If you’ve been living in a tent in far away place or not updating yourself with smart phone, you may not have heard the term “selfie.” Don’t feel left behind, in your defence, the term itself isn’t really that old – it was coined in 2005 as a way to describe a special kind of self-portrait. “Selfie” usually refers to an image that is informal that is generally taken with a digital camera or smart phone held at arm’s length, snapped on the fly and usually destined for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or some other form of social media.
Now you know what a Selfie is, but have you even taken a good one?
Now, I’m pretty sure everyone has taken one, even if it never left your hard drive. And the selfie itself is actually almost as old as photography. Before the advent of that little flip button on smart phone, photographers took selfies by cleverly positioning their cameras in a discrete location and then photographing their reflection in a mirror. After that came self-timer camera putting it on tripod and composing the image in studio. Today’s cameras makes all these processes a lot easier, and the prevalence of social media makes it almost a requirement to have at least one selfie so you can mark your online territory.
So now that you know what I mean you may be thinking about all your friend’s selfies on their Facebook pages and realizing what a challenging little sub-genre this actually is.
Taking a good selfie is an art. What’s more, knowing how many selfies to post and which selfies to use on what social media platform is a much higher form of art. In fact, a 2013 study by the University of Birmingham discovered that posting too many selfies on Facebook was strongly correlated with “lower levels of social support and intimacy”. And yet, among people aged 18 to 24, selfies account for a whopping 30% of all the photos they take.
So it follows that the selfie should be used with caution, and never overused. The selfie should be something your viewer will be happy to look at. Versus, “Oh god, not another selfie of that guy.”
So follow the following rule of selfie to get more follower or likes-
Know your good side, and your bad angles
We all have bad sides. The advantage to being your own photographer is that you can see your good qualities qualities with a few tricks. To make your face look slimmer, shoot your selfie from slightly above. If you’re including your upper body in the shot, turn one shoulder slightly towards the camera. Stick your neck out just a little, which will help eliminate that little bulge under your chin.
Use Good Light
There’s nothing worse than a photograph taken with a built-in flash. Instead, use natural light. Standing next to a window will give your selfie a soft, natural look. It will also help eliminate dark shadows, especially the ones under your eyes that will tell all your Facebook friends that you are a girl who likes to stay out way too late.
Filter It
If you’re using your smart phone to snap those selfies, you can do them a lot of good by applying a filter, either in Instagram or another photo editing tools. Those artistic filters can help soften angular features and less-than-perfect complexions. They can also give your photo that element of cool. Because you know there’s nothing quite so uncool as trying to look cool. Which brings me to my next point:
Don’t be so Serious
Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t anything wrong with taking life seriously. But you should never, ever take your selfie too seriously. You know who you are. Your selfie radiates coolness. Your selfie should never make it look like you’re trying too hard. It should look like you snapped that photo casually, like you were just out and about and it suddenly occurred to you to turn the camera around and grab an impromptu photo of yourself, which of course turned out to be awesome.
Stage it
Not every location is a good one for a selfie. Your kitchen, your sofa or your bedroom are not a good place for a selfie. Parking lot? No, probably not. Unless it’s a particularly interesting parking lot. Your bathroom? Oh no, please don’t. Your selfie should be taken with the background in mind. So wait to take your latest Facebook profile pic when you are in a stunning location. This will not only make for a better portrait, it will also paint you as a person who is interesting, and who does things besides just take pictures of himself or herself.
Do Something Interesting
So many selfies feature the photographer/subject just, well, standing there. Or sitting. Or lying down. Yawn. Before you snap that selfie think about all the other selfies that you’ve seen and make the decision that you’re not going to look like any of them. Sure, a straight head shot of yourself has its place, but it isn’t going to stand out. For a truly interesting and postable selfie, paint yourself with flowers. Put a cat on your head. Something to make your image stand out from all those other millions of selfies out there.
Don’t Overdo It
You should take a lot of selfies, because that’s the best way to ensure you end up with a good one. But you should only post a very small percentage of the selfies you take. Keep your selfie posting to a minimum, because otherwise your friends will start to think you’re a bit of a sociopath.
Beyond that, selfie photography can be a lot of fun and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t indulge in it as much as you like. Just remember that old expression, “everything in moderation.” It’s really easy to overdo those selfies but remember you know who you are.