Tip 10) Don’t be Scared to Use Your iPhone Camera!

This photo quality may not be the best, but this memory is one of our favorites! We are so glad we took this self portrait with our iPhone 7 at the time! The best camera is the one you have in your pocket!

Thank you for enjoying these tips for self portraits in photography! Bree + Stephen are adventurous entrepreneurs based in Salt Lake City, Utah! They’re pioneers of the NO BS Podcast and hosts of their YouTube channel where they share travel videos, business tutorials, and lifestyle content! They live with their German Shepherd, Sequoia and are usually chugging coffee while on their way to a hike! Please contact for business inquiries or questions about the content on our website!