I recently began learning more bout blogging, Instagram, and the importance of taking high-quality photos when pursuing your brand. I am still taking in so much information, and truly excited about everything that I am learning. But as I continue learning from Christina Galbato’s Influencer Bootcamp, I quickly realized how uncomfortable I actually felt in front of the camera.

Being someone who has formerly reached her goal weight (back in 2017), I was frustrated with myself that I had let myself go. How did I get here? Why didn’t I take my health more seriously? These insecurities already existed but began to scream the loudest as I started to shoot pictures with my photographer. But the more that I practiced, the more that I learned from the Influencer Bootcamp on poses, and the more that I spent time showing myself love, I started to feel more confident in front of the camera.

As I type this out, I am hoping that I can express my compassion for you, as I FULLY understand how important body confidence is to you. I am hoping that I can also be as transparent, and honest about how my body image struggles have and sometimes STILL cause me to hold back from pursuing my own desires to blog, photograph, and be comfortable in front of the camera. If you are struggling with the ability to love your body, pose in front of the camera, embrace your health journey, or desiring to be more confident in front of the camera, then this one is for you.

Dealing with your inner critic

“Ew, no delete that.”

“This is my better angle.”

“I look ugly. Never mind on taking the pictures.”

“Ugh, I look fat, I can’t wear this today.”

“Well, I would be an Influencer too if I had a body like that.”

“I just need to drop about twenty pounds and I am good.”

If you haven’t heard all of these from your inner critic, then you have at least struggled with one or two of these vicious thoughts. Over the course of my teenage years to now adult life, I have battled with my loving my body. The results of not loving my body manifested in many ways, but one of the major battles has been with my weight. I have lost weight, reached my goal size, and then gained it all back so quickly. When I tell you that I understand, girl trust me. Maybe you can also relate to this as well. Whether you are feeling as if you are overweight, tired of the inconsistency, or if you are insecure about not being “thick enough”, we have this in common: we are on a journey of loving our bodies.

And a journey, it is girl. There are moments when I wake up thinking “YAASSS”, proud of my progress, or perhaps my early dinner was the result of a flatter stomach. But to follow these moments are my self sabotaging thoughts, the one visits from my inner critic. Rather than guess how I will feel that day, I have decided to pursue the journey of loving my body as it is today.

Now, this is a much easier journey when I am not bloating from my period (my gosh), or when I am not kicking it with the comparison thief. I am still navigating this journey myself, so please don’t think, “damn, she has it all figured out” as you read along. Don’t hop on my IG and start comparing your self-confidence either (been there). Know that we are both taking this road together, as we try to figure out how to fully embrace our body image.

In this reflective, and hopefully helpful guide, I am going to share my practical, emotional, and spiritual tips that have been impactful to my journey to gaining camera confidence.

Don’t forget your assets

To start with, I want to talk about your assets. Yes, your assets. Your assets aren’t always physical either. It is easy for some of us to start thinking of our physique, thinking about our smile, butt, legs, or whatever. Especially if you are taking photos for your blog or IG. While I am planning to share practical tips that does include knowing your angles, I am not referring to your physical assets. What I am referring to is beyond that- I am referring to your overall value.

I personally believe that my faith truly helps me align myself and remember who I am. I believe that God uniquely designed us and that our self-love can be a reflection of His love for us. We just have to seek how God sees us. If you are unsure I can help you by sharing how God DOESN’T see you- and that is flawed or ugly. Do you really think that God is going to ever say to you “yeah, that is an ugly pic girl, not good for the gram.”, or “yup. You do look fat there, delete it.”?

Absolutely not.

It is actually quite opposite, God sees us as perfect in His image. Knowing this helps me enter in peace as I continue to embrace my body and my journey to loving myself more. Whether you believe in God or not, having a mindset that recognizes your assets as more valuable than your physique is so important in the pursuit of body love and confidence. Without it, I will always depend on my looks, a very familiar place that led me down several dark roads.

