St.TikTokcel
159cm ofiara klinefeltera/Male feminist, Anti JBW
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1. Hold the camera as far away as possible
If you are going down the road of holding the camera yourself, you want to hold it as far away from yourself as possible. This is where a selfie-stick on a smartphone comes in so handy.The reason for this is that most camera lenses on smartphones, and the lenses you would use on a normal camera to take a hand held selfie, are going to be wide angle. This means that they can get a lot of the shot in, but they also distort the image slightly.
This distortion is usually not noticeable, but when you hold these lenses too close to your face, it can result in a weird caricature like effect, where parts of your face suddenly seem larger than other parts. This is a pretty standard effect, and we notice it a lot more on faces simply because our brains are very good at facial recognition, and any change from the normal patterns jumps out at us.
So if you are going down the route of hand holding your camera, extend your arm as far away from you as possible to minimise this fisheye effect.
When you do this though, don’t make the mistake of pushing your head unnaturally back behind your shoulders – this can be a natural reaction to pushing our arm out and trying to get further away from the camera, but this will make your head look weird. So after you’ve held the camera out, make sure your head is in a natural position.
2. Position the camera slightly above you
Ok, lets move beyond the hardware and start to talk about how to make sure that the pictures you are taking of yourself look as good as possible.My first tip, regardless of which method you are using, is to have the camera slightly above you. Photos naturally look better when taken from slightly above (no-one wants a chin first image), so if you can get the camera slightly above you, this will give you better results.
The exception to this guidance is if you are shooting into a mirror – holding the camera below yourself might make it easier to edit the camera out. Just remember to tilt your chin and ensure your posture isn’t unflattering.
3. Ensure the light is right
Light is critically important when it comes to photography, and this is no less true when it comes to taking pictures of yourself. First, you need to make sure there is enough light available to illuminate your features, so you don’t end up with a blurry, noisy image that won’t impress anyone.This is definitely going to be easier if you are outside in the daytime as there will generally be more light available (even if it’s overcast).
Next, you need to consider the angle and direction of the light. A lower light source, such as when the sun is lower on the horizon, will more evenly illuminate your features. A high light source, such as when the sun is directly overhead, will cause harsher shadows that will create dark contrast areas and less flattering results.
You also want to try to be looking towards the light source if possible, although not to the point it’s making you squint of course! Having the light so it is behind the camera as you look into the camera will more evenly illuminate your face.
Finally, the quality of the light is really important. The best light comes from a nice low sun, near sunrise or sunset, when it has that yellow glow. This warm glow will give you softer skin tones, and the lower angle of the sun will properly illuminate your face.
Be wary of point light sources like flashes, which can wash out your features, give you terrifying red-eyes, and generally ruin an otherwise good shot. Natural light will nearly always result in better results unless you invest in a serious flash kit and the knowledge to use it.
If you are shooting indoors, try to stay as still as possible to minimise any motion blur, and take advantage of any light you can find – perhaps stand near a window so the light from outside illuminates you. Otherwise, just try to use the brightest light source you can!
