3. Finding the Confidence to Take Outfit Photos in Public

by Elyse, Give Me Bows

Depending on what kind of blog you have, you may be interested in taking outfit photographs in public places – after all, it opens up an amazing world of potential background settings for your shots. Unfortunately not all of us are lucky enough to have professional-photographer-boyfriends, or snap-happy friends who live nearby. This is when you may need to build up the courage to venture out on your own, all in the name of better outfit shots (and consequently, better posts). Having recently been through this terrifying ordeal several times myself, here are some of my tips for finding the confidence to take outfit shots in public.

Have a Plan: The better prepared you are, the easier (and quicker) taking outfit photos in public will be. Practice taking outfit shots at home, so you are familiar with your camera settings, and how you like to pose (hands on hips? one leg forward? looking at or away from the lens?). It is also useful to form a rough idea of what kind of shots you want to take to create your blog post (full body? close-up detail shots? the back of your outfit?). If you plan ahead, you will feel much more confident when you are out in public, and you will be less likely to chicken out half-way through – after all, it would be a shame to waste all that prep work.

Act Confident: It’s a cliché I know, but if you act confident in what you are doing (even if on the inside you are absolutely terrified), you will look confident to anyone watching, and you will slowly-but-surely start to feel confident. You have to remember that you are not actually doing anything remotely wrong or suspicious or even particularly weird – I sure have seen people do much stranger things in public than taking a photograph! Often when I am taking outfit photos and I see a stranger approaching, I walk to my camera, look at the screen, put on my most serious-concentration-face, and play with the camera buttons. I pretend to be so focused on the camera that people probably assume I am doing some important professional work, and they walk on by without interrupting!

Tell a Tale: There is always a slim chance that a passer-by will ask you what exactly you are doing. This does happen occasionally, as humans are curious by nature. If you don’t feel comfortable spilling the beans about your fashion/lifestyle blog to a complete stranger (let’s face it, not everyone ‘gets’ blogs!), there are plenty of other responses you can use to save face. For example: you sell vintage clothing on eBay and you need to take product shots; you have to complete a photography assignment for a local community college course; you’re making a Christmas card to send to your long lost relatives on the other side of the world. A quick one-sentence explanation is normally all you need to satisfy (and see off) any curious onlookers. 

Those Who Matter: If you are still feeling anxious and embarrassed, remember the Dr. Seuss quote – ‘Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind’. If a passer-by has the cheek to judge you negatively or criticize what you are doing (whether in their head or out loud), then they are probably not the kind of person whose opinion should matter to you anyway. And the open-minded, friendly and awesome people in your neighbourhood will smile warmly as they pass you, and secretly admire you for your creativity, confidence.