It is expected that the average millennial will take 25,700 selfies in their life time. So if we are estimated to take that many photos surely we should have a fool proof guide to hand to make sure we can capture the best version of ourselves time and time again. 

Makeup
Although it is important to champion the bare faced selfie, some individuals prefer to add a touch of makeup to enhance their natural features.  Begin by using a primer to create a smooth silky base, ready for the application of product. A subtle quantity of highlight is perfect to heighten cheek bones and add a gentle shimmer but use too much and you’ll end up impersonating the Tin Man. Using excessive amounts of highlighter draws attention to large pores and uneven skin texture. Try mixing your foundation with a small amount of illuminator to create a fresh dewy look.  Most importantly, avoid foundations that contain an SPF to prevent the dreaded and catastrophic flash back. Instead use light layers of a light formula make up to create natural flawless skin. Contour and sculpt the face with subtle bronzers and colour popping blushers to avoid looking washed out and emphasise the curves and features of your face. To finish, dust a light translucent powder over your look to absorb excess oil, leaving your skin prepped, shine free and photo ready. 

Background
The background to your selfie should be either completely plain and simple or creative, busy and colourful. Try and avoid backgrounds that incorporate both of these styles as the selfie will look overwhelming and disjointed. Especially ensure that before you take the photo you have a quick glance around to ensure the area is tidy. There is nothing worse than a messy bedroom selfie!
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Lighting
Obtaining the perfect lighting is the key to taking any selfie. Natural light is always softer than artificial light, making under eye darkness disappear and skin look smoother. Avoid enhancing under the eye shadows by snapping your pics at either sunrise or sunset, when the light is more subtle. If you are ever unsure of where the best lighting is, spin round on the spot holding the camera to judge where the perfect composition of light is.

Angles
It’s always been all about the angles. Lining up the bottom of your phone with the bottom of your chin is the best place to start. Perhaps incorporate a slight head tilt or a slight tease of a side profile, few people look good in a head on shot. Extend your head away from your neck to extenuate and define your jawline or raise your eyebrows slightly to open up your eyes.

​Expression
The more natural the smile the more flawless the photo. Micro expressions are small but noticeable differences that show when an emotion being expressed is genuine or not. The natural expression of emotion provides a warmer more genuine angle to a selfie. So try and take a selfie when you are doing something you love or are passionate about.
 
Be confident
Research suggests social media platforms can have an increasingly negative impact on self-esteem with 2/3 of women feeling prettier online than in real life. Try and create a positive and healthy relationship with social media, don’t worry about how many likes your picture receives. Don’t let social media be your source of validation. Relax be comfortable, confident and snap savvy. 

Photography is the art of exposing our notions, beliefs, and desires to strangers. And each photo is marked by our personal and intimate interpretation of a particular moment of time. We choose the subject, frame the shot and master the techniques so as to transmit our idea as clearly as possible. 
 
Regardless of what our inspiration is, we all want well-composed pictures of professional-quality.
So should we opt for smartphone cameras or Digital Single Lens Reflex cameras (DSLRs)?
 
Both ways could allow us to achieve remarkable and quick results. Let's go through the pros of using the well-established creators of photography masterpieces - the DSLRs.

​Quality, Versatility, and Battery
 
Although their prices might raise eyebrows sometimes, nothing really surpasses the depth to which they can create pictures of masterful quality. These cameras are fast, responsive, and create images of stunning clarity.
 
Shooting with DSLRs leads to marvellous results, not only when photographing static subjects in good light. These cameras are world-renowned since we could control how bright the images are, whether the background is sharp or blurred, and we also have the power to freeze moving subjects. Fortunately, the colour could also be readily adjusted so that they appear natural. By just learning four fundamental things about taking photos with DSLRs: ISO, aperture, shutter speed and white balance, we could master the art of taking a perfect photo, achieving the rich detail we all long for. 

Convenience, Multitasking, Sharing
 
If we want to dominate the dynamic digital landscape, the smartphone will fulfill these desires remarkably quickly. They're lightweight. They're simple. They also allow us to upload pictures wherever we want at the touch of a screen. 
 Sharing via our functional DSLRs, in general, requires a computer and cables or card readers. Not that convenient.
Smartphone cameras, though, allow us to share quickly. They also give us the option to multitask while uploading, we could be also checking our email or sending a message. One device, billions of options.
 
Many smartphones also offer free apps to tweak exposure or add filters. Easy to achieve the great edit we need!

Smartphones are portable - the best for unexpected holiday destinations. Let's not forget that some of them are also water resistant. How convenient! We could slip into selfie mode underwater.
Most importantly, we also could send all the photos into cloud storage and preserve them. In the long term, that proves to be very important in the event of a catastrophic breakage.
 
Even though smartphone cameras offer less autonomy and do not allow us to get the richest possible detail, they're the best gadget we have at short notice. 
 
So the debate is ongoing. What's true is that the smartphones have revolutionised photography.
DSLRs are reacting to this - they're becoming easier to use and more compact.
 
It's up to you to decide if you would opt for the convenience the smartphone offers, or the outstanding clarity which the DSLR's picture provides. 

Let us know what your prefer @PhotoWeekUK