Stars know a thing or two about looking gorgeous in front of the camera. After all, it’s their job. So it’s no surprise that they have mastered the photo taking techniques that will result in a picture perfect image. And POPSEOUL! has uncovered the secrets to make you look fabulous in pictures too! Cauz it’s ALL about technique.
Sel-ca 101
Sel-ca is a newly created word by Korean netizens which stands for self-camera and it refers to taking picture of yourself with either your digital camera or camera phones. Although the word sel-ca has English roots, it’s part of everyday vocabulary and activity in Korea as you can see even celebs are snapping away.
Rule # 1: Check yourself out.
Make sure that there is nothing stuck in your teeth, that your hair is in order and that the lighting is okay. Common ways to check yourself out are taking out the princess mirror in your purse, using the reflector on your digital camera or taking a practice shot. Remember that the more lighting, the better but if you can’t get the right amount of spot light directed to you, try using the black and white option or any other color option in your camera.
Rule # 2: Never look directly into the camera!
The worst thing you can do for yourself is to look directly into your camera for it’ll make your face look huge! For a more slimmer look, follow these three simple tricks.
(1) Look up at your camera
By elevating your camera 20 cm, you are forced to look up, which makes your face look a lot slimmer and your eyes bigger. The key to this trick is making sure that your chin is down while your eyes are looking up to the camera. And make sure that you keep your eyes wide open- like you are surprised. From personal experience, it takes time to master this, but once you have it down, you are good to go!
(2) Look down at your camera
Instead of elevating your camera 20cm, lower your camera 20cm and look straight down at it while keeping your eyes wide open. Because you are looking down, you are forced to lower your chin. This creates the necessary angle to keep the face looking slim. Although this sounds easy, the results are not as flattering as looking up at your camera.
(3) Tilt your head
The hardest yet most natural looking pose is to tilt your head, looking like you are not conscious of the camera - although you are sel-caing. Because you are looking away from your camera, it’s most likely that you are not going to get the shot you want, so don’t get discouraged if you only get parts of your face or none at all! It’s all part of the sel-ca learning process. Once you become acquainted with your digital camera and you are used to sticking your arm out, you’ll have that perfect sel-ca shot in no time.
Rule # 3: Express yourself!
Showing off your perfect teeth is so yesterday. In today’s digital era, it’s all about expressing yourself, so take advantage of the fact that there is no film to waste and show off your wacky side to the world.
(1) Put on a funny expression
There’s no better way to show off your wild side than to take some wacky shots of yourself. Being able to take such shots, shows that you are confident enough to make fun of yourself and no, you won’t be considered a freak because the pictures are for your own viewing pleasure! So snap away!
(2) Accessorize
If you get bored with just putting on funny expressions, then try accessorizing to make sel-caing more entertaining. Common props used by everyday sel-caers are scarves, towels, hats, and wigs - we dare you to try something new.
Rule # 4: Practice, practice & practice.
To master the sel-ca technique, practicing on a regular basis is a must! The best way to practice is to take your digital camera with your everywhere you go and start snapping away whenever you have extra 30 secs to spare. You can sel-ca…..
(1) while waiting for a site to upload
While you are waiting for your favorite blog, POPSEOUL! to load, take some shots right by your computer. It’ll take you less than 30 seconds to turn on your camera, elevate or lower your camera - lower your chin and snap!
(2) while shopping
While waiting for the shop girls to bring the clothes in your size, take some shots of yourself by the mirror in your fitting room. Unlike the face close-ups, you can take a full body shot with the help of the mirror but the downsize is that your camera is included in the picture. But hey, as long as you can show off your slammin body, does it really matter?
(3) while driving
Next time you are stuck in traffic, whip our your digital camera and practice your sel-ca skills. But please make sure that you are stuck in dead-lock traffic when you do this. It’ll be so sad to read that the cause of the car accident was “sel-caing.”
(4) getting ready to sleep
If you just don’t want to get out of bed or can’t fall asleep, practice in your bed. This post is rated PG, so nothing naughty of course! However, let me warn you that it’s a lot harder to get your sel-ca angle in bed, but it’s worth a shot.
Stay tuned for…
How to sel-ca outdoors
I can’t stop laughing … this is a great post! … particularly because I bought a camera with a flip screen soley for the purpose of taking pictures of myself.
waaa i love this post.. ^;^
i am a sel-ca person too.. haha.. *;*
Now I learn a new word, sel-ca ;p
Eunhye is real cute there! She’s pretty even tho w/o makeup!~
really funny. i love the pictures of the stars here (esp. Lee Jun-Ki). make them lok more human to me. with all the self-love goin’ on. ^^
Agree, great post…
Are you planning to be a writer of magazines or something in the future?
Anyway, looking forward to Part II…
Ga-In is my type of girl
Haha, it’s harder for me to sel-ca because I have a sliding phone but I’ll continue working on it using these wonderful tips. Thank you celebs! You should add some Kim Jung Hoon in there for this post, I think he loves to sel-ca. You can find some of his pics on the oishii site. I agree that Eun Hye is a natural beauty (asuming she hasn’t had any surgery done)
Haha, it’s harder for me to sel-ca because I have a sliding phone but I’ll continue working on it using these wonderful tips. Thank you celebs! You should add some Kim Jung Hoon in there for this post, I think he loves to sel-ca. You can find some of his pics on the oishii site. I agree that Eun Hye is a natural beauty (asuming she hasn’t had any surgery done)
Hahaa~ I like it when they sel-ca! ^^ LOL. i think YoonEUnHye is the camwhore of all.. heehee. and KimJungHoon for the guys
I didn’t see KJH. I only see Lee Jun-ki and Jang Dong-Gun. Anyway, Yoon Eun-Hye is sooo adorable.
