We spend our entire lives looking at our own faces. Cameras, meanwhile, have mere moments to capture them.
And because cameras can’t “see” the world the way human eyes can, is it any surprise they can reproduce our image in ways that don’t always feel right?
Photography has fueled our shared visual culture since at least the mid-1800s, and there’s little to suggest that’ll change soon. But even though we can’t completely control the way cameras — and everyone else — see us, there are things we can do, and facets of photography that we can learn to take more control of our images.
The next time you find yourself in front of a camera — say, in one of these common scenarios — here are a few things to keep in mind.
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Know how you want to look
Maybe you need a new profile pic for social media, or need to flesh out the “About” section on your website or LinkedIn. A solid portrait can help you give the right impression at the right moment — as long as you remember some fundamentals. We’ve got three things you should think about. First, consider the audience for this photo — what is it you’re trying to get across?
Pure professionalism?
Boisterous personality?
Something else entirely?
If you’re after a more traditional kind of image, consider angling your body about 45 degrees away from the camera and turning your head toward it such that your good side — you almost certainly know which one it is — is more prominent.
If you’re keen to avoid the picture-day-at-school vibe, maybe don’t face the camera head-on and show off all your teeth. Furtive looks and subtle smiles can hit as hard as a megawatt grin.
Meanwhile, if you’re worried about your face looking too big, try taking the photo with the camera slightly above your eye line and pointing down.
End of carouselAvoid the selfie camera for portraits
The front-facing cameras on many phones capture a wider field of view than we realize; couple that with how close they usually are to your face and you may wind up with a slightly distorted view of yourself. For the best results, ask someone you like to take your photo for you — or turn to a tripod if that’s not possible.
Make the most of your light
These photos are all about the face, so we want it as brightly lit as possible, right?
Well, sort of — what we want is ample, not harsh, light. (In other words: Avoid the urge to use your phone’s flash straight-on.) Instead, look for ways to introduce soft lighting that can highlight your face without creating sharp shadows — like standing near a large window, ideally with a sheer, white curtain covering it, or bouncing light off a light-colored wall.
Sometimes, you’ll need to take a photo where the main source of light in the scene — the sun, a window or something else — is at your back. This is especially common when you’re traveling, and capturing a point of interest is as important as capturing your reaction to it.
Handling these kinds of situations can be tricky, but these tips can help.
Use your angles
Do what you can to make the light at your back work for you. That could mean turning around to help it catch the contours of your face, or dialing down the harshness of that light by repositioning yourself to put something in front of that light source. In other words: Don’t be afraid to take your time and move around a bit.
Capture in RAW, if needed
Sometimes, you just can’t do much about lighting when you’re taking photos — but you still have options when it’s time to edit. (And let’s be honest: You were probably going to edit these pics anyway.)
Many recent smartphones and most digital cameras come with the ability to capture images in RAW, an untouched file format that puts the burden of editing on you. (You can find the RAW option in your device’s settings.) And while you shouldn’t use this feature all the time, it can give you more control over what the final product looks like. The built-in editing tools on your phone can be really helpful here — they’ll let you edit these files without getting too bogged down in technical details.
Try that flash
If you’re taking photos during the day, there’s a pretty good chance your phone/camera’s flash won’t turn on automatically. Try turning it on anyway if your face looks a little dark on a screen or through a viewfinder. It may not move the needle much if it’s still quite bright, but it may be able to help brighten up a face.
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You probably have at least a few photos of yourself that you just don’t think look very “you.” Camera lenses — which focus light onto camera sensors in different ways — are partly to blame here, but there are ways to account for their quirks. Here are three to keep in your back pocket.
Choose your camera wisely
Cameras with ultrawide lenses are often just one of many camera options baked into smartphones, and they’re great for capturing the full scope of a scene. The downside? They often distort the people they capture, especially if your face is near the corners of the frame.
They can be handy if you want to look a little taller, but on the whole, stay away from these cameras when taking photos where people are the focus — unless you have a really good reason for it.
Dedicated zoom cameras on phones, or cameras with long-range lenses, are similarly helpful in some situations — they’re great for getting close to a person’s face without having to move around. That said, they can sometimes make your face look flatter and broader in photos. Our advice? Play with your camera’s focal lengths to see what effect they have on your image, and to feel out what looks appealing and what doesn’t.
Mind your distance
The closer a camera is to your face, the more likely it is that it will overemphasize the bits that are closest to it. That usually means your nose, and no one wants that thing taking up too much space. Some smartphone selfie cameras try to correct for this, but for the most natural results, keep at least three feet between yourself and the camera.
Flip that photo
For many people, the way they most often perceive themselves is through a mirror — which means it can be weird to see the non-reflected version of their face in selfies. If you prefer that mirror image of yourself — and don’t mind that it isn’t actually the way other people see you — you can flip the image after you take it so the results feel more familiar.
If you have an iPhone, you can also toggle a feature — go to Settings -> Camera -> Mirror Front Camera — to make this flip happen automatically.
If you have a Samsung phone, open the Camera app, tap the gear icon to open the Settings and turn on the “Save selfies as previewed” option.
These tips are just a start — there’s plenty more to learn about how the cameras we use influence the way we’re seen, and the way we see the world. But if you master some of these basics, and keep them in the back of your head the next time you start snapping photos, you’ll have a much better chance of liking the way you look, or what you see. And who doesn’t want that?
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