How to take a Perfect Selfie

 Your selfie is your first impression.
It might sound silly, but the pictures you put on your profiles, your website and your social media send cues to others about who you are and what you stand for.

Learning how to pose for a selfie will make a much bigger difference in how you look in the photo than any camera app will.

You want your pictures to be:

• True to Reality
• Flattering
• Authentic
• Positive

That is exactly what I’m going to teach you how to do in this post!

1. Know Your Angles

Where should the camera be when taking a picture? In other words, when you are holding your camera to take a selfie or you give your phone to someone else to take a picture how high should you hold the camera? Should it be above you? Below you? Straight on? There is a science to the angles of your shots. Camera angles greatly affect your impression of the person.

When someone is viewed from above they are seen as weaker and in need of protection. This makes sense from an evolutionary stand point. Adults see children from above–and they typically need to be taken care of.

The opposite happens when you see someone from below. They tend to look more self-confident, more sociable and more attractive. Why? As children we admired adults. They took care of us and had everything figured out.

Action Tip: Take control of the messages your picture is sending out to the world by thinking about the angle of your camera.

2. To Front or Not to Front?

Fronting is a body language term that describes where your body is facing. If you are fronting with someone you are aiming your torso, head and toes towards that person. This is a nonverbal sign of respect. When you view someone straight on in a picture, We see them as more trustworthy, open-minded and sympathetic. This makes sense because your brain can take in their entire body and get a full mental snapshot.

3. The Real Smile

Do you look fake in your picture? Inauthentic? Too posed? This all comes down to the microexpression.
A microexpression is a brief involuntary facial expression that happens when someone feels an intense emotion. 

Let’s talk about the universal expression for happiness. The only true indicator of happiness is when the muscles along the sides of the eyes are activated and pulled up (crow's feet). However, only 1 in 10 people can consciously activate that muscle. This is why when people smile during photoshoots, they smile, but it doesn’t look real. It is because the smile isn’t reaching their eyes.

The crow’s feet on the sides of the eyes are made when those upper cheeks are engaged. Showing true happiness is essential for making a picture feel genuine, warm and real. Take photos when you are doing something that actually makes you feel good. Think about personal passions or people you care about to bring out that true happiness and make sure your smile reaches your eyes.

4. Beware Contempt

The other microexpression you have to know about is contempt. Contempt is a one sided mouth raise or smirk. It is the universal sign for disdain or hatred. It is the ultimate negative facial expression. Be sure you NEVER have a smirk in your selfies unless you want to tell the world to back away. The smirk grates on us. Celebrities that frequently employ the smirk rub us wrong. When politicians do it, their ratings plummet.

5. Avoid Fear

Fear is the last microexpression. Fear is when we raise our eyebrows and eyelids as wide as they go and open our mouth to scream or take in a quick breath. It looks like this. Sometimes depending on the flash or lighting people can show a small microexpression of fear in their photos! When someone’s eyelids are just slightly wide so you can see a bit of the upper whites of their eyes we think of them as low confident, fearful and anxious–not the signal you want to send out!

6. Expansion

There are universal power body language moves. If you want to show confidence, power and charisma in your photos you have to know these rules:

• The more physical space someone takes up with their body, the more confident they appear and feel.
• Strong body language is when the forehead and chest are pointed up and shoulders are rolled back.
• Powerful, confident people aren’t afraid to open up their body especially their torso and chest so that they are free of barriers—uncrossed arms and legs.

7. Professional vs. Casual

Depending on the level of professionalism you want in your shots you can use nonverbal cues differently.

Flirty, Fun, Casual:

• More movement
• Open mouth
• Gazing away from the camera

Professional, Serious, Direct:

• Fronting
• Eye Contact
• Less Movement

8. Colors

The colors you wear and use in your photos send all kinds of signals. This is called color psychology. 

9. Get Feedback

If you need a dating profile picture, business headshot or website photo that a lot of important people are going to see, be sure to get feedback on it. Ask people you know and trust like friends and family and try to get feedback from people you are trying to reach.

Bonus: The Art of the Perfect Selfie

Check out this awesome interactive guide to make your next selfie flawless! This includes tips for prep, gear, environment, posing and editing. Here’s a few of our favorite tips:

• Never underestimate the importance of fit. Choose a top that will flatter your best assets like a graceful neck or pretty décolletage. Dress to reflect your unique style.
• Your charging dock — coupled with a timer — can give you really interesting angles, with the added bonus of being hands free.
• Keep an eye out for texture. Curtains, wood panels, or even a bare brick wall will make your picture dynamic.