I wrote a huge article for posting today on pin posting sites but it ended up being three pages in MS Word. So until I figure out how to break it into two articles, I will try to humor you by offering more advice on how to take a better BBM profile picture, or any profile picture really. I pick on BBM users because the ridiculous pictures are just so prevalent and I spend a fair amount of time on BlackBerry related sites. I could have a field day writing about profile pictures posted at Twitter and Facebook. I covered the bad bathroom shots here…
The Perfect BBM Profile Pic
So if you’re still taking pictures of yourself with your BlackBerry, Android or iPhone in the bathroom… stop it! It’s far better to take self portraits with your back against a wall or outside even. I’ve seen some great profile shots taken where the contact is simply sitting outside in the grass or at a bistro.
If you do take a picture of yourself in the bedroom, just remember to look behind you first. We don’t need to see any more busted-up or dog-chewed mini blinds in the background. For that matter, no more Power Puff Girls or any other sheet used as drapery either.
Did you even make your bed?
Some people just heave the comforter up over everything. This is their version of making the bed. It doesn’t make it look like you really made the bed you know. It just looks like you’re trying to cover embarrassing or grungy sheets. You’re not fooling anybody. So if you’re trying to find fellow BBM-ers of the opposite sex that live nearby, I highly suggest the room behind your profile shot be as inviting as possible.
I had a BBM contact who took his profile picture in a bedroom with a bed just as I described. The room was hideous (he never looked at the scenery behind him of course). I suggested he take another profile picture and smile because I didn’t want to offend him by suggesting he had poor housekeeping skills (it helped that he was frowning anyway). When he soon changed his profile picture, it showed him in a nice shirt standing in front of a mirror of a nice bathroom. The bathroom was obviously in an office building or restaurant because it showed the big bank of sinks in front of him. I guess he was learning in little steps. Needless to say, it was an improvement to his original picture.
I completely understand people wanting to stand in front of a mirror to take their picture. It’s often tough to get your whole face in the viewfinder when you have nothing to look at but the back of your phone, unless of course you have one of the few that have a front-facing camera.
If you must use a mirror, invest six to eight bucks in a tall door mirror from Walmart. Stand the mirror in the best spot of your house and take your picture there. Stop taking pictures in the bathroom! I’ve been in some breathtaking bathrooms, but I wouldn’t want to take my profile picture there.
Take it from the teen generation on Facebook. They take hundreds of pictures of themselves to post on Facebook. Many of them simply point their phone or camera at their heads and shoot away. Through trial and error, you will capture a decent profile shot. I can almost promise you. You can always delete the other 130 that come out horrible. But I can’t stress enough, look at the scenery behind you - whether before or after the picture is taken. This is important whether you’re in your own home or out in public.
So, by now, I think I've over-killed the issue of taking profile pictures at home. If you should take your picture out in public, you have other things to worry about. How about photobombers? For those that don’t know, these are the people behind you that will purposely ruin your photo. How about the random dog in the background who’s lifting his leg on the tree behind you? Just be sure to check out more than yourself before you post your profile picture.
BBM pin sites will be a better place because of you and your contacts will appreciate the effort. Well, most of them anyway.
Originally published 04/12/2011 at www.driphter.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment