A Guy’s Guide to Taking a Decent Picture of Yourself

In a social media-driven world, the art of taking a selfie has become a commodity. We’re meeting people on dating apps, promoting our businesses on IGTV and using Twitter to start conversations. According to the non-profit organization Rawhide, 1,000 selfies are posted to Instagram every single second of every single day, and most of them suck. 

We’re totally not encouraging you to sit around all day and attempt to get the perfect photo of yourself. We don’t condone scaling buildings with a selfie stick to get a shot, interrupting the historic significance of cultural monuments with your vanity or any other dangerous task. 

But, if you’re going to take a picture of yourself, here are five easy tips to get a better result. Happy snapping.

The biggest culprit sabotaging your selfies is improper lighting. By simply moving toward a window, you’ll catch yourself looking fresh. Stand in front of a natural light source (or outside, if you’re able) to diminish harsh shadows of fluorescent lighting—the enemy of a good selfie.

Using your front-facing camera does two things for you: it will take a photo in high-quality 4K resolution and it will get you out of your own head. By removing the mirror image staring back at you, you’ll feel more comfortable to snap a few pics. If you’re on an iPhone, use the volume up button to capture. In fact, most of the "after" images featured in this article needed to be resized to accommodate the small megabyte limit on our website. 

Fingerprints on your camera’s lens can ruin even the best-intended selfie. Wipe the glass with your tee or pants to remove any debris. Your picture will instantly look more clear.

Once you’ve found an adequate light source, play with how high or low you’re holding your phone. Slightly above eye line with your arm extended fully tends to be the most flattering angle, but you can test what works for you. 

You should also experiment with the angles of your face, looking straight into the lens but rotating your head to favor each cheekbone toward the camera.

Don’t only give yourself one image. Snap a series of images as you slightly turn your head and move the camera around. Look directly into the tiny circle of your lens to create a genuine eye line.

Now that you’ve taken a handful of images of your face, don’t stress about which one to ultimately pick. Look at all of them as small squares in your camera roll and quickly choose which one stands out to you the most. 

Don’t spend hours taking your selfie. Just take a slightly better one than before.

Related: Team Gary Vee’s 10 Tips for Posting to Instagram Stories: A Guide

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