Knowing that God values my body image also inspires me to take care of it. And although some days I am better at being a care taker of my body than other days, it does help me pursue a holistic and healthy lifestyle. I want to improve my nutrition, workout and bust a sweat, drink herbal teas, and apply a face mask, because it is my expression of showing love to myself but also to God. I want to speak kindly about my body, avoiding words like “fat” or “disgusting”, because I know that words manifest but also because that isn’t what God would say about my body.

A practical tip to apply: Make a list of your assets. If you are struggling, ask healthy-minded friends that love you for assistance. You can rephrase the question by asking “how would you describe me?” or “name some of my strengths”. If you are desiring to take a step even further, write out a list of the feedback that you received in affirmation form. Start with “I AM” statements and fill in the blank. Speak to yourself daily by affirming your values and who you are. If you’re a believer, I encourage you to also search Bible scriptures on confidence.

Camera Confidence

Gaining camera confidence truly also includes applying practical tips as well. You can have all of the self-love, and body love in the world, but literally not know how to pose. You can speak affirmations in your sleep, or workout six days a week but feel completely awkward when taking pictures in public. And trust me, we have all felt awkward when taking supermodel-like pictures in public girl.

Feeling Awkward in Public

Let’s talk about this one first, as I believe we can ALL relate to feeling strange when strangers are glancing or even staring at us as we take pictures. I want to set the scene to really help you understand why you shouldn’t care, or give a damn what anyone thinks.

You either spent the week or a month in advance planning to shoot today. You are SO pumped to rock your dress, or new Fabletics fit in front of the most perfect backdrop- in front of the San Francisco city line. You arrive, your makeup or soft glam looking great, your photographer, friend, or tripod (hey solo pics), ready to go. And then you arrive… only to feel psyched out because Baxtor and his boys are staring, or a family that clearly look like “too serious” tourists (cue matching outfits, ew lol).

So then you freeze up. You forget about all of the thought you put into your outfit, why you needed this picture and how important gathering content is for your blog or IG. You forget that you wanted to pitch to a brand collaboration, or that your blog launch requires more content. You start to care what people think of you, taking you down a dark road of people pleasing. You forget that these are COMPLETE strangers, and that you won’t ever see them again.

You forget, and don’t take your photo.

Not cool. I have been there before, and quickly stopped caring once I went on my first solo trip to San Francisco. I brought my tripod to take my own pictures, and posted it up to ensure my Golden Gate & Lombard street pictures were taken. But I had to realize how little the opinions of others are in comparison to how important getting content is to me. And you have to do the same thing girl. Every time that you begin to feel weird, remember that these people aren’t paying you.

Know Your Angles

Yes, girl, you have to know your angles, and it isn’t just your “good side”. This means practicing in the mirror, feeling goofy or being labeled an “IG model” (who cares btw? I hate this label). It means playing around in your outfit prior to taking pictures, looking at old photos that you have taken (and loved).

For example, I love taking pictures with my smile, in a low squat (I call it the Kylie Jenner pose), looking away from the camera, fake running, or sitting down with my legs straight out. I know, super-specific. How do you think I know these specific poses? Because I have continued taking pictures despite awkward stares from others in public, despite being labeled an “IG model” and despite feeling insecure about my body. The more you practice, the more you become better with anything in life. This is also applicable to becoming confident in front of the camera as well.

It Will Be A Journey

I have to be honest and share that it is still a journey and it will continue to be one. As a woman with curves, who bloats on before and while on her cycle, and a woman who has struggled with perfectionism, my journey to body image love isn’t going to conclude tomorrow. I will continue facing my inner critic, some days with a comeback, other days with annoyance. And so will you.

I encourage you to embrace all of you while on this journey. Love your assets, learn your angles, practice and stop caring what people think of you. Spend time asking God how He loves and adores you, and read books or more blogs on body positivty and confidence if you need to. Cut off any negativity, including family and friends, and set boundaries with people when discussing your health. Commit to loving yourself and to showing up for yourself. Research and explore new ways to improve your health, ways that won’t intimidate or bore you.

If you are deciding to commit to gaining camera confidence when struggling with body image, I want to see your progress. Tag me in your pictures! If you desire to write a post for Worth Her Wonder around this topic, please contact me.