Photography Tips to Improve Your Beard Selfies

GUEST CORRESPONDENT: OSCAR COLLINS

If you’ve grown some impressive facial hair, it’s only natural that you’d want to show it off. You don’t want to post just another ordinary selfie, though. You need a picture that’ll do your beard justice.

Here are seven photography tips to help you step up your beard selfie game.

1. Find a Good Light Source

The first step to a better beard selfie is the same as any kind of photography: lighting. Without enough light, your selfie could end up looking flat and low-quality. Too much light could create harsh shadows or make you look washed out.

Professional studio lights can be expensive, and thankfully, they’re not necessary. The sun is one of the best light sources for photos since it’s rich, warm, abundant and free. If your indoor lights aren’t cutting it, step outside and use the sun to light up your beard.

2. Use Shadows to Your Advantage

Normally, you want to avoid harsh shadows. However, if you’re taking a close-up of your beard, some bold ones can go a long way. They can emphasize the texture of your facial hair and make your selfie look more dramatic.

Use strong light coming from one direction to create shadows. You can play around with where the light comes from to get the look you want. While you want to show your beard’s depth and thickness, you don’t want to hide your facial features, so avoid too harsh an angle.

3. Dress up Your Beard

You should also pay attention to your subject itself. Before taking any pictures, make sure your beard is neat and clean. Brush or comb it, trim it if necessary and consider using some oil to improve its texture and catch the light. 

If you want to go the extra mile, you can try dressing up your beard with some glitter or other decorations. A little glitter can accentuate your bone structure or highlight your beard’s thickness. It will also help make your selfie stand out.

4. Set the Scene

Another way to set your beard selfie apart from the rest is to pay attention to your surroundings. While your background isn’t the focus of your picture, an intriguing setting can make it pop. Classic cars are a great compliment for a beard selfie, so if you have access to an iconic classic car, capitalize on it.

Just remember that your background shouldn’t be too flashy. You want your beard to be the main event, after all.

5. Raise Your Phone

After you’ve got your lighting and backdrop and have prepared your beard, it’s time to take a few pictures. One handy trick is to hold your phone or camera up a little and aim down. This simple adjustment can make a big difference.

Aiming down can accentuate your jawline and other facial features and give your picture some depth. Don’t raise your phone too high, though. Keep it just above eye level for maximum effect.

6. Try a Few Different Expressions

As you take pictures, switch up your facial expressions. Smiling is always a good move, as it will emphasize the parts of your beard around your mouth and brings some fun into the picture. You don’t have to smile in every selfie, though.

Different expressions will bring out various aspects of your beard. Play around with a few and see which works best for you, your lighting and the background.

7. Don’t Settle for Just One Picture

Along those lines, never take just one selfie. It may take a few to find the best angle for your particular surroundings and lighting conditions. You may also like one picture in the moment but later decide that another angle, expression or framing looks better.

Take several pictures, making sure to switch up various factors. Change your phone’s angle, your lighting, how close you are to the lens and so on. Take a few of each to give yourself some options later.

8. Take Your Beard Selfie Game to the Next Level

Your facial hair is something to be proud of, so why not put some effort into showing it off? A well-shot selfie will bring out the best in your beard.

If you follow these seven steps, you can make your beard selfies stand out from the crowd.

Oscar Collins is the founder and editor-in-chief of Modded, where he writes about grooming, fitness and similar topics. Follow him on Twitter @TModded for frequent updates of his work.