ROFL
AWESOME POST.
this is so true
all koreans are such camwhores
including me ^_^
don’t worry, i’m a master at sel-ca-ing
yah, I am a “cam-whore” too and have tried all the sel-ca tips already! But I did learn something new- the down-angle one…. should try that out. But the up-angle takes great pics.. the higher up the better.
HAHAH, seriously. koreans have like (not so) secret sel-ca formulas… i remember a fob friend of mine was trying to teach us twinkies how to do it right… 45degrees, then 90degrees? and go under a really bright light, open your eyes wide… HAHAHA. anyway, i see so many jung ryeowon, yoon eunhye, and ivy sel-ca’s all the time
yah- EVERYONE takes pics of themselves…it’s a fascination about how we look to the world… because it’s not like we carry around a mirror everywhere we go to see what we look like…
KJH has some adorable sel-ca shots
hane - thanks for the compliment
i have a full time job right now, so writing for magazines is not in the immediate future but it would be awesome
thanks all for your lovely comments
and i’ll try to include kim jung hoon sel-ca pics for part ii
yay! thanks!
Amazing. :’)
Another interesting addition would have been Jaejoong; he’s a pro at this, right? XD
Would love to see kim jung hoon’s sel-ca pics!
Yup I agree cosmicolor! Maybe you should do a post of males sel-caing ;p That would be interesting to see how males are being vain as well!
AMP!!! I miss doing this!!! PUTA!!! I miss my hair too
lol i’m always taking pictures of myself, and without realizing it, i’m already using all of the tips mentioned above!! I love the pictures of the korean folks up there!
male sel-ca post - good idea! we’ll work on it, but it’s going to take some time for us to compile it, so please be patient with us
in the meantime, let us know of any other celebs you want to be included in our male sel-ca post
Pft! I already had all those techniques mastered. HoHoHo~ XD
haha I tried your tips and it worked! I somehow look more human in my pics now thanks! XD
This is really cool! I can say that most people now are self “sel-ca” gurus…Mostly take pictures anywhere including yours truly…I can’t wait for the next blog…
nice post!!! i was trying out all the tricks with my friend.. and it was really hard to do!! especially the “look goofy” look… i mean it’s hard to look pretty if you’re trying to make a wacky fave!
well… thanks fOr the infO… very pleased…
Hahaha .. this is the most funny part .. but guess what.. the tricks are work .. ^^*
well..
almost all people are sel-ca!!
so nice,,that also korean stars
are sel-ca…
even me
i love taking pics of myself..
well,,
i liked the tricks..tnx!!
HAHAHA*(:
thank you POPSEOL! :]
This post was really great. Gosh, I’m turning from camera-shy to camera-whore;;excuse my language
thank you, such an incredible post
WHOOPS. typo… *POPSEOUL
they are all so cute!!the pictures show what and who they really are when they’re off-cam..hahaha!!!it was fun looking at those pictures!!!they’re such vains!!like me..yah,it takes just practice to master sel-ca!!!haha!!!you must know what angles and expressions you good at…presto!you are a pictute-perfect model!!!:)i hope youcan post sel-ca pictures of song-ji hyo and jun ji hyun..thanks!!!
hahahah nice techniques. I’ll will try this promise!
lol sel ca
gotta love it ^__^ all azns love sel ca~ hehe~ ^__^” hmm..thinking about it..seems like it started as an azn thing O__o
love how the stars are looking let’s us know they are “human” like us and do silly things too~
HAHAha! i’m a very good sel-caer….now maybe with these tips i’ll improve..and i’m getting a new digital cam soon! ^^
this is a really cool post! ^^
looking forward to part II
this is a very usefull post. Thank you!
this is funny part!haaaaahhahhahhahi can’t stop laughing!!!!!!hahhahhahah.but it’s a nice tricks
HAHAHHAA WHAT A FUNNY POST!
I LOVE IT HAHAHA !!!
ive done some of those
techniques i aint gonna lie hahaha
yoon eun-hye is sooo cute!even without wearing make up on!so as song hye-gyo!=p lovet!!!=]] i’m also vain,love taking pictures every time i have a chance!
nice tips!… i also lyk sel ca-ing….^_^
hahahah very funny! and great tips.
i never look good in self taken shots with friends. always have to get the other girl to hold the camera. lol
hey!
i really luv dis post..
urm..i wanna ask sumtin to popseoul..
can i just copy and paste dis post to my blog??
plz..i really want to do dat..
haha! excellent! EXCELLENT! funny and informative at the same time! hahahaha
lol true it’s good for me a person with very horrible self-cam skills
Don’t pratic while you are driving!!
oh god! this is freakin hilarious! lol! who wrote this? cause i cant stop laughing!! haha! this is really cool..you made the instructions for sel-caing very clear..kudos!!
this is really funny!=) =p ^^,v
lmfao!!! wow, thanks for the tips!!! har dee har har…i actually analyzed and tried these tips alot of times before. and they do work. i RECOMMEND this to anyone who wants to take sel-ca pixers of themselves!! =]
hahahha… thx for ur info!
great post!!! tnx for the info!!!!…….
LOL thanks for the info!
aww this was a really good post!; i learned a new phrase now
haha
thanks. it was really fun to read
kyaaaa… so funny….
YEH is so damn cute with her selfcam
by the way, does anybody know the digicam merk that they use “while Shopping” ?
lol…this is good
btw… for Sel-Ca shots in bed
jus make sure you dont drop the camera on ur face
coz that’s gonna hurt a lot =P
oh my, thanks for great tips.
now, I can practice everyday and I can take picture whenever my friends asked me to show my face ^^
sorry for my lame english :’D