In this article we will give you two useful tips for best lighting for selfies.
People have always made self-portraits from time immemorial. However, it has never been more unprofessional and creative until recently—the act of creating self-portraits used to be only achievable by professionals in fine art or photography. The advent of phone photography has given more people access to take quality portraits of themselves without help from anyone.
A selfie refers to a picture of a person taking it. It can also describe a group photo taken by someone in the group. Statistically, selfies were made extremely popular when major phone brands included a front facing camera in their devices.
Phone photography has become a multimillion-dollar industry. It has evolved from the simple low-quality back camera for taking low-resolution pictures without DSLRs to extremely complex set-ups that might even substitute for a DSLR.
So what is the best lighting for selfies? First we need to dig into the importance of lighting in photos.
Importance of Lighting in photos
When taking photos, lighting is as important as the camera itself. It is impossible to take a successful picture without light. Therefore, to take nice selfies, you need to ensure that the lighting situation is perfect to have the best photo possible.
Light doesn’t just illuminate a photo; it is essential because it sets the mood, tone, and atmosphere of the picture. Light is also crucial to how we perceive color in an image. Manipulating the light in a picture would affect the vibrance, brightness, shadow, ambience and luminosity of the photo. This is why it is important to know how to light a scene for a photo properly.
Selfies are generally not as serious as typical portraits, but it is still important to know the basics of light manipulation to get the best out of your selfies.
It is easy to adjust the light in post production and significantly reduce the amount of light in a photo, so it is best to take a picture in very good lighting conditions and then edit it to look dimmer than the reverse.
The Best Lighting For Selfies
1. Natural Light
Adequate light for a set is relative depending on what you want to achieve. Generally, you want to have even lighting around your face since it is the picture’s subject. The best possible lighting for a selfie is natural daylight.
Natural light uses the sun as its primary light source. The type of light provided depends on what time of day it is. Research has shown that the best time to take a great selfie is at the time just after dawn or at dusk before the sun sets.
The type of light produced at this time is warm and gentle, giving your selfie a very relaxed, natural feel. You should take note of the time you’re taking a selfie because the midday sun can be very harsh and cause squinting if you’re taking an outdoor selfie.
Natural light is not restricted to outdoor photography. If you’re in a very open room that is adequately lit, you might also enjoy the benefits of natural light. You should remain aware of the time and extent of daylight coming through. Excessive sunlight can cause glare and over-exposure, which are undesirable in pictures, especially selfies.
2. Artificial Lighting
This is a more niche aspect of photography because it requires more attention and precision than natural lighting. It could be as simple as using a cheap ring light or going all out to get more professional gear.
Artificial lighting involves using a light source from anything other than the sun or moon. Artificial lighting refers to light sources that you can easily control and adjust. They include ring lights, strobe lights, speed lights, etc.
Artificial lights are a great way to take control of your pictures. Natural lighting can be frustrating because you’re at the mercy of the weather. It might be the perfect time for a selfie, and it might just be too dark because it got cloudy. Depending on your level of expertise, you can easily choose the suitable equipment for your selfies.
The most recommendable option is the ring light. It is the easiest and cheapest to use, and it provides even lighting across the face producing a very well lit picture.
Some ring lights come with adjustable brightness, and some even have different colors if you want to get creative. To use the ring light, you need to turn it on, set your preferred brightness and shoot away!
What phones are best for selfies?
Phone cameras have improved significantly over the years and it is impossible to talk about taking selfies without talking about phone cameras.
The fact is, you can pick almost any flagship phone and be really satisfied with it. But to get the camera with the most consistent picture quality, you have to consider either a Samsung, an iPhone and A Google Pixel.
Do I need artificial lighting?
For general normal pictures, your phone has you covered. Phone’s can take some amazing pictures even in the dark. However it is advisable to get a ring light. It improves the quality of your pictures.
Conclusion
Taking a good selfie boils down to two significant things, lighting and camera quality. These two things have equal positions because you cannot take a good selfie without these two things. Getting a good selfie camera is easy enough; the lighting might be tricky.
Lighting contributes so much to your picture, and it dictates the picture’s vibe. Using good quality lights would significantly increase the quality of your selfies.
So now you know what the best lighting for selfies is. Good luck with your selfies!
How to make money with your selfies?
In 2022 a new player joined the arena. Sellfies gives you the opportunity to make money with cheeky images of yourself. If you upload a minimum of 6 pictures you are offered monetary compensation.
You might even have them on your phone already. Flirty or teasing selfies, or ‘those’ pictures that make you blush when scrolling past them. You can now earn money with these photos. The more pictures you share – and the naughtier they are – the more you’ll be able to earn.
The greatest thing about Sellfies when compared to the other platforms is that Sellfies will pay you for a set of pictures, regardless of your looks or how big your following is.
In short: with Sellfies there is no need to market yourself before you’re able to earn something from your photos.
Sign up now and make money with your selfies.
