How to Take Good Selfies

Instead of taking the picture head-on, experiment with different angles to show off your features. If you turn your head a few degrees to the right or left, your features will appear less flat. Holding the camera slightly higher than your head so that it's pointing down on you will make your eyes look bigger and help you avoid "pig nose." Here are a few other ideas for finding a good angle:

• Know your "good side" and take the photo from that side of your face. It's the side of your face that looks the most balanced and symmetrical.
• Angling the camera slightly above yourself and taking a snapshot of your face and chest will highlight your cleavage. Since this position is fairly unnatural, odds are, you already know what the camera will focus on when you take a selfie like this.

Be sure to smile or do something cheerful. A sad face or a frown will not help.

• A selfie showing off your new hairstyle, for example, should show your hair from the most flattering angle. On a similar note, a selfie showing off a mustache should show the mustache straight-on, and the same goes for a selfie showing off a new pair of glasses.
• You could also take a selfie holding a new item you just bought, or even a food item you're about to eat.

Know which poses are considered passé. There are certain selfie poses that became wildly popular and are now well past their prime. You can still contribute your own examples to the mix, but do it with a little self-awareness so people know you're in on the joke. Notable choices include the infamous "duck face," muscle flexing, pretending to be asleep, or pretending to be caught off guard by someone else.

• The duck face is a combination of puckered lips and wide eyes, originally made famous by Snookie and friends. Do it at your own risk!
• Taking a selfie and pretending that someone else took it is hard to pull off. There will be some clue in your posture or actions that will give you away and open you up to criticism. If you do it with a slight smile or a wink, people will realize it's an intentional setup.

Use your phone's back camera. Many cell phones have two cameras: one in the back, and one in the front. Instead of using the camera in the front to take selfies, use the one in the back. The back camera takes higher-resolution pictures than the front camera, which will end up taking a blurrier selfie. You'll have to turn the phone around, and you won't be able to see your face as you take the picture, but it's worth the trouble to use the back camera.

Don't use a mirror unless there's no other way to get the shot you want. The picture will appear in reverse, your camera will be visible, and you're likely to end up with a strange glare. Plus, your selfie could appear distorted, since mirror glass doesn't always reflect back a perfectly accurate image. Stretch out your arm, use your wrist to point the camera toward your face, and snap away. It might take some practice to get it right, but eventually you'll know exactly where to position the camera to make sure it captures your whole face (and never cuts off the top of your head).

• The exception would be if you want to take a full-body selfie, since it can be hard to capture more than your head and shoulders without using a mirror.
• Practice using both your right and left hand to take selfies. See which one allows you to get the angles you want.
• Grab a few more people to be in the photo. The first requirement of a selfie is that you have be in it, but there's no rule that says you have to be alone! Grab some friends, siblings, your dog, and other people to take a picture with you. The picture won't be as controlled, but it'll be visually interesting and fun for other people to look at and share.^[2]
  • This is a good way to take a selfie in public if you're self-conscious about taking a picture of just yourself.
  • The more people in the picture, the better when it comes to sharing! If you have a group of friends instead of just one or two, the picture is likely to get passed around and liked by more people.