The Telltail Sign

You know you’ve seen them – selfies of older individuals or couples who have their heads tilted back with a perfect view up their nostrils. It’s a telltale sign that the photographer is wearing multifocal glasses and needs to look through the lower reading portion of their lens in order to actually see if he/she is in the frame.

After seeing a few too many of these sad little selfies on my social media feed, I’ve put together five selfie taking tips for us older folks to follow. Hopefully, these tips will clear up any questions you may have and set you in the direction of taking millennial and Gen Z quality selfies.

 

Five Selfie Taking Tips for Older Folks

1.  Always have the youngest person in the group (or the person with the longest arms) take the picture. Phone quality has improved to an all-time wrinkle capturing level.

2.  Hold your phone slightly above eye level or even higher and never look down toward a phone being held lower than your face. Gravity is not our friend!

3.  Try not to look confused like you’re trying to figure out how this whole selfie thing works!

4.  Practice cocking your head slightly to stretch out that double chin that sneaked up sometime after your most recent over-the-hill birthday.

5.  If you wear glasses with multifocal lenses, look at your camera, select where you want to be in the frame, and then look through the distance part of your glasses that you normally use, not the lower reading portion that forces you to tilt your head back. No one wants an endoscopic view of your nasal and sinus passages!

 

And there you have it, five simple tips to help you pull off those selfies that won’t make your grandkids say, “Oh grandpa/grandma, stop embarrassing yourself!”

 

Questions:
  • • Selfies? Love them or hate them?
  • • Are you guilty of any of the above selfie transgressions?
  • • What selfie taking tips for older folks would you add?

 

Note: Additional posts discussing photo taking tips, can be found here.