Chelsea Shoots People: photography tutorial

So You Think You Can Take Selfies?

5/26/2015Unknown

Do you ever find yourself in public, armed with your smartphone and selfie stick, zero shame, taking a selfie? No judgement here.Even if you have never heard of a selfie stick, but do enjoy snapping the occasional photo of yourself to show the world (or maybe just your mom and a few coworkers on Facebook) I hope this list that I have compiled will help you avoid some common selfie mistakes and help you put your best FACE forward.

1. Avoid the Earthworm

By keeping the phone at eye level or higher, angled down, you can avoid the dreaded double chin and wonky shadows.

2. Smile, or Don't.

I am trying so desperately hard to not say the 4 letter "D word" in this post (get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about the animal that goes "Quack"). So I will just say this-

Your smile is your greatest feature... highlight it!

If you do not want to smile, put on a serious face or even a little pout. But please, no duck lips. (whoops)

3.Run a Background Check.

So the bathroom is the only place in your entire house that has adequate enough lighting to take a decent selfie? (I doubt it, but okay) Keep your back to the wall so the toilet doesn't photobomb your picture. No one wants to see that. Try to keep the picture tight and cropped on you so that you are the main focus, not a distracting background.

4.Let there be light!

Lighting is probably the most important factor when taking ANY picture, from DSLR to smartphone shots. Having adequate lighting is absolutely essential to taking a decent photograph. Lighting that is not too harsh (such as bright, fluorescent lighting) should be avoided. Windows are typically a GREAT source of light, bonus points for a sheer curtain to help diffuse it for an even softer glow.

5. Go easy on the editing.

There are so many photo editing apps out there that do everything to your photos from simple filters that transform your selfie with one touch of a button, to the ability to remove blemishes, adjust contrast, saturation,etc. Heck, there are even apps that allow you to apply makeup and accessories to your photo that you are not actually wearing. 33% of people use filters on their photos, and around 13 percent edit them to make themselves appear more "attractive." The rule of thumb here is obviously, less is more. The person viewing a picture of you wants to see just that, YOU.

6. You are Beautiful (Click to Tweet ♥)

This kind of ties into photo editing, but I felt it was important enough to reiterate. In a recent study, it was found that approximately 26 percent of people crop vacation photos of themselves to hide parts of their body they feel are unattractive. Remember that you are beautiful, do not use photo editing to fix a perceived flaw, use it to enhance a great feature!

7.Walk the walk

Selfies by definition are a picture of you, taken by you. That does not necessarily mean your face HAS to be showing at all. Taking a picture of just your hands, feet, or random body part (no d*** pics, please!) can be super interesting if done right! Give the viewer as much context as possible, so they are not confused as to why they are staring at a picture of your kneecap.