HOW TO TAKE BETTER SELFIES

WANT TO KNOW A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER’S TIPS TO TAKING AND EDITING BETTER SELFIES?

We’ve all seen them, scrolling through our social medias, you know what I’m talking about? That’s right, the perfect selfies. Everyone is taking them. Have you ever wondered how you too could take the perfect selfie? 

If so, I have the best tips for you in order to get that picture right every time! Being a wedding photographer, I must put my clients into the right situations to get the best shot. This includes the correct lighting, the right setting, and posturing. If you want to learn how to get the perfect snapshot selfie, continue reading! Let’s teach you how to look and FEEL like the goddess you are!

FIRST, LIGHTING.

Lighting is EVERYTHING. Natural light is always the most flattering option for making us look our very best in photos. If you’re shooting indoors, try standing by a window or use a ring light, and have the light pointing directly at your face. not from above, not from the side (unless you’re going for that dramatic selfie look), JUST STRAIGHT ON. Light from above will cast weird shadows under your eyebrows and nose and chin, and we don’t want that!

If you’re outdoors, try shooting at golden hour if you can. This is a time right after sunrise, or right before sunset. Golden hour will make you literally GLOW, I promise! Don’t believe me? check out some of my wedding photos

GIMME A LIL GIGGLE

Can you think of a time where you heard something super funny and couldn’t stop laughing? Good. Think of it again and laugh while taking your selfie! 

Even if you can’t think of anything funny at the moment, do the fake laugh! Yes, you may feel silly doing it, but I promise it’ll give you an organic smile that people will love. 

Tired of smiling? Try “pufferfishing” your mouth! If you don’t know what this is, DM me 😉 This will relax the muscles in your face and improve your next shots immensely. 

And don’t be afraid to use your hands, they are one of the most expressive things our bodies have to offer, use them to your advantage. Move them in all different directions, up and down your face, neck, collarbone, torso, etc. Feel yo’self.

POSTURING

The next tip I have for all you lovely people is to play with your posturing! Shift your weight from one leg to the other, tilt your head, even throw your head back if you want. 

This will allow you to see which angle is the most flattering for you. Don’t look at each photo right after you take it, take a burst shot and look back after! 

Like actually, take a hundred photos, THEN go back and find the one you love. I can’t stress this enough. At weddings, I take about 2,200 images per camera on average. Don’t discourage yourself, and also please remember that YOU are your hardest critic. 

Don’t be discouraged if you get some bad shots, we all have bad angles, and what you may think is a bad photo, other people may love. This happens all the time with my clients. Play with your angles and I’m sure you’ll get some beautiful selfies out of it! 

WHAT’S YOUR BACKDROP?

The next tip is to check your surroundings. Take that hike up the mountain to get that shot of the view behind you in the background! Where I live in Kelowna, there is so much beautiful scenery, from the lake to the mountains, even hidden waterfalls. 

Use these spots to your advantage. Nature is beautiful, and so are you! Having both in one photo? Pure magic. Also, be mindful of what you’re wearing, clashing colors isn’t a cute look. Wearing a green top with a green background may have you end up just looking like a floating head. Which is actually pretty cool, but for the purpose of a perfect selfie, we’d like to avoid that look.

LIGHTROOM

Now if you’ve got that perfect selfie, and you’re just about ready to post it but you’re just not sure if it’s quite right? Try editing! Lightroom is a great app to have for editing photos, and it can be downloaded right onto your phone. Play around with it, try different filters, experiment with contrast and highlights, before no time you’ll have that photo prepped and ready to post! 

Editing not really your thing? Go ahead and post the original photo! Either way, it’ll look great and show you off in the best way possible. 

DM ME IF YOU STILL WANT HELP!

Now that you know all the professional photographer’s tips and tricks, you’re ready to go out into the world and take your best selfies! 

If you have any questions or want to see some inspiration, feel free to follow me on Instagram. slide into my DM’s to talk more about how you can look your greatest in every photo you take. 

Now go my pretties, get that selfie, and remember, you are all QUEENS. Don’t you forget that.