Environmental Self-Portrait Photography Project: Lessons Learned From a Year of Wilde Wanderings | by Becky Wilde
For many of us, the idea of shooting self portraits sounds like a form of anxiety-provoking torture. Most photographers are happier behind the camera, myself included. During Angie’s p52 projects, 52 Clicks, I have been forced to start taking at least one self portrait a year. To my shock, I discovered I was starting to look forward to doing the theme rather than being intimidated! I discovered that I really liked having a photo of me exploring nature that wasn’t in the form of a phone selfie. The images became beautiful memories of my adventures.
In 2025 I decided to push myself more consistently outside of my comfort zone. I started a personal project called “Wilde Wanderings” with the idea to shoot one environmental self portrait a month while I’m out exploring. Sounds easy enough, right? As someone who doesn’t shoot humans very often I learned some lessons along the way.
Lesson #1 - Planning doesn’t always work out how you imagined.
I shot this image for the February black and white shadow theme for the p52. In winter we don’t get much sunlight here in West Michigan, so I knew I had to have a plan of where I would go once the sun made an appearance. I got on PhotoPills and saw this stairwell would be aligned with the sun at a specific time of day. I saw a day when the sun would be out and cleared my schedule. My mistake was forgetting to think about the weather conditions of the spot I’d chosen. I only thought about the shadow potential, which was a rookie mistake. Anyone who has seen my photos knows that the environment is treacherous here in the winter. I didn’t factor in how icy the walkway would be and had anticipated snow instead of ice. Of all the days to forget my ice spikes! Somehow I managed to get the image in only a few attempts and before the light shifted my shadow off the walkway. That was more nerve-wracking than I expected, but I didn’t wipe out on the ice.
The image above was taken in the Fall in Colorado while waiting for a sunrise over the mountains. We plotted out this location the night before after finding this great little dock. Originally, my idea for this composition was to have the alpenglow hitting the mountains. Unfortunately, I had a group of maybe 10 to 15 people all wanting to get their photo at this location at sunrise. I really don’t like people staring at me and it felt rude to monopolize the entire dock during sunrise. So I took my shot and then allowed other people to get an image too. I do have the alpenglow images I wanted, just not with me in them. After the fact, I noticed my head going through the horizon, but you know what? I’m new at this whole photographing people thing, so I try not to care too much. The bottom line is I have a cool photo of me in front of a mountain view. It’s a win!
Lesson #2 - It still counts if someone else takes the photo for you!
When I was in Colorado, it was my first time seeing aspen trees in fall. I knew going into the trip that I wanted a photo of me in the colorful trees for the project. Of course, the first time I found a magical patch of trees I didn’t have my tripod. Thankfully I wasn’t alone and I told my friend the image in my head of what I wanted and had him shoot it for me.
A friend visited early in November and I knew the fall colors would be great at this local park. A section of the park had just opened up with new trails so we decided to explore the area. The second I saw this beautiful orange tree and the sea of brown dune grasses along the pathway I knew I needed this scene for my project. My friend graciously snapped the image since I didn’t have a tripod. It took us some experimenting with angles and directions because the wind kept blowing my hair everywhere.
Lesson #3 - Pull out the Gorilla Pod when you have a long trek.
I had an idea in my head for this image of me walking through a pine tree patch once the snow melted in the spring. I love this forest path, but it’s a hike out to this location. This was my first time shooting a self portrait using my Gorilla Pod because it’s easier than lugging my tripod on a 5 mile hike. This was a valuable challenge because I was forced to find a good composition that I could make happen with a nontraditional set up. It made me nervous and I definitely tested how stable my set up was several times before walking away! The Gorilla Pods are surprisingly sturdy though. I included an image of how I wrapped the camera around a tree to shoot this image.
Spending time playing with the Gorilla Pod started the wheels turning on ideas of how to shoot other views I’d usually skip. This composition required me to set up the Gorilla Pod hanging on the edge of a dead tree on the side of a sand dune. Needless to say, I tested the stability a few times here! I think this was my most random shot of the project. I had a blast shooting this but it’s not one of my favorites. I did get my exercise running around the sand dunes here playing with where exactly to stand. I used the intervalometer on my camera and had it shooting continually for several minutes as I ran up and down the area. I wish I was more visible, but it does show how big the sand dunes are so I suppose my mission was accomplished.
