When I first started learning photography, I was often my own model. I hated asking my friends to model for me because I was afraid I was bothering them! Learning to take self portraits was actually one of the best things I could have done for my photography. Not only did it make me comfortable in front of the camera, it meant I had a model handy whenever I wanted to try a new technique. These Mountain View self portraits felt like they were a bit of a throwback to the beginning of my photography journey!

I made ClickPro three years ago, and my 150 image portfolio included many self portraits taken on these very hills in Mountain View. Just down the street from my old office on Google main campus, it was the perfect place to take my camera and tripod when I needed a break from work. We moved to a different campus two years ago and I actually haven’t been back to these hills since we moved. A month ago, I needed to take some portraits and I remembered how much I used to love this location. I’m so glad I went back, because these self portraits are some of my favorite I’ve taken in a while! I made it there just in time for a beautiful sunset. Once I lost the sun behind the hills, I played with slow shutter speeds. I might need to incorporate slow shutter speeds into my next portrait session with clients, because it was a ton of fun!

If you’re looking to take your self portraits to the next step, you can check out my ebook on artistic self portraiture in the Click & Company store.