How to Take Photos of Yourself: Solo Photography Tips

You’re traveling solo but still want to get high quality photos of yourself. I know that feeling. You don’t want to use a selfie stick – you want to create more elevated imagery. I’m here to teach you exactly how to take photos of yourself. And not just any old photos, but GREAT photos.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Why Do I Take Photos of Myself?

I’m a full time content creator, which essentially means I make a living sharing my photos on Instagram. I never hire a professional photographer to take photos for my Instagram account @fashiontravelrepeat. That means I sometimes have to take my own Instagram pics.

It might be that I’m traveling solo and don’t have a blogger friend or my husband with me to help me take photos. Or, I might be working with a brand on an influencer campaign and I don’t want to pay anyone to help me get that perfect #ad shot.

Being able to take my own photos for sponsored Instagram posts means that I keep the full amount that a brand pays me, rather than spending cash to hire a photographer.

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I’ve been taking photos of myself for over 2 years sans selfie stick. This post has all of my top tips for taking high quality photos of yourself.

1. Use a Tripod

I pretty much always use a tripod for self photography – with a few VERY limited exceptions that I talk about below. A tripod is an important investment for anyone who wants to up their self photography game.

The Type of Tripod You Need

You don’t want just any old tripod – you want a tripod that has a ball head. What’s a tripod with a ball head? It’s a tripod that has a ball mechanism for adjusting the angle of your camera. This allows you to have total control over the angles of your photos and lets you take much more interesting photos of yourself.

If you use a tripod that doesn’t have a ball head, you’ll be limited to taking photos from the same straight on angle pretty much every time. Using a ball head tripod gives you so many more options to create variety in your photos.

My Favorite Tripod

My favorite ball head tripod is the MeFoto Backpacker. The MeFofo Backpacker tripod is a solo traveler’s best friend because it’s lightweight and folds up to fit in a carry on suitcase. It also comes with a small bag that has a shoulder strap, so it’s easy to carry around on days when you’re exploring solo.

2. Improvise If Necessary

Sometimes, using a tripod may not be an option. Maybe you forgot your tripod at home. Or, you’re solo traveling and in a place where tripods aren’t allowed (like a museum). If that’s the case, set up your camera by resting it on a nearby bench or ledge, or balance it on your backpack or handbag.

3. Use a Remote or the Self Timer Option

Whether you’re using a tripod or improvising to set up your camera, you still need to actually take the photo. Here are the best ways to actually take your solo photos.

Use your cell phone as a camera remote.

If you have a fairly new digital camera that has WiFi, you should be able to download an app that will let you use your phone as a remote. This is my favorite way to take photos of myself because I can see myself on my phone’s screen. That means I can set up my photo and position my body to get exactly the shot I want.

My camera is a Nikon D5600, so I use the Nikon Snapbridge app to take my photos. Sony and Canon offer similar apps for their WiFi enabled cameras.

I’ve found a few ways to take photos this way that totally hide my cell phone. First, I change my settings so that the photo is taken on a 3 second delay.

As soon as I hit the shutter button in the app, I hide my phone during those 3 seconds before my photo is taken. Some places I’ve found work well are:

• immediately dropping my phone in my pocket or handbag,
• hiding my phone behind my body or under my leg if I’m sitting, and
• keeping the phone in my hand and pressing that hand against my body or hiding my hand in the folds of my dress/skirt.

Another option is to leave the phone on the ground next to you, and Photoshop out the phone later.

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Buy a remote for your camera.

You can also buy a remote shutter for your camera. I personally prefer to use my phone, so I can see myself when setting up my shots. But if your camera is older and not WiFi enabled, or you travel to places where you don’t have WiFi or cell service, a remote shutter will do the trick.

When shopping for a remote shutter, make sure it’s compatible with your camera’s exact brand and model.

Use your camera’s self timer option

Sometimes, I want to take a photo where using my phone as a remote may not be easy. For example, an action photo where I’m twirling. Or, I’m somewhere without cell service or WiFi, so my Nikon app doesn’t work.

In those cases, I’ll set my camera up to take a burst of multiple photos (on a 7 second delay) and then use the self-timer option directly on my camera.

This means I have to physically hit the shutter button on my camera. Then, during the 7 second delay, I run to my place in the photo. Whenever possible, I mark that spot in advance (with a rock or a prop, or make an X in the dirt or sand) so that I can easily find my place during those 7 seconds.

I shoot in burst mode, which takes a bunch of photos one after the other with just one click of the shutter button. That minimizes the number of times I need to run back and forth to my camera.

4. Go Early (But Not So Early It Feels Unsafe)

Showing up to your photo location early is key. It’s much easier to take photos of yourself when no one else is around to ruin your shot.

And, you won’t have to worry about other people watching you take your photos. Because I know that can feel awkward – although I promise the more often you take photos of yourself, the more comfortable you’ll get doing it. (And if someone asks you what you’re doing and you feel embarrassed, tell them you’re taking a photography class and this is a mandatory course assignment. That usually gets them to back off.)

For safety reasons, I usually will go after sunrise but before I think a location will get too busy. I’m personally not comfortable showing up to most places alone with expensive camera equipment when it’s dark out.

5. Try Less Crowded Places

I find it much easier to take photos in places that just don’t get crowded. That means I don’t have to stress about waking up too early, or worry about feeling unsafe going out before the sun is up.

For example, it’s easier to get solo photos at a relaxed beach resort than on the busy streets of New York City or Paris.

6. Be a Minimalist for the Day

It can be stressful to take photos of yourself in a public place, while watching your camera and tripod and the rest of your stuff. That’s why I bring as little as possible with me. I’ll bring my camera, my tripod, and ideally have everything else in my pockets or in a small handbag I plan to wear in the photo.

