Take the best tattoo selfies

SELFIES TATTOO are much like tattoos themselves.

Good tattoo selfies are crisp, crisp, and the contrast is sharp. In the hands of the right person, they look awesome.

Bad tattoo selfies, look, well, pretty awful – faded, warped, and questionable in taste.

Except that bad tattooed selfies and bad tattoos have one major difference: bad tattooed selfies are much easier to fix.

To help you take tattoo selfies that look like your actual tattoo, turn to advice from Alice Snape, writer and author of Street Style Tattoo.

Men’s health: what mistakes do people make when trying to take a photo of their tattoo to share on social media?

Alice Snape: Wow, where to start with this one.

The same kind of mistakes my mom makes when she tries to send me a selfie (too close, I can’t see your face, mom) or a photo of the beautiful landscape she is looking at, mostly it’s all blurry , out of focus, which means you can’t really tell what it is.

Or maybe the tattoo is covered in shadows or it’s a bit dark and gloomy, in a bad way that you can’t see anything rather than intentionally doing it as a style. People do this stuff ALL THE TIME. Without just stopping to take a minute to set up their phone or camera in the right position.

Also, of course, we have to recognize that there is a huge difference between taking a photo of a brand new and fresh tattoo and a scarred tattoo. A new tattoo will be bloody and painful and will need to be cleaned and wiped off, while a new tattoo will be installed on your skin, but it may not have received any care and attention recently, so it may look a bit dry.

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What should people consider when trying to take a photo of the tattoo only? What about themselves (face and tattoo)?

It’s all about light.

If you take a photo of your tattoo, that’s what people want to see. Many tattoo artists are now using light rings, which are AMAZING for highlighting the color and lines of a tattoo.

You can try to recreate that kind of light with a desk lamp or something like that. Really, if you are indoors you just want to make sure the room is well lit and you are in the right place.

Think about where the light is coming from and don’t stand in front of it. Use the light coming from the window. Put your phone on a tripod or a stack of books in the window, use the selfie mode so you can see yourself, stand in front with the tattoo you want to highlight in the first position, put it on a timer and you are ‘is good.

Keep trying, take loads and go back and pick the best. Look at them objectively, like it’s not your tattoo, what would you think if someone else posted this photo on Insta? Would you like it? Would you comment?

Also think about what time of day you take the photo, everyone likes the light in the golden hour, so it might make your photo clear but also a wonderful golden color, especially if you are somewhere outside.

And think about the context, do you want to be able to tell what part of the body it is on, move your body to make sure the limb or where it is, is framed in the photo.

I also like to see a preview of what someone is wearing, so you get a real feel for that person’s character as well. Paint a picture, tell the story of your tattoo.

Also background! Want to be in your kitchen with your dirty dishes on show? Or do you prefer to be against a magnificent decorative wall. Maybe your tattoo represents your dog, place your dog over the photo or a printed photo of your dog, which might be easier if he moves around a lot.

What are the most creative tattoo selfies you’ve seen online and what can we learn from them?

Some that come to mind are …

Katie parrott

This photo is beautifully lit and framed. It shows exactly where the tattoo is on her body and I love the way she draped the material framing the tattoo. To show creativity. Maybe you have something that inspired your tattoos to sit next to the tattoo.