selfie tips

Here are some serious selfie tips as well as a lighter look at some selfie photo advice.  For the anti-seflists, this is the simple flowchart they follow:

Selfie FlowchartFlowchart for those against taking selfies

serious tips on taking interesting selfie photos

1. Watch the background.  It's easy to focus your attention on you, the subject, and forget to notice if anything distracting is in the bathroom.  This can lead to the dreaded classification of your photo as one of the "Selfie Mistakes."

2.  Watch the Stick.  If you are using a selfie stick, do your best to not include it in the photo.  The biggest advantage of using a selfie monopod is to get the distracting element of your arm (or the stick) out of the photo.

3.  Get the Lighting Right.  One of the biggest mistakes in photography, including self portrait photography with cell phone cameras, is bad lighting.  It's almost always better for you to face the light.  Take just  a second to see where the brightest light is coming from and have that behind your camera.

4.  Try a few variations.  It only takes a few second to take two or more different selfies by changing the camera angle or the direction you are facing.  This can often result in a better perspective, more flattering lighting, or a more interesting background.

5.  Go for quality.  If you can do it, try to use your phone's back camera.  Most camera phones give you a higher resolution on the back than the front-facing side.


bonus tips for taking selfie photos that make you look better

1. Angles.  Turn your head a little bit one way or the other.  Many of us have a better side.  Turn your body a little to the side and you might look a bit thinner.  We all want to look thinner, right?

2. Elevation.  A general rule that some portrait photographers use to accentuate the eyes is to get the camera up higher.  That perspective gets your eyes closest to the camera, makes them bigger, and makes your body relatively a little smaller.

3.  Accessories. Hats and sunglasses add a little character to your image.  Adding your pet in the pose is always a way to get more comments.

4.  Environment.  The bathroom selfie is often a bad idea, and not just because of the clutter.  Try finding a more interesting location.  Take a second to think of a fun activity, a story-telling location that gives your viewers something interesting to think about along with your presence there.

5. Expression.  Of course the smiling selfie is the most common way to appear as a like-able person. Maybe you should try to get a little creative too and show a couple of different emotions.  The "Duck Face" is way overdone.

6.  Steady as she goes.  It drives me nuts to see blurry selfies.  Take the time to get into better light or find a way to steady your camera better.  When it's dark, the shutter slows down and either subject movement or camrea movement will blur your photo.

7. Group Selfies.  It's supposed to be fun.  Try a few with your best friend too.  Get your heads close to each other and you can fill the frame with those big smiles.

8. Edit.  Don't be in a super hurry to post your selfie right away. We have so many free and easy-to-use editing options at our disposal.  Also, be picky.  If you've taken a few variations, trash the bad ones and only post the good ones.

That shows you have some talent as a photographer and insures you shown in a good light.


selfies can be good or bad

There is a lot of debate among parents of teenagers that taking selfies are bad for their kids. According to a report by a child advocacy group called Common Sense Media, about twenty percent of teens felt that social media ameks them feel more confident about themselves.  This contrasts with about one out of 40 teens who claim that it makes them feel less confident.

I would have though otherwise, so this was a surprise to me.  Because of all of the attention blasted by televions news programs on the negative things, we hear a lot about bullying.


Secondly, about half of all the teens surveyed said that connecting through social media platforms has forged better relationships with their friends.  Who would know?

Here are a few selfie tips for teens.


safety selfie tips for teens

1.  Only post a selfie that you would let anyone in the world see.  Once it gets onto any page on the internet,  it can be copied, it can be shared, it can eventually be viewed by anyone.

2.  Be smart about privacy settings. Think carefully about the information you really want to allow strangers and creeps to know about you.

3.  Remember that the negative comments you get on your posts shouldn't affect your sense of self worth. Don't let the criticism and backtalk from knuckleheads get you down.  You can decide how you feel about yourself regardless of the opinions of others. Have a blast. Keep shooting and keep getting better!

Article published by Bruce Lovelace

ABOUT BRUCE LOVELACE

Bruce is the publisher of this website. He is the author of the book "Improve Your Photography Instantly."  Read more on Bruce on his Bio Page. He's been known as The Traveling Photographer ever since 1994. Read more about this website.

View some of Bruce's photos on Instagram.   Visit the Facebook Page. Watch him on YouTube.  Bruce runs photo workshops for kids and adults, and provides one-on-one photography coaching.

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