8 Tips For Taking The Best-Looking Selfies

Last week, after another long conversation about the latest flagship smartphones, two of my female cousins asked me to give them an impromptu workshop on how to take flattering selfies.

"We always see your selfies on Facebook, Kuya Mac, and they all look great. What's your secret?" They asked.

I replied, "Well, there are 8 things you need to keep in mind when taking self-portraits using your smartphone's camera."

I know many of you guys are just as interested in this topic so I thought I'd share these pointers with you as well.

1. Good lighting is key!

Take your selfies in a location where there's enough ambient light that can wrap your face and make your features look more prominent. Also, any camera will struggle to take decent photos in the dark so help your gadget be at its best by ensuring that there's enough light for it to take in.

2. Turn on flash or Soft LED torchlight.

When you're left with no choice but to take a selfie in a setting with low to zero lighting - like in a bar or club - consider snapping the shot using your phone's rear camera with its LED flash or torchlight turned on. If your handself has a front-facing LED flash or if you have a smartphone case that lights up for taking selfies (like Lumee), then - by all means - take advantage of it.

3. Get a Selfie-Centric smartphone.

There are a handful of smartphones out there that are made specifically to deliver good looking selfies, including the popular OPPO F1s, O+ Ultra 3.0, and Cherry Mobile Flare 5. These are the ones with high-resolution front cams (usually 5 MegaPixel and above) complemented by screen flash or Soft LED flash, which greatly enhance their low light performance.

4. Use Beauty Mode -- in moderation.

The default camera app in almost all smartphones these days already has a Beauty Mode that automatically evens out the users skin tone and improves facial features like the nose bridge and cheek size. Some even let you choose the level of beautification that you want to be applied on your selfie. Use this feature but be careful not to go overboard and get resulting shots that no longer look like you.

5. Know your angles.

Take time to shoot photos of your face from different angles - including left-profile, right-profile, and face-front. Then, browse the shots and check which angles you look best in. Remember that for when you take your next selfie.

6. Raise your chin and give a sincere smile.

One of the easiest ways to make your face look instantly slimmer is to raise your chin a bit to make your jaw more prominent. And perhaps the easiest way to look more attractive is to simply share a sincere smile with the world. Do those two when snapping your self-portraits and I'm sure you'll get lots of likes when you share the images on social media.

7. Download Free Selfie Apps

There are many apps available in Google Play Store that you can download for free, which you can use for enhancing how your selfies look. You can use these apps to add nice filters and to further improve your facial features (-- but again, keep it in moderation). Some of my favorites are YouCam Perfect, Camera 360, and Candy Camera.

8. Have fun with friends!

For me, the best kinds of selfies are those where you don't just look good but also show you having fun with the people you admire or love. So whenever you can, put your smartphone in landscape mode and snap those groufie shots with your family and barkada. Even the act of taking selfies can be used to bond with friends and to create lasting memories.

There you have it! Those are my simple tips and suggestions to help you take your best-looking selfies. Do you have some more that you want to add? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below.