The Top 7 Tips for Taking Good Selfies

June 14, 2021
Posted by Michael Mulhall
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The Top 7 Tips for Taking Good Selfies

Whether you are taking selfies with all of the amazing sights you see while traveling, are trying to become Instafamous, or you just want to take a selfie to send to family and friends, you want to make sure you are getting a good selfie.

Taking a good selfie does not require a college degree, but making a few tweaks here and there can make the task a lot easier. Things like lighting, poses, and shadows are often easy things you can change to drastically improve the quality of your selfies.

If you are ready to quickly improve the quality of your selfies, check out the top 6 tips for taking good selfies:

Find the Right Lighting

Lighting is everything when taking good selfies. Natural light can do wonders for taking a simple selfie and making it really pop.

In order to find the best lighting, try to avoid things like direct sunlight as it can make your photos look washed out. Extremely bright light can have the same effect. If there is no light or limited light, your selfies may appear to be blurry, and your best features will be less prominent.

Starting with the right light will make editing a lot easier if you decided to further edit your selfies. The best times for taking good selfies outside are in the early morning or early evening when the sun is low and giving off more of an orange light than the super bright light it gives off at noon.

If you’re taking selfies inside, try to use natural light coming in through the windows for the best selfies.

Change Up Your Angles

Taking a selfie with the camera looking up your nose or making it look like you have a double chin that you don’t have is not going to help you get the good selfie you are wanting. Holding your phone down below your chin is an angle you should 100% avoid. Try holding your phone a little higher than eye level.

Instead of taking a selfie looking straight at the camera, add some dynamic to the photo by holding the camera off to the side a bit. This can highlight your features and make your selfie more interesting.

You can also change up your angles by tilting your head. Playing with angles can help to make pictures less harsh while enhancing your natural beauty that results in a good selfie.

Watch Out for Shadows

Shadows are a quick and easy way to ruin any photo. Whether your phone is casting a shadow on your face because the light source is directly in front of you, or you are in a room with lots of objects between your and the primary light source, shadows happen.

Generally, for a good selfie, you have to stay away from shadows. Sometimes you can use shadows to your advantage. For example, if smaller objects are casting shadows on you, you can use the shadow of a larger object like a column or a tree so that you are completely in a shadow, so the lighting doesn’t look blotchy.

Don’t Flash too much

The flash is a very helpful function on your camera or phone, but you have to make sure that you know when to use the flash and when to turn it off. The auto flash setting on your camera can be helpful because the camera itself detects when the main focus on the photo needs the flash to be seen.

The best way to get good selfies is to try them without the flash first. If you use the flash in the wrong setting, it can make you look like a red-eyed demon or a pasty, washed-out ghost.

If you are inside in a dimly lit room, outside in the dark, or are surrounded by lights that are casting a lot of shadows on your, then you will probably need the flash. If you do use the flash, try turning on the red-eye setting, or be prepared to edit out the red eyes that may appear after you take your selfie.

Smile!

When you are not sure what to do to make sure you have a good selfie, the easiest thing you can do is smile. There is a time and a place for pouty faces, duck lips, and silly faces, but when your goal is to take a good selfie for The Gram, just smile.

Studies have shown that people who smile or appear to be truly happy are more attractive to both genders. Smiling is also contagious. So, think of it as your way of spreading a bit of happiness while sharing your selfies with the world. Smile like you truly mean it, and maybe the world will smile back at you.

Take Multiple Selfies

Chances are, you aren’t going to get the perfect selfie on the first try. Even if everything else is perfect, you could sneeze or blink or even get photobombed without even realizing it. Take multiple selfies, so you have a variety of options to choose from. This will increase your odds of taking the good selfie you are looking for.

Try three of four shots with the same or similar pose. Take a second to see if you got what you are looking for. If you did, celebrate and post on The Gram. If it didn’t quite work out, change things up a bit, and take some more selfies.

Consider A Selfie Stick

Let’s be honest, holding your phone up while trying to press the camera button with your thumb can be awkward and has led to more than a few dropped and damaged phones.

One of the easiest ways to dramatically increase the quality of your selfies is to use a selfie stick. There are a few popular types including the telescopic version. These typically extend out 2-3 feet and allow selfie takers to capture more in their shot. But they are very bulky, can’t fit in a pocket and generally quite annoying to everyone in the area where you are taking the shot. Some countries & amusement parks, like Disneyland, have out and out banned the use of these types of selfie sticks.

A better solution is a compact selfie stick like the Flickstick. It attaches to the back of any phone, easily slides into pockets and also works as a stand, phone grip and a mirror for quick touch ups before taking that good selfie!

Conclusion

Taking the perfect selfie may be impossible, but snapping a good selfie is not. Follow these top 7 tips for taking good selfies, and you will be one step closer to reaching selfie perfection. You will have people DMing you on Instagram asking you for tips on how they can get great selfies like you in no time.

Most importantly, remember: Taking selfies shouldn’t be stressful, even if you are trying to join the ranks of some of the most famous Instastars. Don’t forget to have fun in the process!