Selfies have a mixed reputation. Many people think of selfies, and their mind gets flooded with people in forced poses. But self-portraits can result in high-quality images too! You only need to practice a couple of creative selfie poses to learn how to take a good selfie.
Strike Silly Poses To Get Authentic Selfies
In the beginning, it might feel awkward or forced to pose for your selfie. Let the pressure go, and try silly poses that make you laugh. The problem with selfies is that often they seem unnatural. You can avoid this by being yourself and capturing whatever you feel like doing. Put the camera into burst mode and start playing around.
Relax Your Lips
Ever wondered why professional models’ lips look so soft and kissable? Because they have learned to relax their mouth. Open your mouth a tiny bit and pretend you are breathing through them. Your lips won’t be pressed together anymore and will look fuller. You can also pretend you are about to give a gentle kiss to someone. This way, you will make your lips look even more exciting.
Smile In Your Selfies
You might feel awkward when taking selfies alone. But a smile makes every photo look better! Even if you have to fake it. To avoid looking uncomfortable, practice in front of the mirror. Think about something that makes you laugh. Or someone you would love to smile at.
It’s also a good technique to look down and relax your facial muscles until you are ready for the shot. Then look up and give your camera a big smile. This will be more spontaneous because you only start smiling a second before you take the selfie.
Don’t Forget To Pose Your Eyes
Eyes are always in the focus of selfies. So you have to make sure they look good and find poses to emphasize them in your selfie. You can look straight into the camera. This pose will make you look honest and direct. Keep in mind that many people look like having cross-eyes if they look at something close to their face. You can reduce this effect by looking a bit underneath the camera.
You can also look away from the camera and pretend you don’t see it. This is a good pose to look candid. Or if you are too shy. Do you have bright-colored eyes? They will pop even more if you take the selfie from above your head. Especially if you pay attention to good lighting. You can also squinch in your selfies. It is a popular facial expression for models. It looks a little bit like squinting, but your eyes shouldn’t go that narrow. The pose gives your face a cheeky and playful look.
Position Your Face In The Corner Or In The Side Of The Photo
You can include much more of the background if you position your face in one of the corners of the selfie. It also gives the viewer the impression that you only entered the frame by accident. As if it was a real candid shot. It’s also a good way to use the rule-of-thirds for your selfie’s composition. If you place your face in one of the corners, your eyes will be around the power points of the grid.
Find Your Best Full-Body Pose
People often take selfies that only include their faces. But feel free to take full-body selfies. You only have to ensure that you find the best angle and the most flattering selfie poses to highlight your features. You can take selfies in the mirror, which is an easy way to fit your whole body in the frame. You will also see yourself in the mirror and can correct a pose if you don’t like what you see.
Include Hand Poses To Enhance Your Selfie
Hand poses can make your look selfie more natural. Gently touch your face or place your chin on your palm. If you are wearing a hat, you can also place your hand on it. Or play with your hair in the selfie. We touch our faces a lot more than we realize. If you do the same in your selfie, it will convey a more spontaneous atmosphere.
Capture A Selfie While Holding The Camera With Both Hands
Take a selfie while holding your camera or phone in both of your hands. Your arms will give the photo a frame. This selfie pose gives your photo playful and easy vibes.
Do The Same Pose For A Selfie Photo Series
After trying out many selfie poses, you might find the one that works for you the best. Why don’t you use the same selfie pose to create a photo series? Strike the same selfie pose everywhere, and change the surroundings or the background in every photo.
Take Selfies From Unusual Angles
Many people take selfies from or a bit above their eye level. Spice things up and look for new angles. Taking a selfie from the ground gives an exciting perspective to your photo. Or use a selfie stick and place it way above your head. A selfie stick will help you avoid facial distortions.
Stretch Your Neck Forward To Avoid A Double Chin
Let’s admit, selfies can distort our faces a lot. Our nose can look way bigger, and we end up having a double chin. But you can avoid these unflattering features! Stretch your neck a bit forward. This might feel weird. But the pose extends your neck and reduces the double chin effect. Zoom in a bit so that your nose won’t be that much in the foreground anymore. This way, it won’t look that big when you are taking a selfie.
Pose With Your Friends
You don’t have to be alone in your selfies. Involve your friends and take group selfies. To fit in everyone, make sure that the person taking the photo is standing a bit further from the rest of you. They’ll be in the foreground, and the rest of you in the background. The selfie photographer can also stand on a higher or a lower spot to ensure that everyone fits in the frame.
Pose With Pets
Selfie poses with pets are always fun! Plus, you never know what the result will be. Many animals don’t like to stay in one position, so they always change the way they pose for the photo. When you take a selfie with your pet, gently hug them or hold them to ensure that their movement is not too sudden. Otherwise, you end up with a blurry selfie.
Take Selfies While Doing Something You Enjoy
Do you like riding bikes? Capture selfie poses with your bicycle. Do you enjoy dancing? Snap a selfie while you dance around. Are you enjoying cooking or baking? Try selfie poses while you are preparing a dish in the kitchen. If you capture yourself while doing an activity you enjoy, you can end up with the perfect selfie.
Take Underwater Selfies
Underwater selfie poses are unique and fun. You can take them with an underwater camera, a GoPro, or even with the newest, waterproof smartphones. If you can, try to keep your eyes open. You can also try to smile for the underwater selfie. But don’t stress too much about your facial expression. You can also blow up your face and hold your breath.
I took this selfie while snorkeling in Indonesia. Everyone looks ridiculous in a snorkeling mask. So I thought I would embrace the look and capture my frog face under the water.
Capture A Selfie While Doing An Extreme Pose
Many people take selfies while standing or sitting down. Why don’t you spice things up a bit and capture yourself in more exciting selfie poses? Stand on your head or do a gymnastic bridge if you can. But any yoga position can look great too. The main goal is to be creative and find new ideas for your selfie poses.
Take Feet Selfies
If we are strict about the definition of selfies, we should only be capturing a self-portrait including our face. But why would we want to skip over creative selfie ideas? You can take ‘selfies’ of certain body parts too. For example, you can take selfies of your feet. Find a nice spot and sit down with your legs straight. Include your feet in the foreground, and have something nice in the background.
I always take foot selfies after long mountain hikes while enjoying the view. It feels like a reward after the long and exhausting exercise. And yes, I’m also showing off a bit by highlighting that my feet took me up there. You can also photograph nice floors and take the selfie from above, including only your feet.
Take A Photo Of A Selfie
This concept belongs to the more abstract selfie ideas. But the results are quite unique. Find or print a photograph of yourself and take a picture of it. I used a Polaroid photograph of myself and captured it with the Viennese Opera House in the background. It is not a traditional selfie. But it is creative and unique, and it is still a self-portrait of myself.
Capture A Selfie At A Unique Location
Selfies get much better if the background includes an exciting location. Strike a pose if you travel to a famous city, if you are in nature or if you have a famous building in the background.
Take A Mirror Selfie In A Different Way
Mirror selfies often look mainstream and are of low-quality. But you can turn this concept around! Take a photo of yourself while you are focusing on the mirror with your camera. You can use a car mirror as well to get more creative results.
Conclusion
Selfies are great fun and a good way to practice your posing and self-portrait skills. To avoid taking mainstream selfies, try out new selfie poses and see what works best for you.
originally posted on expertphotography.com by Dora Jokkel