How to Take A Good Selfie- CHOKA Lifestyle

I've always been obsessed with having a camera around. When I was 11 or 12 it was the Kodak disposables, when I was 16 it was my good 'ol Polaroid, when I was 20 it was my dependable Canon PowerShot, at 23 Nick got me a Holga and Diana +, and  then came along my iPhone camera and of course I've always stolen Nick's Rebel whenever I get a chance.

When I'm not working on CHOKA or working on my writing- I'm taking pictures or pinning pictures. The natural course of progression has led me to  become addicted to selfies. (No, I'm not in love with myself) The selfie capturing tends to happen more because I work mainly from the house, am alone for the most part of the day and have no one to take pictures of except myself! Instagram has not been any help with this addiction. If you only knew how many photos I took of myself before I uploaded that selfie. YIKES!

Some people think that selfies are bad for human confidence and objectifying women. I think they can be great for creativity and learning how to use your camera.  I also think that when you take a selfie, it should be different than every other selfie you've ever taken. It should NOT involve duck lips unless you are making fun of duck lips. And it should not be the same close up picture of your face and hair over and over again weeks after weeks. It should not interrupt a funeral, memorial or religious service. It should probably not interrupt dinner or any meal for that matter unless the food is that amazing and you have to document it or if you are eating alone (If you're eating alone it's probably because all your friends left you since you were taking too many selfies). Anyways, you can read my How to Take A Selfie Below.... after you scroll through my categorized selfies.



Hair Selfies
Took these because my hair was different than it usually is (straight, partially combed, or in a ponytail/messy bun).

The Car Shot (after an extras gig. I liked the hair and the makeup)

The bow that I would never wear...  

The hair that I would never go out in public with, but thought it was crazy enough to post...

The one day my curls turned out exactly how I wanted them too :O

Shadow/Serious Selfies -Ok, so the next group of selfies are because of lighting/moodiness/playing with camera effects...

Brainstorming Face

The Lamp Casting Shadows

Imagining Sunny Days

Shadows and Water

Now the last grouping is my personal favorite. Like I mentioned before, I am at home ALL freakin day long,  by myself. I never thought I was really into dressing up when I was younger, but now it's pretty fun. And, I've never really been into makeup and hair so any attempt at doing my makeup and hair is shotty at best. The next group of selfies are the result of craziness that I get when I have writer's block or a very serious case of procrastination.

In Character Selfies

The Nerdy BookWorm

The Snotty Circus Performer

 The Inquisitive Clown

The Mermaid

The Crabby Grandma

Maybe I'm a Zombie, Maybe I'm Not...

Oh here's a selfie of me before I started writing this blog this morning...

So I'm definitely not as cool as THIS GUY and I try not to take THESE types of selfies (although I struck out on the car one, but that was only because I was on the way home from an extras gig and forgot to take a pic there I promise). Our CHOKA page is supposed to help inspire and show you how we do things. Here is my guide on How To Take A Good Selfie:

1- Check for boogers. No boogers? Good, you are ready to go.

2- Take a couple of practice shots so you can get an idea of what the lighting is like and where you want your head/face to go. Know your good angles/sides.

3- Try to keep your eyes open.

4- Make sure you don't have a double chin, or triple neck, unless you are purposely trying to be funny.

5- Maybe add a prop or two.. 

6- Or a nice background... The toilet does not count as nice background.

7- Distort your face, yell, or laugh really hard before you actually take the picture. It makes your face muscles relax and take a more natural picture.

8- Add a filter. Unless you are a hipster or a Vogue model and #nofilterneeded applies to you

9- Add a witty caption. Give your photo a name so that people can kind of guess as to the story behind it.

10- Don't post the photo unless it has something to give to your followers. Is it aesthetically pleasing? Is it funny? Does it tell them something about you? What are you wanting to convey to your audience through your selfie?


Now go have fun and take some selfies. And tag me in the selfies you took so I can see if you followed my How To Guide or not...