Blog

30 January 2018

How to take a good selfie? 

There are phenomena that are so typical of a given generation that they just cannot be overestimated. When I think about the first decade of the 21st century the first thing that comes to my mind is “social media”. I know it may sound a little deprecating but let me assure you that I’m saying this without any prejudice. This is my epoch too. We are a generation that grew up with the Internet. At that time social websites and apps were springing up like mushrooms. Sharing our experiences, photos and everything else that can be shared for everybody to see is what defines us, young people in year 2017, and it seems that this trend is only growing.

One of the main ways of “being present” in the net is posting self-portrait photographs called selfies. Based on what we see in social media, one could say that taking photos of other people has been supplanted by use of the front camera which allows us to take photos of ourselves without the need to utter the awkward “Excuse me, can you take a picture of me?”.

I personally prefer someone else to take pictures of me, but I totally disagree with the opinion that children and teenagers nowadays are self-centred, vain and superficial just because they want to look good on the Internet. I think that there is far more to selfies than meets the eye.

Thanks to posting them on Instagram or Facebook we are in total control of our image, which makes us able to express ourselves. We show ourselves the way we are or, just the opposite, the way we would like to be. Selfies can also be a means of expression. Posting self-portrays can have a therapeutic effect, cause after all, what can cheer you up more than compliments paid by your friends (or a complete stranger…)? I don’t see anything bad in taking photos of yourself and showing them to other people to feel good with yourself or simply to show others that you look good and want them to see it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbHv9vRnckV/?taken-by=joannakuchta

Nobody knows as much about taking photos (or rather posing to them) as models and celebrities – it’s part of their professional work. I prepared a few tips on how to take a good self-portray for those who are still not proficient and would like to improve their selfie-making skills.

  1. We are all different. When you want to make yourself a perfect photo, you must first take as many testing photos as possible and see which one is your better profile and which side you should be photographed from.

  2. Use the “golden hour”, which is a period shortly before sunset during which daylight makes everything around gleam with golden light. Taking a photo in such light makes your skin look naturally lightened up and have warm tone.

  3. Talking about light – it’s the key thing in taking pictures. You must check if you look good in it, taking into consideration the objective criteria, like whether the photo is not overexposed or too dark. The best photos are usually the ones taken in natural light. When we are at a party and the sun has already set, the flash light is our life saver.

  4. When posing, hold your phone a little above your face (but not too high and not too far) to make it look slender. Taking photos from below the level of the face is not a good idea cause you pick out the chin and the face may seem fuller than it really is.

  5. Keep smiling and try to look natural. Exaggerated posing will look strange in the context of the ordinary situation and surrounding.

  6. Pay attention to the background! We tend to forget about what’s behind us, while some terrible background can destroy the whole picture.

  7. Look good. Even though this may sound too obvious, it is actually very important. When you’re planning to take yourself a picture, make sure your skin is well taken care of because it’s the skin that is going to be in the foreground. Cleanse it, use a moisturiser, some good powder and a few highlighting products. A matting powder will help you avoid greasy skin showing in the photo, while the highlighters applied to several specific areas will make you look beautiful.

Now that you know all this, let’s get down to taking your best selfies ever! Don’t worry too much if something doesn’t go too well. The best photos are the ones taken at special moments, with special people, cause true emotions come out best in pictures.

 

https://promnent.tumblr.com/post/155953567598/camille-hurel-and-marine-deleeuw-backstage-at

https://www.instagram.com/p/z-iqX2S2QN/?taken-by=emrata