Snapping the Perfect Selfie

Woman taking a selfie

“Life’s more fun when you live in the moment!”
Snapchat

Well, That’s Just Awkward!
When was the last time you asked someone to take a picture of you… solo? You know: a cute picture of just you alone, no one by your side, just you? Probably not within the last five to ten years; thanks to the rise of smartphones and front facing cameras, it’s no longer awkward to ask that random stranger to take a picture of you – or you and your friend – at the beach, on top of the mountain you hiked, or next to the top-chef-worthy baker of your sweet 16 birthday cake. Soon, selfies were being snapped next to the funniest things, and sometimes at the most inappropriate times. Once the silly selfie was snapped, it was sent via text to the one and only friend who would understand the oddity of the photo. By 2011 selfies began taking on a mind of their own, this is when three men of the names Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown collaborated in the creation of Snapchat. Snapchat was the first of its kind, giving those silly selfies a place where they would be appreciated.

Don’t be a Victim…
Front facing cameras became the norm. A standard in smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even smart TV’s. This allowed for – even encouraged – selfies to be taken at literately any point in time! But with the endless opportunity to grow your “Selfies” album and share the most senseless selfies with friends, many women have come to the epiphany that they don’t exactly know how to take the best selfies – becoming victims to, dare we say, bad selfies.

If you find that you’ve suffered from a less than pleasing selfie, you mustn’t worry any longer, as help is available. Below you will find a list of tips and trick to minimize the chances of a bad selfie, allowing you to post even your funniest selfies to your Snapchat story.

Lighten Up
The last thing you want is a shadow of your phone in the center of your face. On second thought, a phone’s shadow isn’t nearly as bad as a dark-hard-to-tell-what-you’re-even-doing selfie. As in any photos, natural sunlight is best when shooting a selfie. YouTube personality and entrepreneur Michelle Phan, provides her viewers with an endless amount of makeup and beauty tutorials, explains one of her selfie-lighting tips, “[I] take a piece of white paper and hold it underneath my chin, which creates a natural bounce of light, illuminates the face, and also reduces the double-chin effect.”

Find Your Good Side
While your BFF may take fab selfies straight on, this may not be the case for you, and that’s okay! Different angle works better for different people. To find your good side, take some time to snap a few differ photos with varying poses and angles. Most women find that the best selfie angle is just slightly higher than their line of vision. Also, remember that staring directly into the camera is a big selfie no-no.

Play with Colors, Tones, and Hues
There really is no reason that you should not use a filter, even the most natural and untouched photos have at least one or two filters layered upon them. An Instagram fan favorite is the Valencia filter, as it has the enchanted ability to makes anyone look stunning. Beyond Instagram, there are hundreds of other mobile apps that offer all kinds of filters and photo effects, even Snapchat!

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