I’m quite new to the practice of taking pictures of myself, so I thought what better way to learn than to try and recreate some of my favorite Instagram pictures? Though I’ve taken a few selfies over the past few years, I’ve only just recently begun photographing myself regularly, and I find that it’s an activity that I enjoy.
See, I never really liked my body when I was younger, and I hated my face even more. Because of that I almost never took any pictures of myself, and I rarely let anyone else take pictures of me either. But then I started getting older, and became more healthy (both physically and mentally) and happy, and I started to actually like my appearance.
As that happened, I began taking more and more pictures of myself, and I felt more comfortable in front of cameras!
Now that I’m comfortable enough to know that I enjoy taking pictures of myself, I decided to test my abilities and try recreating some of my favorite Instagram photos. And here are the results:
1. @SorelleAmore’s Profile View Self Portrait
I decided to start off this post with the photo that pushed me the most out of my comfort zone.
The reason I ended up choosing this photo by Sorelle is because I tend to be uncomfortable with the way I look in profile. Before this I hadn’t had a photo of myself taken in profile for months.
Though normally people don’t notice it, I have a pretty bad overbite (which I will be getting surgery for). Since getting braces, that overbite has worsened, so I tend to manually hold my lower jaw forward in order to compensate.
In the end I was surprised with how well this recreation turned out! I feel very happy with my profile, and I also really pushed my editing skills with this picture, something I haven’t done in a long time.
Here’s the original (unedited) photograph I took, as well as a version where I went wild and had fun with the editing:
I tried making a floral background using my mom’s fancy house coat, but it didn’t quite work out, so I ended up getting a floral background and editing it into the photo. I used a Bluetooth clicker for my phone to take this photo, and it took quite a few attempts to get the lighting and pose down.
You should check out Sorelle’s work both on Instagram and on YouTube. She has a bunch of awesome videos on photography, and her Instagram is filled with artful and provocative photos that really make you think.
2. @Best.Dressed’s Journal Photo
This next picture I’ve recreated is from @best.dressed aka Ashley. She has an awesome Instagram feed, and her YouTube channel is the reason why I decided to start blogging about fashion in the first place!
Because of how inspiring Ashley is to me, I just knew I had to recreate one of her pictures. This isn’t my favorite of her pictures (this umbrella photo is just magical) but I don’t have the technical skills or the location access to be able to attempt some of my favorites (yet).
I ended up choosing this journal picture of hers, which is an older photo, because I have a similar top, background, and a journal. The makeup look was also really intriguing to me, though I had difficulty recreating it, despite the copious amount of highlighter I put on my face.
I had the most difficulty with actually taking the photo and getting my facial expression right. I didn’t quite manage the latter, as I tend to have a resting face of annoyance or sadness, which has a way of sneaking into photos, but I think I got pretty close.
As for taking the photo, I was using a Bluetooth clicker for my phone, however I had to keep it out of sight during the picture, while still holding my journal. It took some trial and error, but I eventually ended up putting the clicker inside my journal, and pressing it with my thumb to trigger the shutter.
Here’s the original (unedited) photo I took:
Editing wasn’t too difficult with this photo, though I did have some difficulty getting the same color balance that Ashley’s photo had. My phone’s camera tends to pick up on cool colors pretty heavily, so I did a lot of playing around in the Curves tool.
You should check out Ashley’s work on both Instagram and YouTube. She has such a unique sense of style, and her YouTube channel is what finally convinced me to start blogging about fashion and style.
3. @JennyMustard’s Upside Down Photo
I went with this photo because I thought this angle was a really interesting one. I also knew that achieving a portrait like this would be a challenge for me, and a challenge it sure was!
Since I didn’t have a white sheet or blanket to lie on, I decided to use the red curtain that I used for two other photos. I think a white sheet would’ve made the photo look better, but I had to make due with what I had.
The first camera set up I tried was with my tripod placed over the sheet, and my phone attached to it with a hair elastic (so high tech, I know). But try as I might to get that to work, it just wouldn’t. Either the tripod legs would get in the way, or the angle was wrong, or my phone was overexposing the lighting.
After several attempts to get that set up to work, I gave up and decided to try holding my phone up above my face to take the photo. I was able to get my picture that way, and my cat decided to try helping me:
He really loves having his ears rubbed, and I managed to snap a picture just in time for him to headbutt my hand!
Here’s also the original (unedited) photo I took, as well as one where I just did whatever I wanted with the editing (I ended up giving myself some red lipstick):
You should check out Jenny’s work both on Instagram and YouTube. She has such a calming aesthetic, as well as a ton of inspiring videos on minimalism and sustainability.
4. @AvreyOvard’s Red Lip Portrait
I am a lover of the red lipstick makeup look, so when I was choosing photos to recreate, I knew I had to do this one. This photo of Avrey Ovard (@avreyovard), which I believe was shot by Marina Williams (@marinawphoto) has such a captivating look to it, and it is definitely one of my favorites.
The hardest part of this picture for me was getting the pose right. I had to use the self timer on my phone to take the picture, and I had a standing mirror placed behind my phone so that I could make sure I was in frame.
I tried some versions of the photo with my glasses on, and some versions with my glasses off (bad idea – I cannot see anything without my glasses), but in the end I went with this attempt.
Getting the makeup look was also a challenge for me! I only have two lipsticks, one a very bright red, the other a brick brown color, so I had to layer them together to try and get a dark red lip.
The eyeliner was by far the hardest part of the makeup though, since I rarely ever wear winged liner. I went for a very minimal wing, as thick wings tend to look overpowering on me.
Here’s the original (unedited) photo, as well as a version where I played around with one of the filters in my image editing program:
You should check out Avrey’s work on Instagram and YouTube. Her photos are always so beautiful and inspiring, and her channel is one that I turn to whenever I need to de-stress.
What was your favorite photo from this post? Mine was when I got a picture of my cat Dalmore headbutting my hand! He’s such a sweetheart.
If you enjoyed this post, please leave a like or share it with someone else who’d enjoy it. I’d also recommend checking out the Instagram and YouTube channels of the lovely ladies who’s photos I recreated.
Thanks, and I hope that I’ll be seeing you around!
Cozy Rebekah 
Lovely and inspiring!
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Thank you! 😀
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