Lesson #4 - Double exposures help save a boring sky.
In March, I made a quick trip up to Sleeping Bear Dunes with a friend. I absolutely love the look of the dunes by the lake and decided last minute to snap my project photo that night. The original sky was very flat so I added a cloud overlay for some texture. This month turned into a pretty deceptive image because although it was late March it was about 15 degrees out and the beach still had ice. I ended up with a pretty warm image though, which goes to show how you can transform scenes based on how you shoot and edit everything.
In June, I had a group of female photographers come visit and roam West Michigan with me. I took advantage of the opportunity to have someone else snap a photo for me in front of one of my favorite lighthouses. I knew it was a boring sky at that time and angle, but it was nice not to need my tripod. With this self portrait in mind, I purposely shot an image of the sunset colors facing west to use as an extra layer in my edit. It added that touch of whimsy and color that the image needed.
Lesson #5 - Give yourself grace.
At some point in every project you hit a creative slump when life is hard and you don’t feel like shooting. August was that point for me as I was dealing with the loss of a family member. I had to force myself to go capture this image so that I wouldn’t miss a month. Looking back at this image now, I can see the emotion of that month in everything here and it’s still hard for me to look at months later. I went to my favorite patch of local trees because trees are my therapy even more than the lake views. I noticed that my head is looking down more than in the other months. The feeling of quiet exhaustion oozes off of this image, at least in my eyes. I think that’s a good reminder that beauty and emotion can still be created in times of darkness. Not everyone will see what I see in this image and the beauty of photography is how one image can produce many interpretations.
Lesson #6 - I will go to extreme lengths for the photo I want to take.
My May image was hands-down the worst shooting conditions of the year. I know it doesn’t look like it when you see such a peaceful image, but that goes to show how tricky our photos can be! The mayflies were SWARMING the coastline while I was out here. I was on a road trip and hours from home in an iconic Michigan spot. This image of getting me with the Mighty Mac at sunset was stuck in my head and I refused to back down. If you haven’t been covered in mayflies before I highly encourage you to avoid it. It’s disgusting. Some of you may say the winter photos I take would easily involve more suffering, but I would take the cold over mayflies any day.
This July night was magical. I waited out a massive rain storm and then hiked 2 miles out to this lighthouse through the end of the rain in order to get to the lighthouse in time for golden hour. The post-storm dramatic sky was exactly what I had hoped to find. I knew I had to capture a photo of me that night because I wanted to remember the wonder and joy that I felt in the moment. The 2 mile walk back in the dark with my headlamp was full of mosquitoes after the storm. During the edit I noticed the back of my shirt was completely drenched in sweat from carrying my bag for 2 miles in the humid heat. I don’t do much to prepare outfits for this project, you see me how I am, but there’s no shame in fixing a bit of the hot mess after the fact and utilizing that cloning tool in Lightroom.
In December, I headed north to meet up with photographer friends for a weekend of adventure. I was driving by my favorite viewpoint and passed right by it because I got stuck in the snow there the other year. That day, though, it looked like the snow had been plowed! I knew instantly I had to go take a look because it’s just the most beautiful view. When I got out of my car I looked up the stairway and saw a foot of snow on each landing and second-guessed my plan. I decided to go for it though and climbed more than 120 stairs through the snow to get up to the spot that I like to shoot from at this location. It was painfully cold and windy so the only layer I took off was my hood. My tripod was shoved down in the foot of snow on the landing above me and you can see the bottom of my legs have disappeared in the snow too.
That’s a wrap on my year! I learned SO much and I’m really proud of myself as a landscape/nature photographer for taking the challenge. Some final reflections that I noticed while writing this blog:
My three favorite images are also those three images I went to the craziest lengths to get. I have SO much fun being out in nature and feel so much exhilaration when overcoming the wild weather we experience in West Michigan. I think (hope) some of that comes across in my images.
The key to success was not pressuring myself to create perfection. I set out to capture myself in a way that felt authentic and comfortable to my shooting style. I allowed myself to not show my face and wore whatever I left the house in that day.
One of my favorite things about this project has been wandering through nature and stumbling upon “the image” that I know will be perfect for the project. I love the magic that happens when you see something in Mother Nature that makes you pause and appreciate.
