Experimental Outdoor Self-Portrait Photography
A course by Cristias Rosas ChocanoPhotographer and Visual Artist
A course by Cristias Rosas Chocano, Photographer and Visual Artist
Channel your emotions and translate them into thought-provoking images
What if your self-portraits could speak for themselves and were capable of communicating how you feel? Through his introspective and intimate perspective, photographer Cristias Rosas achieves this with every picture he takes. He believes photography to be the only way to process and express his life experiences.
Learn to channel your emotions in outdoor self-portraits using experimental photography techniques. Play with space and light to reflect feelings that are usually hidden from plain sight. With this course, you’ll discover how to connect your inner world with the nature that surrounds it.
What will you learn in this online course?
17 lessons & 17 downloads
What will we do during the course?
1 minute, 10 seconds
How to propose a photographic project?
4 minutes, 46 seconds
Long shutter
6 minutes, 18 seconds
Light painting
4 minutes, 48 seconds
Landscape photography
3 minutes, 28 seconds
Self-portrait in the landscape
2 minutes, 37 seconds
Experimental techniques
4 minutes, 54 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start by getting to know Cristias, how he became a photographer, and see some of his photography work. Discover the artists that have inspired him and led him towards his journey as a photographer.
Analyze a selection of self-portrait photographers that have represented themes across various time periods, from intimate emotions, to political and social ideas. Then, see how to start planning a photography project and get ready to shoot by learning about the materials you will use.
Practice Cristias’ experimental techniques with the sole purpose of practicing and getting familiar with them. Then, work on long exposure shots, your body’s expressiveness, and light painting.
Apply all that you’ve learned in the next unit by taking shots of the space and natural setting you chose. Then, find the frame you want to use and shoot until you are happy with the result. Lastly, apply light painting techniques to your outdoor setting.
To finish the course, edit your photos in Lightroom and Photoshop and learn how to create a simple montage with two images to achieve evocative results.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Create a small sequence of images combining self-portraiture and landscape photography, with the aim of expressing an emotion.
Who is this online course for?
For photography enthusiasts who want to experiment with self-portraits by learning innovative new techniques to apply to their outdoor photography.
Requirements and materials
To take this course you need to have basic photography skills.
As for materials, you need a digital camera, an angular lens, a telephoto lens or a 50mm lens, a neutral-density filter, an LED flashlight, a camera trigger, and a computer with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop installed.
Reviews
- 2 years ago
there are a lot of positive things in this course and i learned some things .HOWEVER,i wouldnt recommend if you dont speak spanish as the subtitles are terrible.there are chunks missing any subtitles and the ones that are there are hardly understandable.it was obviously some bad computer generated subtitles which didnt get hallf the technical lingo. it is such a pity as i thiink that i would have got more out of the course. it is still interesting, just extremely frustrating that the subtitles
- 4 years ago
great course
- 4 years ago
I can reccomend it,if you have artistic soul .Go for it.
- 4 years ago
Hasta donde tengo avanzado por ahora el curso de Caristias me ha parecido muy interesante la manera de explicar cada uno de los temas: desde su propia experiencia y con prácticas concretas. La información que presenta me ha sido muy útil para mi práctica del autorretrato creativo. Muy recomendable.
- 4 years ago
This is a well-presented and serious course that goes into depth with the creative aspects of self-portraits in nature, and also how to achieve various effects through the technical use of the camera. It is giving me lots of really useful information and ideas for my next photography project. I am very much enjoying deep diving into the possibilities.
His images have been featured internationally, including in publications in Japan and Peru.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- What will we do during the course?
- U2
From inside to outside
- References
- How to propose a photographic project?
- Plan the photoshoot
- materials
- U3
Rehearsing distortions
- Long shutter
- Body performance
- Light painting
- U4
In situ
- Landscape photography
- Self-portrait in the landscape
- Experimental techniques
- U5
Reappropriation of the natural
- Lightroom
- Photoshop
- Photoshop and montage
- Photoshop and montage part 2
- FP
Final project
- Experimental Outdoor Self-Portrait Photography
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
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FAQs
You’ll learn how to turn personal emotions into visual concepts, use visual metaphors, create self-portraits in nature, apply long exposure and light painting techniques, and master the creative process and digital editing to produce striking, narrative-rich images.
The course is designed for those with intermediate photography and digital editing skills—ideal if you’re comfortable shooting in manual mode and want to dive deeper into conceptual and experimental techniques.
You’ll need a camera with manual mode (preferably Full Frame), interchangeable lenses, a tripod, remote shutter release, ND filters, flashlights for light painting, and access to Lightroom and Photoshop for digital editing.
The course teaches you how to express emotions and personal experiences through visual metaphors, symbolic composition, self-portraits, and the use of landscapes and diverse elements to convey inner states and visual stories.
Techniques covered include long exposure, light painting, photo layering, negative juxtaposition, unconventional composition, creative self-portraiture, and digital montage both outdoors and indoors.
Yes, the course includes modules on importing, organizing, selecting, advanced editing, compositing, and exporting images using Lightroom and Photoshop to achieve professional results.
You’ll be able to create personal photo series that blend self-portraiture, landscape, and emotion, using technical and conceptual tools to build original and meaningful visual narratives.