Ace Fashion Photographer Dabboo Ratnani on How to Take the Right Selfie

Selfie smartphones are the toast of the town and everybody out there wants the near perfect selfie to flaunt on social media accounts. Also, gone are the days when autograph seekers would haunt celebrities for the two-character initials. People would rather turn their backs to the celebrity and try getting a quick selfie instead. The smartphones vendors also seem to have upped the ante with the launch of selfie-focused smartphones in the last one year and two dual front camera smartphones in the past two months so that people get to enjoy additional DSLR effects, such as Bokeh, through their selfies.

Traditionally, the front camera has been designed inferior to the rear camera but not anymore. Not only do you find front cameras sporting more pixels, bigger and better sensors but also increased aperture sizes and white flash lights to let you enjoy quality selfies even in dark environs. But that’s not enough. There are certain dos and donts that we need to take care of additionally, before we can get anyway near that perfect selfie. At the recent launch event of Oppo F3 Plus, the latest dual front camera selfie smartphone, ace fashion photographer, Dabboo Ratnani offered his advice on getting the selfie right, the very first time. Here goes:

1. Stare at the lens but not at the screen—While it’s perfectly alright to be looking at the screen to ensure everybody fits in the frame and the angle and light are perfect, the trick lies in looking at the lens just before you click so that the eye angle does not get compromised. This would ensure your eyes are centrally aligned with the centre of the camera lens.

2. Diffused light is always better—Always stand in an area of diffused light and avoid direct light falling on your face. Else with your smartphone coming between you and the light source, there’s bound to be darker areas in your selfie.

3. The smartphone should always be parallel to your eyes—This is again important as you do not want yourself to appear either swollen faced or with your chin raised. Also, your facial features would appear distorted.

4. Selfies are best taken when on vacation—Goes without saying, the ambience and having a relaxed mind play a tremendous role in ensuring you get the best out of a selfie. A spritely outdoor environ not only jazzens up your mood, it also reflects on your face and eventually the selfie you take.

5. Select a camera lens with a wide angle of view—Most selfie cameras come with an 80 degree angle of view which is good enough for a selfie or a groufie with limited people. However, if you want to take groufies for a larger team and do not want to cramp them up for space, then look at cameras that offer atleast a 120 degree angle of view.