Yes, selfies. This is what I’ve chosen to write about out of all the interesting things going on today. It’s better than me grumbling about how the Olympics are getting in the way of new episodes of Community and Parks & Rec, right?
I would wager to say that there isn’t a smartphone-owning human alive who hasn’t taken a selfie at this point. The most common form of this is to point your camera phone at the mirror, pose in some “natural” way, and take a photo.
I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it.
There is one little thing I feel the need to point out to help people who take mirror selfies on a regular basis. It bewilders me that they haven’t realized this, and hopefully you have. But it seems like I stumble upon these selfies all the time online.
What I’m referring to is a mirror selfie in which the woman (okay, it could be man or woman, but the selfies I’m aware of are women) is looking at her phone. It has an odd effect when you look at the photo–you’re very aware of the presence of the mirror.
Here’s the trick, selfies of the world: If you want to look like you’re looking at the person to whom you’re sending the photo, look at the camera lens in the mirror. Don’t look at your phone. Frame the phone, and then look at the reflection of the camera lens in the mirror. The effect will be that you’re looking directly at the person who is receiving the photo.
I feel a little dirty writing this, but that’s okay. It’s too late now. The words are typed. I’m clicking on “Publish”…done.
Or you could, you know, use the front-facing camera.
Thanks for the tip on how to take a better selfie–mine usually turn out with a goofy expression or the looking at the phone instead of the camera lens.
I watched an interesting short video a couple of weeks ago about selfies that you might like: https://youtu.be/BFkm1Hg4dTI
That video was really beautiful, Katy. Thank you for sharing it.