How To Take The Perfect Selfie
Taking the perfect selfie can be agonising, if you are not clued up on how to take the perfect shot without endless editing and filtering.
Start off by looking at yourself in the camera and spend some time finding your perfect signature pose. Try tilting your head, raising your chin and angling your shoulders. We all have a “good side”, and not taking the picture from the front can be far more interesting. Play around with the direction that your eyes are looking in and see what your mouth is doing. A funny face often works better than a pout. For full body shots, bend a knee, angle your shoulders and lift your chin. Don’t be shy. It’s only you behind the camera.
Taking the selfie from an angle facing down generally works well but sometimes it accentuates your forehead. Zooming in can have the same effect on your nose or other features. Instead, try to move the camera closer and further from the focus and consider cropping afterwards.
Never underestimate the value of good lighting. If you are not able to make use of the magic hours at dawn or sunset, you can experiment with natural light by taking the same picture repeatedly, while turning around in the same spot to establish the best light. Make sure that you don’t have your camera’s shadow falling in the shot or the sun shining directly into the lens. Indoors, the use of lamps and candles will give interesting effects. Remember to watch where those shadows fall.
Think of including a background and props. Even if you are not on an exotic holiday, it gives you an opportunity to show off what you’re doing and adds dimension to the selfie. For these shots, you can play around with only capturing parts of your face or body. Carefully examine the background to make sure it’s tidy, with nothing embarrassing lying around that will haunt you if the picture goes viral.
Pressing the button can often be the most awkward part of the whole experience once you have composed your selfie. Take some time to practice your selfie shot by balancing it on your little finger and moving your index finger to the front to keep it in place. This will leave your thumb free for clicking. On the iPhone, you can use the volume button on the side of the phone and the headphones to take the shot. If you just can’t get the hang of holding your phone without somehow covering the lens with your finger, it might be time for a selfie stick. They range greatly in price and quality and you definitely need to investigate before buying.
Once you have a great selfie, you can make it even better with a little bit of cropping and filtering. Your device often has adequate editing tools but you can find great apps online that will enhance your selfie and help you remove flaws.
Selfies should be fun. Play around until you perfect it.
