Quick-Tips to click Great Selfies with your iPhone or Android Phone Camera

After seeing so much interest into this series about tips to click good photographs, today we chose to talk about Selfies. Selfies have become extremely popular and there is so much creativity about how world is clicking selfies. Then why would you still be stuck with plain selfies with old styled pout. In this, blogpost we shall share some tips to create some awesome selfies and also make them memorable for yourself. 

Pay attention to lighting :

It goes without saying that lighting is extremely important to create any kind of photograph and selfie is not different. So ensure that your face is well light and direction of light is equally important. You can be more creative with lighting like having half face well lit while the other half if differently lit. One of the selfie in this blogpost has weird lighting filtering through a a netted surface. Those kind of things can be done to add an unusual touch to your selfies. 

Be Crazy :

We have various moments in life when we feel like clicking selfies - be it gathering in a special group, meeting a friend after a long time, at a new place which brings new energy, traveling to some interesting place, or you feel special about your looks on a particular day etc. But along with all those reasons, add a different mood to the selfie. By mood I mean, there can be a special spirit in selfies which makes them special and close to you for longer period of time. Above selfie is taken during one of our family trips. Are you wondering how is this photograph clicked? It's the magic that you get when photograph is clicked by keeping your phone down on the floor and trigger the shutter remotely. I guess, this phone used to click on a clap. Other ways to click so many people in a selfie and that too so symmetrically, you can use wide angle lens on your camera or by selfie-stick with reasonably long stick. 

Related Blogpost -  Most inspiring selfies of an Indian Photographer you definitely don't want to miss

Compose differently :

A different composition makes your photograph look unusual and beyond that other factor matter to make your photograph exceptionally good. Standard composition rules apply to selfies as well but given the nature of photographs, some unusual compositions would fit better than something like rule of thirds. When you hold camera in hand to click photograph of your faces which are just 3 feet away, you don't have lot of scope to compose. Things certainly work better if you are using selfie stick, but what you don't have one. Interesting crop after you are done with selfie shot can make a normal photograph unusual & hence attract more eye-balls. Above selfie is a normal selfie which is clicked in a mood when I met my niece after a long time in my home-town and it was also a sunny day. After clicking the photograph I simply cropped half of my face and didn't leave any space around our faces. This selfie was about us and our happiness, and that definition inspired this crop/composition.  Square compositions look great on particular kind of selfies and there is no limit to experiments/creativity on this front. 

Selfie stick can bring lot of difference :

More distance between your face and camera gives you lot of flexibility in terms of setting the frame you want to capture. Lesser distance when you keep your phone in hand put a constraint. Selfie stick is not only helpful in composing some of the best selfie shots but also helpful in taking a group selfie well. When you have more people to accommodate in same selfie, selfie-stick becomes a necessity. 

Take care of background & surroundings :

When your inspiration to click a selfie is driven by a place or surroundings, it's important to include elements which remind you about the space later on. And not only that, making good use of background or surroundings can make your selfies very interesting. and if your background is not interesting, you may want to blur it :). 

You get better with time and experience :

I don't consider myself a good selfie clicker, but know some of my friends who are awesome at it. All of them have their own styles to crate some cool selfies. Over a period of time, by clicking lot of selfies they know what camera direction, lighting condition, pose works best for their faces. 

Define your selfies in your own style : 

When I look at above photograph, first I question if this lies in the category of selfies. After few minutes of thinking, I convince myself that it's selfie. Selfie according to wikipedia is - "A selfie is a self-portrait digital photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. They are often casual in nature. 'Selfie' typically refers to self-portrait photos taken with the camera held at arm's length, as opposed to those taken by using a self-timer or remote. A selfie, however, may include multiple subjects. As long as the photo is being taken by one of the subjects featured, it is considered a selfie."

So I think I can call above photograph a selfie and if not selfie, then something like City-selfie. Why can't we create new terms like that and create some interesting kind of selfie. e.g. - There is also another term which you would find on our blog - Travel-Selfie. A Selfie, which expresses your mood around a specific place you are visiting. Typically in those selfies, the place in the background takes significant attention in the photograph. Can there be something like work-selfie, roadtrip-selfie etc. Think and create your own category. 

Btw, above photograph is accidental and it's not an intentional self-portrait. I was clicking city from an elevator and my own reflection also showed up in the photograph, but from there I learnt that interesting self-portraits can be created in many other ways & that depends upon your own creative thinking. 

Some more tips (pick the ones applicable to you and with which you feel comfortable) -

1. Just before clicking a selfie, think of something which brings genuine smile on your face :).

2. Eyes are important part of your face, so expressions in your eyes, positioning, eyebrows define a lot about selfie. Some people like raising the eyebrow a little, to have broader eyes in selfies but I must tell that in some selfies it comes across arrogant than adding beauty to it. So you would know more about your face and eyes expressions.

3. Instead of keeping the camera in front of your body, you can trying keeping the camera on sides, little up or little down. 

4. People who wear glasses need to ensure that unwanted reflections are not their on glasses, so positioning of camera with respect to lighting is important to consider. 

5. Keeping your face, eyes and lips relaxed help in creating a happy selfie. So figure out tricks to be relaxed. This is typically a challenge with shy/introvert people who think too much while getting themselves clicked. I belong to that category :) . 

6. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed. That make your personality reflect well in a selfie. 

Some other interesting posts which add a different flavour to tips for clicking some stunning Selfies :

How To Take A Good Selfie: 12 Selfie Tips To Consider

How to Take a Good Selfie: 7 Model-Worthy Tips to Know

17 Selfie Tips That Will Get You All the Likes

15 Poses and Tips for Selfies