7. Hide or Lock Up Your Stuff

Even if you’ve packed like a minimalist, you may not want to wear a bag in your photo. One option is to hide your bag behind you and block it with your body in the photo – wearing a long skirt or dress can be helpful for that. That way, your stuff is still near your body but not visible in your photo.

Alternatively, you can lock your bag to a nearby railing or bench close to you where you can still see it. This handy lock system includes a protective mesh cover for your bag, to make it harder for someone to open your backpack and remove anything.

8. Avoid Windy Places

It can be difficult and stressful to take photos of yourself on windy days or at places that are always windy.

When it’s windy, I spend half the time worrying that my tripod is going to fall over – one time at the Imperial Sand Dunes in California, my tripod did fall over and my camera lens broke. And I spend the rest of the time trying to find a way to control my hair so I can get a photo where I look half decent. Overall, windy days are stressful for solo photographers.

As a general rule, I check the wind speed before heading somewhere to take photos of myself. If it’s really windy, I either don’t go, or I go without any expectation of taking photos of myself there.

9. Find Your Focus

Sometimes, it’s hard to get your camera to focus properly when taking photos (or videos) of yourself. I really like using my camera as a remote, because when I use the Nikon Snapbridge app, I can tap on my phone’s screen and it will cause my camera to focus on the spot I tapped. So, if I tap where my face is, my camera will focus on my face.

Use a Stand In

If for whatever reason you aren’t using a remote shutter app, you can use a stand in. By stand in, I mean find a prop (for example, your backpack), manually focus your camera on that prop, and then replace the prop with your body before you take the photo.

My Video Stand In

When I filmed my online course, I didn’t have anyone to help me shoot hours and hours of video. Initially, I had a lot of trouble getting my camera to focus on my face properly. My Nikon app doesn’t work for shooting video and I was getting super frustrated.

But then, I had a great (and also kinda hilarious) idea for a stand in! Since I was filming at home in my living room, I grabbed a broom and put a big hat on top of it. I then angled the broom against my couch so the hat was exactly where my face would be on camera. Then, I would focus on the hat, start filming, and then replace the broom/hat with myself, and voila: perfectly in-focus video.

10. Take Detail Photos

If I’m somewhere where I can’t or don’t want to use my tripod, I’ll take detail photos. By that, I mean photos that just include my hand or my feet. I’ve captured some pretty memorable moments that way, without having to include my face or the rest of my body in the photo!

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11. Ask a Stranger for Help

I’m very particular about my photos, so to be honest, I don’t do this very often. But, there have been a few occasions where I really wanted a photo of myself and I couldn’t or didn’t want to use my tripod. So, I’ve asked a stranger for help.

Here’s how to get great photos taken by a total stranger:

Check your camera settings before you ask.

You’re probably only going to get their help for a minute or two. Make sure your camera settings are ready, so that all they need to do is point the camera at you and click the shutter button. If your settings are wrong, and for example your photos look overexposed or blurry or too zoomed in, that person may not have time to try again.

Don’t forget to let them know that the camera is all set up and they just need to click the shutter button. I’ve had a well-meaning person zoom waaaaaaaay in, because they didn’t realize I wanted the photo taken from far away.

Be thoughtful about who you ask.

When I ask a stranger to take my photo, I choose that stranger carefully. Some questions I ask myself are:

• Is that person holding a professional camera of their own? That probably means they are decent at taking photos. Also, they are less likely to run off with my DSLR camera if they have their own.
• Does that person seem to be taking a ton of photos for Instagram or a blog? In San Francisco, I wanted a photo with the Golden Gate Bridge from a viewpoint in Sausalito but the conditions were very windy. I found a group of ladies who were taking a ton of photos of each other, seemingly for Instagram. One of them happily helped me and she totally nailed it. She took about 30 photos of me, all from different angles and the photo below is the result.

Show them exactly what you want.

Take a test photo of exactly what you want. Show them how you framed it and point out exactly what you want included in the photo.

Have them shoot wide.

When you frame the shot for them, add a bit more of the background than you really want. There’s a good chance they won’t hold the camera totally straight, and you’ll need to fix that when you edit your photo. That might require you to crop the photo a little bit. Cropping the photo shouldn’t be an issue if you had them include a little bit more of the background in the first place.

12. Buy a Wide Angle Lens

A wide angle lens means you can capture more of your body and the background, even when your camera is pretty close to you. The closer your camera and tripod are to your body, the less likely that someone will run off with them if you’re taking tripod photos in a public place. A wide angle lens is also great for taking photos in hotel rooms.

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13. Use a Drone

This is the most expensive option, but using a drone is a great way to take travel photos of yourself. I have the DJI Mavic Air because it’s small and lightweight but takes high quality photos.

Wrapping it All Up…

Whether you’re a solo traveler looking to capture your adventures, or you just don’t want to ask your friends and family to help you every time you need a photo, these tips will help you master self photography in no time.

So, now let’s hear from you. What are your favorite and least favorite things about self photography or taking photos as a solo traveler? Let me know in the comments!

And if you’re looking to level up with your Instagram content, you can check out my post on posing for photos, how to become an influencer, how influencers make money, and sign up for my free influencer masterclass with I share industry secrets to help you get paid to promote your favorite brands without having a huge following.

Want to Keep in Touch?

• Come say hi on Instagram!
• Or why not join my free Facebook group for female influencers/Instagrammers?
• And sign up for my free influencer masterclass and learn to get paid to promote your favorite brands even if you don’t have a huge following

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