The Selfie: Why You’re Doing It Wrong

2013 may certainly have been the year of the selfie, unfortunately everyone has been doing it wrong.

On any new smartphone there are two cameras, one on the front of the phone and one on the back. The one on the front is generally a VGA or 1.3 megapixel camera, which was fine for taking pictures in 2004, but ten years later you can do SO much better.

Some Basics:

The camera on the front was never necessarily designed for taking those beautiful pictures a user may want to do. It is rudimentary, and sometimes even lacks when Skyping or using FaceTime. Its size is even worth noticing how small the camera is:

In the evolution of a selfie it is clear why the front camera receives so much love: you can see yourself before you take the picture. The cost of the ability to see yourself is a difference of resolution in the millions of pixels.

Back in the day of flip phone mania, some manufacturers installed self portrait mirrors:

(The shiny thing is a mirror, because in 2005 front facing cameras weren’t installed in the States)

So, you may be asking “what’s the point?” If you want to take a selfie, use the back camera. Let’s say you’re using an iPhone 5S. The back camera is superb with full HDR functionality. Your image will look better and likely have less noise, which are those grainy bits of pixels that did not receive or interpret incoming light properly.

Here at ParadigmNext we’re committed to enabling the world to take better selfies with some demos. Some of the employees over here were test subjects, using the front and back cameras off of a Nokia Lumia 1020. You’ll immediately notice a difference as the front camera is 1.3 megapixels, and his back camera is a whopping 41!

(Front Camera)

(Back Camera, which is way better)

Other Basics

Our society is addicted to capturing real life in their own moment and posting it for the whole world to see. There is an issue with the haste and natural impulse to pull out your phone and record: horizontal vs. vertical.

First off, it is understandable why someone would think filming vertically is okay: most phones and many tablet devices are positioned vertically as their default. This is no excuse in this fine writer’s opinion. If your intention is to film something to remember it, or share it with the world, you’ve got to film horizontally.

This is not a secret. Mashable wrote about this issue, in addition there are countless satirical PSA’s on YouTube urging people to take notice of their Vertical Video Syndrome:

Can’t watch a video right now? That’s okay, I got you covered. Consider the following images:

In this first image we have a screenshot of a video. More than 66% of this video is dedicated to wasted space and thus, wasted information conveyance. Televisions, movie screens, and your own eyes are positioned horizontally. Get it together.

Here we have a screenshot of a video that’s inline with a satisfactory elements. We now know there are two individuals dancing in the snow who are on a walk with several other people. we have 66% more information and thus, have more utility.

This may seem odd to discuss in a piece on selfies, but I assure you they’re connected. The reason people have been filming vertically is due to an unconscious conditioning of vertical selfies. It is only natural to tape in position in which you’ve conditioned yourself to be in. Don’t fall for it.

By: ParadigmNext https://paradigmnext.com.com

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+ParadigmNextChicago

ParadigmNEXT, Inc. is a digital agency headquartered in Chicagoland. We provide branding, identity, integrated marketing, social media strategy, art direction, web-design & development, startup incubation, commercial video production, product development, and commercial storefront development services to a wide array of clients ranging from bootstrapped startups to successful longstanding companies.