Jungle Red Writers: selfies

DEBORAH CROMBIE: This post should have been subtitled "Should You Want To." These days it seems like being able to take a good selfie is as essential (or more essential, considering some of the things I read...) than knowing your ABCs.

We are all encouraged to post photos of ourselves doing anything remotely interesting, but for those of us with any sort of public persona, including writers, it's become expected. So I've tried. I've taken selfies in London. I was determined to post selfies from Bouchercon in St. Petersburg last month.

But, no!

They were all horrid! My face looks completely distorted. I know my features aren't regular, but my face doesn't look like a reflection in a fun house mirror when OTHER people take the photos. And in every single picture I snapped, my neck looked like something out of Elephant Man. Seriously. And I promise my neck is really not weird.

Is it my camera? I have a Samsung Galaxy8, which has a fabulous camera, apparently for everything except selfies. Or is the problem that I don't know how to take them?

I decided to do some research. Here are some of the tips I've gleaned from reading articles and bloggers (and from asking my daughter, who takes great selfies.)

--Use natural light. Go outside if you can. Stand by a window inside. You can even hold a piece of white paper under your chin to give more even lighting.

--Hold your chin down and the camera up. (My professional photographer friend recommends holding your chin OUT in any photo. It feels weird but doesn't look strange on camera.) No one wants to see the underside of your chin. Really.

--Always shoot from above. Hold the bottom of the camera level with your eyes.

--Don't look right into the camera.

--Turn your head at a slight angle, not full profile, but not full forward.

--Give a genuine smile. Or if you want a more serious look, try smiling with your eyes. No duck-lips high school poses!

--Use filters. My daughter takes all her selfies in Snapchat, because the filters allow you to do things like highlight your eyes. Someone else suggested using the Valencia filter in Instagram.

--Don't over edit. You want to look like a real person.

--Take lots and lots of selfies! It might take fifty to get one good shot.

This is the hardest one, especially if you want to get a selfie in a public place, like walking down Portobello Road (been there, done that) or at Bouchercon. It makes you feel like a complete idiot!!

So, Reds, how's your selfie proficiency? Any tips? Give us your best shot!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Nope nope nope. I cannot do it, I have tried, I truly have, but there's no way. I look like a ghost, a specter, a skeleton, goofball, a weirdo, shadowy or grotesque. Ninety-five million years old. I have been known, truth be told, to grab selfie-taking phones from the hands of others, (politely) and hand them to strangers to take the photo. No selfies. Here's one via snapchat that worked, I supposed, with my grandson Josh. That's as good as it's gonna get.

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh Hank, I believe you have tried several times to snatch a phone out of my hand! It's true, some selfies are simply awful, but others not too bad. I love the tips you gave us, Debs. One thing you didn't mention is giving the phone to the person with the longest arm (that's never me!) Here's one I especially liked from the Women's March in Key West, with pals Barbara Ross and Pat Kennedy.

JENN McKINLAY: Selfies and I have a love/hate relationship. I like other people's selfies because I love seeing what they're doing and some people are absolute geniuses with lighting, angle, etc., while still being very genuine. I hate taking selfies because it's just too much of my face for me to deal with - extreme closeup is not a good look on most of us. Plus, I have a resistance to the whole narcissism of selfies and the obsessive image crafting that doesn't feel authentic if people over filter themselves or their lives. See? I'm conflicted!

RHYS BOWEN: I am with Hank. Never take a selfie unless I am dragged into it and can't escape. I've never taken a good one yet. I can never seem to find the perfect angle and they seem to show more wrinkles than I thought I had. And I can't get over people who stand at the brink of the Grand Canyon, taking a selfie when one step would lead them to instant doom. I think my mantra from now on should be never be in a photo unless a guy is standing by with the air brush!

Rhys with Jacqueline Winspear

INGRID THOFT: I have little selfie experience, but I’m trying to up my game. But like you, Jenn, I'm conflicted! I'm usually trying to focus on the moment of being someplace rather than documenting it. Deb, I’ve also heard conflicting advice about one’s chin: Lift it up or push it down. I opt for lifting it up, otherwise, chins appear that shouldn’t be there! When it comes to writers who have mastered the selfie, I look to Chevy Stevens. Her selfie skills are top notch. Life before social media is a distant memory!

HALLIE EPHRON: CHIN DOWN! CAMERA UP! It's the same deal with Skype. Put the computer up on a box or something so it's shooting down at you. This weekend we were in NY going to see FROZEN on Broadway with our fantastic granddaughter. And of course we took a selfie. As you can see, my grand girl likes sequined cat ears and glassless glasses. This is us waiting for the subway in Brooklyn to whisk us into Manhattan.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm trying to get over my F.O.S: Fear of Selfies. I didn't know the tips about looking slightly to one side and making the bottom of the phone level with your eyes, but I've been able to tell it takes 50 snaps to get a good one. Or, like my two daughters, you can just take SO many selfies it beomes second nature. You know how Malcom Gladwell said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in something? Yeah, my girls are there.

Every morning on the drive to high school, Youngest would take a few selfies, filter them, and Snapchat them to her friends. Then she would look at each of the 30 - 40 Snapchat pictures her friends had sent her, and comment (or star, or thumbs up - I'm not Snapchat literate,) They ALL did this, every morning! I don't know if they said hello or good morning when meeting in person at school, or if they just sent more pictures.

Anyway, I'm working on my selfie game, and naturally, I'll share my best one so far. I had just gotten my hair cut and was thrilled with it and wanted to text a picture to my kids. Maybe the secret to taking a good selfie is to be very, very happy when you press the button? (No, that's not a filter. I just have a crappy phone camera.)

DEBS: So you won't think I'm finking out of the not-dare, here I am with my daughter last week (taken with her iPhone...) And, no, she's not really a foot taller than me, but she does have longer arms!

Hallie, yes, you learn that the first time you do a Skype library chat. Egads!!! I put my laptop on a head-high stack of books. Dangerous, but better than looking like the Chin from the Black Lagoon...

What I'm seeing here is that, while I worry about how I look, I think all of you look fabulous, and it makes me happy to see your faces.

So maybe the thing is not to take yourself so seriously and just have fun with it. Just to prove it, here's one only slightly cross-eyed from my selfie trial yesterday. (The whole not-looking into the camera thing didn't quite work out...)

READERS, tell us, are you on the selfie bandwagon? We'd love to see your smiling faces--wish you could put them in the comments!

NEWS FLASH--Here are some of our regular commenters!!

Flora Church, trying out our selfie tips!