Stay alive -- and other tips to click great selfies

Taking a selfie is peak narcissism, but hey, who are we to judge? If preening in front of your smartphone and clicking yourself makes you happy, go ahead, knock yourself out.

If you hold your phone a little above eye level, by the way, it will make your eyes look bigger and make your nose slightly less prominent. (Pixabay)

Taking a selfie is peak narcissism, but hey, who are we to judge? If preening in front of your smartphone and clicking yourself makes you happy, go ahead, knock yourself out.

Just make sure you keep these pointers in mind before you click the next one. You'll do your social networks a big favour if you do.

1) It's all about the lighting

The best pictures are the ones taken outdoors in natural light -- and it's no different for selfies. If you're outdoors, make sure you're facing the sun directly to avoid ending up witha selfie-silhouette. If you're indoors, try and take a selfie near a window. Pro tip: using a thin curtain to diffuse direct sunlight will make your features look more flattering.

2) Avoid the cliches

Duck-face selfies -- the puckered lips and wide eyes made famous by Kim Kardashian, Snooki and others -- are so 2012. So are the muscle man selfie, the sleeping selfie, and the caught-off-guard selfie.

Be original.

3) Angles are important

Clicking a selfie head-on makes you look, well, less than flattering. Instead, turn your head a few degrees left or right to bring your features into focus and make them look less 'flat'.

If you hold your phone a little above eye level, by the way, it will make your eyes look bigger and make your nose slightly less prominent.

4) Get some digital touchup

You don't have to upload a raw selfie to Facebook. Instead, make yourself look even better by running it through dozens of picture-enhacement apps out there. Our favourite one is Camera+, which lets you automatically sharpen and image and adds some much-needed 'pop' to any photo. If you don't want to download yet another app, just use your favourite Instagram filter to liven things up.

5) Use the rear camera

It's natural to take a selfie with your phone's front camera. Indeed, most manufacturers now call the front camera the 'selfie cam'. However, that front shooter is usually your phone's worst camera, taking dull, grainy, low-resolution pictures.

For the best results, flip your phone around and take a selfie using the rear camera. You might have to try it more than once -- after all, you can't really see the picture you're taking if your screen's facing the other way -- but you'll get it eventually.

6) Don't die. Seriously. It's not worth it.