Remember when you're taking a selfie to look at the camera lens itself, not the screen on your phone where you see yourself. You want to look up toward the lens at the top of your phone. If you look off to the side or even straight on, you're not making that really important “eye contact” with the reader.
EYE POSITION IN THE FRAME
There are no strict rules on where to position the main object – the eyes. But if you do it by the rule of thirds or in the middle of the frame, it will look great. Placing the eyes right in the center can be very effective for the viewer.
Use your finger to drag the little sun upwards or downwards to adjust exposure/lighting on the eye. If you are inside, consider using the flash. On an Android, a slider will appear under the circle. Drag the slider back and forth to adjust the exposure and lighting.
Look up at the camera
Chin down, camera up. That's probably the first rule of taking a great selfie on your phone. It doesn't matter if you're Kim Kardashian herself, holding the camera low, pointing up at your chin is always the most unflattering selfie angle. Seriously, you may never want to take a photo ever again.
Looking into the Camera
Having your subject look directly into the lens will instantly make your video feel more intense. Remember, looking at the camera is equivalent to looking directly into the viewer's eyes. This can be very effective in small doses as a way to communicate urgency.
Because of the proximity of your face to the camera, the lens can distort certain features, making them look larger than they are in real life. Pictures also only provide a 2-D version of ourselves.
Don't look above the camera when you are talking. Your viewers will start wondering whether you are really looking in the lens or not. This distracts and drives your viewer away from the story, something we always want to avoid. Don't look under the camera.
The camera should capture your face and part of your upper body, with the camera being aligned with your eyes. When talking, you should always look at the camera (not the screen), so it feels like you're having eye contact with the other person.
There is no definitive answer to this question, as everyone perceives themselves differently. However, so far we've found that people generally perceive themselves as looking more like themselves in photographs than in mirrors.
This is because the reflection you see every day in the mirror is the one you perceive to be original and hence a better-looking version of yourself. So, when you look at a photo of yourself, your face seems to be the wrong way as it is reversed than how you are used to seeing it.
The camera lens is not the human eye
That results in all sorts of weird idiosyncrasies. It's called lens distortion and it can render your nose, eyes, hips, head, chest, thighs and all the rest of it marginally bigger, smaller, wider or narrower than they really are.
It's describing the way you see, having an 'eye' for photography is more about having a knack for seeing things in a unique or artistic way. It's all about your creative vision. Developing your photographic eye doesn't happen overnight but there are many little habits you can implement to help kick things along.
Opt for a lighter eyeshadow rather than a dark, smoky shade on your eyelids and around the eyes, like Jenna Dewan Tatum. "Highlighting the corners makes eyes look brighter and fresh," says Ahnert. "Use a light color shadow in matte or shimmer to inner corner, lower lash line in outer corner, and the inner lid."
Most people will tell you that the eye goes to the brightest part of an image, and that is true a good percentage of the time.
If everything in the image is in focus, which happens with most smartphone shots, the eye skips to the next lower priority. But, if the focus varies within the image, our eye sees the object that is in focus before anything else, other than movement.
Hold two hand mirrors in front of you with their edges touching and a right angle between them like the two covers of a book when you're reading. With a little adjustment you can get a complete reflection of your face as others see it. Wink with your right eye. The person in the mirror winks his or her right eye.
When you look in a mirror, what you're actually seeing is a reversed image of yourself. As you're hanging out with friends or walking down the street, people see your image un-flipped. So that mole that you're used to seeing on your right cheek is actually on your left to the person facing you.
Paskhover and colleagues explain in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery that the distortion happens in selfies because the face is such a short distance from the camera lens. In a recent study, they calculated distortion of facial features at different camera distances and angles.
People say mirrors lie, but others say mirrors are more accurate than photos. The camera itself does not lie but the lens that you put in front of it can do. Depending on the focal length of the lens, it can either exaggerate or flatten facial features.
Most people find it more comfortable to view a computer when the eyes are looking downward. Optimally, the computer screen should be 15 to 20 degrees below eye level (about 4 or 5 inches) as measured from the center of the screen and 20 to 28 inches from the eyes.
It is important to always try and have the person face toward the center of the image. For example, if the person is facing to the right, then position them off to the left so that they are facing in toward the center of the frame.
TILT YOUR HEAD
To avoid a double- (or triple-) chin, first elongate your neck, then angle your jaw down just a touch. “Many people look good with head tilted slightly down, and eyes straight into the camera,” says Lannes.
The secret to looking so photogenic is to tilt your head slightly to your best side and lower your chin. People are more emotionally expressive on their left, meaning this is likely your best side.
The evidence from psychological research suggests instead that we tend to think of our appearance in ways that are more flattering than are warranted. This seems to be part of a broader human tendency to see ourselves through rose colored glasses.
Many people complain that they do not photograph well. In the present study, we hypothesised that the self-face is memorized more beautifully than reality, which may result in reports of being not photogenic.