It’s National Selfie Day! And we celebrate the new technology art that is taking a selfie!

Kidding aside, we know that some people really struggle in taking selfies. Let’s admit it – we don’t have the same perfect angles as our favorite celebrities and bloggers on Instagram. We have different face shapes and angles, don’t always have the perfect lighting, and different phone camera qualities.

However, taking a selfie – like anything else we do – can be perfected through practice and a few tips on how to do it. So this National Selfie Day, we serve you some tips on looking great on that next selfie you take.

Finding the Right Angle

Are you familiar of your friend’s response when you praise their selfies and they just said “it’s just the angle” with full confidence? That is because it’s true. Angle says it all.

Finding the right angle for your selfie can be tricky as it would depend on so many things like your background, your lighting, and even the perfect angle on your face.

Here are a few things you can do in experimenting different angles and finally find the one that’s working for you:

Know your good side.

Turn the camera around and look for that perfect angle. Your good side is that angle of your face that makes it look symmetrical and balanced; no body part of your face should look to big or too small over the other.

Show off what you got.

If you want to emphasize a part of your face or body in your selfie, show it off and drag attention to it. Put some make-up on that part and leave the other parts bare. If you think your eyes are your asset, then play with eye make-up on it. Or if you love that pout, put some lipstick on.

Do head movements for better angles.

Have you tried to move your head around for better angles? If not, do so. Try tilting your head a few degrees away from the camera. You can also extend your face away from your neck to emphasize your jawline or make your neck look more slender.

Try moving the camera around, too.

When you think that tilting your head around still doesn’t give you a better angle, then let the camera do its magic by moving it around. You can place it slightly above your head and try to look up for a more glam shot. You can also move or pan it to your left or right and try to face to that direction and see if you get a better angle. Experiment your camera placement rather than doing the same shot every time.

Full-body selfie? Yes, indeed.

Selfies doesn’t only mean feature your face or even part of your upper body. Why not take a whole body shot?

A full-body selfies are taken mostly through mirrors or other glass that could show your reflection. Like they all said, “if you got it, flaunt it!”. This is best when you want to show off your new outfit altogether – from hair and make up down to your shoes.

Lighting is Key

Aside from your angle, lighting plays a huge role in taking better-looking selfies. It helps brighten your face and give it a natural glow.

There are a lot of debates about lighting especially the source of your light but there could always be pros and cons about it. Here is our take on how lighting could help you take better, more creative selfies:

Natural light is always best.

Maximize the use of natural if possible. Wherever you’re taking a selfie, always look where the sunlight is. Use this light to let out that natural glow on your face. Remember that natural light can come in many hues and contrasts depending where the light passes through or the time of the day.

Use a ring light.

Natural light is often so difficult to come by especially if you want to take selfies indoor without windows or during the night. Ring lights are a safer lighting option to use in badly-lighted locations rather than using a flash. The downside with ring lights, though, is that it tends to highlight your face more than you want. So make sure that if you use a ring light, your face is as flawless as you want it to appear on photos.

Play with shadows.

This may be an advice that you won’t often hear about taking selfies or photos in general. Shadows can really be a downer on every photo that could ruin its beauty. However, we defy the rule on shadows.

Sometimes, when you’re at the right angle and perfect lighting, shadows can accentuate the angles on your face. It can also add art or drama to your photos. They also said don’t go against the light but you can use that to your advantage to add more drama to your photos.

So don’t be scared to break the rule. Play with shadows and experiment how it can actually make your photos look more dramatic.

Accessorize in Any Way

Adding some accessories can improve the selfies that you take. Be it on your face, your background, or something you hold with you – this can draw interest on your selfie.

Here are a few ideas on what accessories you can use:

Unique or sparkly jewelries.

Accessories is almost always equivalent with jewelries.

If you have some new bling or just want to add something that would shine in your photo, show of your sparkly or unique jewelries.

Just make sure you don’t put on too much because that would surely backfire on you.

Hats, sunglasses, and more!

Whatever the season, we can find an accessory or two in our closet.

Look for unique hats, caps, beanies, sunglasses, and more! Or it could something that ‘s so simple yet elegant. If you’re accessorizing for the season, add a bit of a background to it and it should look perfect.

Show off something new.

Got a new do? Or maybe new specs? Showing off may sometimes draw flak among followers, but if it’s something that you’re really happy or proud of, then go ahead and show it off.

It can be as small as a jewelry, or a new lippie, or it could a new car that you can take a selfie with at the background!

A selfie with your pet, too!

Pet lovers could totally relate to this. Why not, right? Your pets would surely add more likes to your photos especially when you take a selfie when they’re being cute, quirky, or just funny.

Play with Your Background

Your selfie may just feature majority of your face but that doesn’t mean your background wouldn’t count. Sure, we can take selfies inside our house (as plain as it may seem), but you can always explore what you have around you.

Still have no idea what to do? Here are some suggestions for great backgrounds:

Events and festivals.

Having too much fun? Share it with your followers by showing off where you are. Be it a concert, charity event, or huge festivals!

Look for an angle that best shows the fun of the events. You can do a selfie in a concert either with the crowd or the band as the background. Joining a festival? How about including the lovely colors at the background? This would surely add more life to your selfies!

Beautiful views and landscapes.

Not everyone is blessed to be able to see the beauty of nature. So if you’re a lucky one, take advantage of the splendor around you.

Be it the beach, the mountain, or that lovely sky… don’t be afraid that the beauty of your background might outshine you.

Be creative even when you’re indoors.

You think any room in your house is a boring background? Think again.

Sure there’s some interesting colors or textures on your wall. Or you might have beautiful paintings, decorations, or even posters in your room. You can always take a selfie with them as your background!

Facial Expressions Tell a Story

Since we’re talking about accessories, this may sound cliche but it’s true what they said that your smile is your best accessory. But in taking selfies, you can do more than just smile. You can do so many facial expressions depending on your mood.

Here are some of the most common facial expressions we see in selfies that you can try – aside from smiling, of course.

That fierce look.

Show your fierce side through your selfie!

This best fits if you have a good eye make-up (especially those brows) or red hot lippie. They add up to that sizzling fierceness in you!

The ‘wacky’ face.

Alright, this might come out as too cliche but when everybody’s just too ‘meh’ in your feed lately, lighten up with something wacky or funny.

Confidence lies on how you still show off an awfully distorted expression and not worrying about how others would react. So go ahead and play with the wackiest expression you can pull off.

Be careful of overused poses, though.

Wacky may be too cliche, but so as the ‘peace’ sign or the ‘look up/look away’ shots. They may seem appropriate or cute at the moment, but don’t overdo them.

Look for better poses that would fit your entire photo composition (accessories, background, etc.) before resulting to anything passe.