Amanda Horlington explains the best ways to make the most out of your selfie
Let us consider the Selfie; a self-portrait photograph typically taken with a mobile phone, posted on social media sites to garner attention, ‘likes’ and general praise from one’s peers. A phenomena adored by A and Z listers alike, the needy and the egomaniac, the Big Brother contestant and Heads of State.
Derivatives of the Selfie include ‘Welfie’ a workout Selfie; the ‘Drelfie’ a drunken Selfie and the ‘Belfie’; a most immodest picture of one’s derrière made de rigueur by the bungalow-bummed Kim Kardashian.
Racing up the Selfie charts is the hospital or ‘Sickie’ Selfie brought to the populous by exhausted pop stars complete with drips in arms. As nothing appears to be too mundane or facile to be photographed I propose the ‘Toastie’, a breakfast based Selfie with which I plan to bore people to distraction.
Historical Selfies
The first Selfie was taken in 1839 by American photographer Robert Cornelius and in 1966 Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, was the first man ever to take a space Selfie (Spacie) during the Gemini 12 Mission (surely a higher accolade.)
I’d like to think that that on completing his mass–energy equivalence Einstein would have tweeted: “@OfficialEnstein “Hey b*tches, comin @ ya – check my white hair yo! Oh yeah, new quantum space ‘n time thing #E=MC2”.
And of course an early 4 minute mile attempt by Roger Bannister could have been marred by an inability to capture the perfect duck-face-finishing-line-combo thus forcing multiple reshoots and poor Roger coming in at a dismal 4 minutes 53.
So, if you really want to interrupt those perfect moments in order to capture them for infinity and possible embarrassment in the coming decades, here are a couple of apps to enhance your photos or even airbrush yourself into unrecognisable ‘like’ magnets.
Perfect 365 – one-tap makeover
Advertised on Facebook, I gave this one a whirl and it turns out to be extremely good at achieving a flawless look. Having used Adobe Photoshop for many years I know that this little app is really impressive; seamlessly taking your image and smoothing skin, banish blemishes and brightening eyes in seconds – something that even an experienced designer would take time to do.
Download the app and take a Selfie or choose one from your existing photos. You now have a choice as to how much control you want to have in the way of editing. Choose the ‘edit’ option and the image of your face is overlaid with blue dots or ‘key points’ to mark eyes, nose width, lips and cheeks. Move any blue dots yourself for more accuracy then you’re ready to get editing. The edit option allows you to be in control and more subtle about the enhancement process so the final image is not unrealistic. You can slim your face, lift cheeks bones, make your eyes larger and brighter, all without a costly trip to you friendly plastic surgeon.
If you just want an instant effect, choose from the one-tap Hot Styles options listed at the bottom of the screen; ‘natural’, ‘pure’ and ‘dainty’ may get the thumbs up you crave whereas ‘fantasy’ or ‘cats eyes’ which add garish make-up, probably a stifled scream.
Frontback
Perfect for the on-location show off who’s always somewhere exotic or at that secret gig you were never going to know about. Frontback takes two shots, one from the phone’s main camera and one from the camera that faces the user, combining them into a single image to create a Selfie with more context. The app’s interface is simple and your glorious two-viewed snap can be easily uploaded straight from the app to one of many social media sites options complete with any hashtag or location info you want to add. With only a self-timer and flash as extra this app is really easy and initiative to use. It would benefit from the ability to add some filters to the final image but I guess that may come in later versions.
News Flash: Recent images showing the Nokia Lumia 730 have been leaked with the new mobile said to be designed specifically with the Selfie takers in mind with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. One of the early models is due to be sent to Mars as, rumour has it, Martian probe Curiosity Rover, bored of taking photos of rocks has stopped looking for signs of life and is now searching for a suitable bathroom in which to take a great Belfie.
If you’re a keen “selfie queen” making sure you keep them all together is very important. Finding the right asset management software can be quite difficult, Asset Bank are one of the best out there!
Amanda Horlington is the founder of web design and internet marketing company Fusion Marketing. Contact Amanda at amanda@fusion-marketing.co.uk
Twitter: @jiggertyjig
