Love taking selfies? Try out these tips to make them perfect!

“Selfie” was named word of the year for 2013 by the Oxford Dictionary, which defines it as a self-portrait that is typically taken with a smartphone camera and posted to social media like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

If you search the hashtag #selfies on Instagram, you’ll find thousands of photos of girls and guys holding their phone cameras out and snapping pics of themselves! To ensure that you always capture the best version of yourself, I decided to write something with simple and easy tips. 

Everything is about the angle. Know your good side and your bad angles.

We all have bad sides. The advantage to being your own photographer is that you can de-accentuate your less flattering qualities with a few tricks. To make your face look slimmer, shoot your selfie from slightly above. If you’re including your torso in the shot, turn one shoulder slightly towards the camera. Stick your neck out just a little, which will help eliminate that little bulge under your chin.

If you’re using your smart phone to snap those selfies, you can do them a lot of good by applying a filter, either in Instagram or another photo editing tool.

There’s nothing worse than a photograph taken with a built-in flash, except perhaps for a selfie taken with a built-in flash. Instead, use natural light. Standing next to a window will give your selfie a soft, natural look. It will also help eliminate dark shadows.

To get the best possible shot out of a smartphone, use the higher resolution back-facing camera. If you are using the front camera, handy for getting the exact framing you want, make sure you tear your eyes off yourself long enough to look into the lens for the photo.

If you hold the camera too close to your head you might experience some lens distortion, making your face and features look wider than they really are. Hold the camera far away from your face for the most flattering look, but be aware of that outstretched arm. If you change your posture to extend it too much, it can cause you to face the camera at a bad angle or make a straining face.

Make sure you are lit from the front or the side. If you’re standing in front of a bright light source, your face might be completely in the dark and the background properly exposed. If you focus on your face, the background can end up a bright white blur.

Not every location is a good one for a selfie. Your kitchen, in front of a pile of last night’s dishes? Not a good place for a selfie. Parking lot? No, probably not. Your selfie should be taken with the background in mind.

Take a moment to consider what’s going on around you and if taking a selfie is in good taste. Also, remember all the people who will be able to see it online — forever.