How to Take The Perfect Instagram Selfie
A good Instagram selfie could change your life. You could promote your business ventures, the future love of your life could slide into your DMs, or you could even become an InstaBaddie and get paid to look cute. All of these outcomes are obtainable once you create the perfect Instagram selfie, and I am going to give you five easy steps to make that happen.
- Lighting is everything
Lighting can make or break your selfie. At the very least, I recommend you stand right in front of a window and let the sunlight wash over your skin, giving you a radiant glow and setting you apart from the background. Kim Kardashian came out with a phone case called “Lumee” that works as an extra lighting source for your selfies. But, if you are clumsy like me and you drop your phone every two seconds, I would advise against buying that. Instead, you could buy a clip-on ring light, which runs at about $10 on Amazon. To use it, you just clip it on your phone and it brings more light to your face, giving you that Kim Kardashian glow.
- Location
You can get super dramatic and do a photo shoot in the middle of the woods or just take a picture with a blank wall behind you, either way works. All I ask is that you don’t be that guy who takes selfies next to a pile of dirty laundry. Nobody wants to date that guy.
- Pose
Now that you have your location and your lighting the way that you want it, its time to pull out the classic duckface right? WRONG. The duckface died with Myspace, let it rest in peace. Instead, make a face that accentuates your best features. If you’ve got a good jaw bone, consider biting down to make it pop even further, tilt your head slightly to the side, and stare down that camera with hungry eyes, as if you’ve been waiting for your pizza for over an hour and it’s finally time to dig in. And with that, my friend, you have officially served a ‘look.’
- Edit
Your look has been served and you are ready to share it with the world. But before you hit post, consider editing the picture. Instagram filters are out, the only people who still use them are fifth graders and 50 year-olds still trying to be hip. Instead, upgrade to a free editing app. Personally, I use an app called VSCO. In the app, you can play with small things like the contrast, temperature, and saturation. These small tweaks can take your picture from cute to perfection.
- Hashtags
There’s one more thing you need before posting your perfect selfie. Add some hashtags relating to you, the picture, and your location. Hashtags are what essentially gets you noticed on Instagram. Who knows, the love of your life could be looking through #Bloomsburg, see your perfect selfie, and fall in love.
If you’ve followed these steps, congratulations are in order. You selfie game has officially graduated from basic to perfection. Now go forth and serve looks.
