Paper Chain Backdrop Self Portraits

I figured it’s time to start sharing blog posts on how I do some of my self portrait photo shoot concepts!

You can also find a video series for this on my Reels and Tiktok channel.

For the longest time, I’ve had a few tutorials saved on Pinterest by House That Lars Built as well as Pretty Life Girls on how to create a backdrop/wall installation made of paper chains. The thing is – I don’t ever have time to sit down and commit to crafting like that. Until this week!

I went to Michaels and bought all the supplies to create it – 12×12 paper, a paper cutter, and adhesive. I got home and started cutting the paper into 2 inch strips, which took me a few hours. I then headed to my at-home studio shed in my backyard to assemble it on my C-stands.

At first I tried using just adhesive even though the directions said to use hot glue (I thought it wasn’t that serious), until the paper chains started breaking apart. So I conceded and used a hot glue gun. Assembling them together took me about 3-4 hours until finally, I was ready to shoot!

I got a dress with colorful squares on it specifically for this concept, because it matched the style of the paper chains perfectly. I’d never done bubble pigtails with my hair before, but I gave it a shot for this concept because I wanted something a little bit more whimsical and fun – and I’m so happy with how they turned out. I paired my dress with white platform heels from Amazon and colorblock earrings from my fave, Made by Maeberry.

I’m attaching my overall mood board I made for the concept below! I like to create mood boards for my self portraits as a general vibe and guideline to reference, but I usually stray from it a bit and do what feels right in the moment.

And finally, it was time to shoot! For an in-depth explanation on how to connect to your camera to take self portraits, click here to grab my FREE GUIDE.

I used my Canon R5 camera with the Canon EF 35mm 1.4 lens along with the adapter. I set it up on my tripod and connected to my tablet via bluetooth to see myself and press the shutter (which was on a 2 second timer while shooting).

For a full list of all the gear I use, click here.

Here’s how my shots turned out!

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