National Selfie Day is June 21, which gives you the perfect opportunity to reassess your selfie game. As a self-certified selfie expert (I’ve taken thousands in my lifetime), I’m here to give you the tips, tricks and tools you need to take your selfies to another level.
Tip 1: It’s all about the angles
Maximum arm length is key to a great selfie. Use your front-facing camera and make sure to fully extend your arm with your phone in your hand. This allows you to get as much of your face in the photo as possible. Also, keep your chin down, and keep the camera slightly elevated above your head (don’t lift your camera high to the sky for your selfie – that’s so 2007).
If you have short arms like me, invest in a selfie stick to add a few inches. This isn’t your grandma’s selfie, though, so make sure to not include the stick in the photo, if possible (or crop it out later).
Tip 2: Lighting is key
Natural light allows for a fantastic photo because it gives you a natural glow, sans photo filters. So get outside if you can, or near a window, to brighten your face up.
If you’re somewhere with poor lighting, invest in a phone case like LuMee, which has lights to illuminate your face while taking a photo with your front-facing camera. This prevents your face from looking washed out when using the front flash feature on your phone.
Tip 3: Change your perspective
You don’t have to always stick to selfies with your front facing camera! If you’re feeling confident with your skills, turn your phone around – it’ll lead to higher photo quality selfies.
And make sure to mix it up with attachable camera lenses for your phone. The olloclip photo lens features fisheye, wide-angle and macro options to capture photos in different styles using both cameras on your iPhone.
Tip 4: Don’t stop at just one
Fun fact about my selfies: I’ve never gotten a good selfie on the first try (crazy, I know). So, before you edit and post, take several so you have options.
Also, adjust your pose in between photos as needed! This is a great opportunity to make sure your hair looks great and experiment with your facial expressions – maybe smile a bit wider to show off your pearly whites.
Tip 5: Edit away
Now that you have a great photo, it’s time to inspect and enhance.
Someone photobombed your selfie? Use the crop feature, found in most smartphone photo programs or on social media photo editors, to edit them out.
This is also a chance to use a great filter to take your photo to the next level. I’m a big fan of Instagram’s “X-Pro II” filter because it looks great on almost everyone.
Now that you have the perfect selfie, post it online and get ready to see the “likes” roll in.
Go to BestBuy.com to see more phone photography accessories.