Last week I got to spend the whole day with my sister for her birthday, and we did sisterly things- like take selfies! Ha! If you would have told me 6 years ago that I would be taking selflies and posting them on the internet, I would have gaged and said, “No, that’s so not me”. Well, doesn’t life have a funny way of laughing at us? In the past few years, I’ve changed my attitude about selfies a bit. I think selflies can be some of the most intimate pictures. I absolutely love it when an interviewer takes a selfie with a celebrity. It makes it all real somehow. Some of my favorite pictures with friends are selfies. I’m not a huge fan of the “sultry” selfie, but I am a huge fan of a “real” selfies. Anyway, here my sister and I are on her b-day, teaching each other selfie tricks. I thought the information was good, so I wanted to share. The picture on the left is our starting off point and the picture on the right is our ending selfie. Much better, no? Here are the tips I told my sister (although some of it she already knew), and now I’m telling all my C. Style sisters:
1.) Look into the camera lens (the dot on the phone next to the sound): Do not look at the screen of the phone. In the left picture, I’m looking at the screen, and in the right picture, I’m looking at the dot. Ahhh, much better.
2.) Head tilt (this is the most important): Most people won’t tilt their head down because they are nervous they will have a double chin. Big mistake -ha! On the left, my sister is looking at the camera straight on. On the right, I had her start off looking straight on and the tilt her chin down about half an inch.
3.) Smile with your eyes: I learned this from the photographer who takes my pics (Traci Ling). You want your eyes to be friendly, so bring your eyes in with your smile (squint the corners a bit).
4.) Don’t strain too much: In the left picture, you can see how I’m straining to be close to my sister, and on the right, I’m more relaxed. That’s what you want. Take a second to adjust yourself and get comfortable with taking a selfie. It’s OK and can be fun if you allow it to be.
Here are my sister’s tips:
5.) Face the light: You want to face a light source but at an angle, so there isn’t a phone shadow over your face.
6.) Get the angle right: To me this can be complicated, but here is it in a nutshell. The higher, the angle the better. So shoot from the top and tilt the phone from left to right and up and down until you get the angle right.
7.) Get set: When shooting a group, my sister stands there and gets the lighting and angle right, and then she calls her friends to come join in around her.
8.) Mind the pit: Armpit that is. When stretching out your arm, try to angle so you don’t see a big black blob in the bottom corner (AKA, your armpit).
9.) If you keep getting blurry pictures, try using the actual camera button instead of the side volume button. My sister thinks it focuses better. Hold the phone between your index finger and pinky, and use your thumb to take the picture.
10.) HAVE FUN!!!!! Don’t let the negative stigma of selfies get you down! You own that selfie!
Selfies can sometimes be liberating, I’m just sayin. Clearly I’m becoming more comfortable with selfies… check out these posts (here and here). For a link to the grey/white gingham top in the first picture, check out this post (here).
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