Often times when I’m taking pictures with friends, they’ll comment that I look really confident and ask how I don’t worry about other people around me. Being completely honest, confidence when shooting is still something that I struggle with at times! If I catch someone looking over at me or it looks like they’re talking about me I’ll just feel anxiety wave over me and want to stop.

BUT creating content – taking pictures and vlogging – is what I love to do and so shaking away my anxiety and shyness is what I firstly try to do to start feeling better when shooting. I thought I’d do this post to share some of my tips!

Make Sure You’re Comfortable with Your Photographer

Most of my photos are taken by my boyfriend so obviously I’m so at ease and comfortable with him. Take pictures with someone you trust with your vision of how you want the pictures to turn out, they can advise you on where to stand, how to pose etc. Shoot with people you know at first so you’re automatically a little bit more relaxed taking pictures and it’ll feel a lot more fun. If there are any London bloggers who want to meet up to shoot, send me a message I’d love to connect!

Practice Practice PRACTICE

Selfies and taking pictures in a full body mirror to practice out poses can help in seeing which poses and angles are your favourite. Doing this can save a lot of time when shooting especially in a busy location, you can use your fave go to poses and know that you’ve got the shot you want. Don’t know what poses to do? – Look to Pinterest or Insta for inspiration. Key word being inspiration, don’t copy other people – you do you boo and do it amazingly!

Ignoring Others!

I can’t tell you how many photos I’ve had to delete after shoots because I was looking at people behind the camera staring at me and I’ve just got a blank expression on my face. Seriously so what if people are staring, you’re there taking picture for a reason (whether it be for your blogging or just for your memories) don’t let people ruin it for you. I’ve had people blatantly stop and look at me taking pictures, then tap their friends and point in my direction. I mean I could just be paranoid I’d never really know what they were saying – maybe they loved what I was wearing or just bitching about me! But it can make shooting in public really intimidating when you think you’re in front of a judging crowd. Just zoning people out can just make you feel more relaxed and confident!

Think Confidence, Be Confident

The power of the mind! Just trying to keep a confident and relaxed mindset can help a lot. Shake off the negativity and think confident. I know it sounds easier to say than do but sometimes just a little faking it till you make it might work.

Visualise The End Result

Make a plan for your shoot, including knowing the location/s that you want and how you want them to turn out. I mentioned earlier that sharing how you want your picture to turn out with your photographer is useful so they can also keep you on track for the purpose of shoot. If you keep the end result in mind you might feel less likely to be deviated by other people around.

Hopefully this helps, this definitely helps me feel more confident whilst I’m taking pictures!

Most importantly to keep in mind – if there are people around you whilst you’re taking pictures that are making you feel seriously uncomfortable and unsafe, please put your safety first. No picture is worth it honestly – go back another time to take the pictures in that location if you want.

If you have anymore tips on how to feel more confident in shoots let me know I’d love to hear them!

Thank you for reading!

Antonia

xoxo