The pictures were taken with the same smartphone and the same magnification, but the length of the face and legs are different.
The standard approach among young people when taking a full-body photo with a smartphone’s external camera seems to be to use a grid to place the face in the center of the screen, with the toes barely underlined.
It takes advantage of the properties of a smartphone camera, and the main reason for this is that it allows you to take photos of long legs and style without any processing. Smartphone cameras are originally designed to have a wide angle, which extends the area around the screen, making the legs appear longer than they really are. Since the photos were taken with a standard camera, they do not look like they have been edited, and they seem to be popular among young people because they look stylish.
We asked photographer and writer Osamu Takeishi to explain the features of smartphone cameras and tips for taking photos using the above methods.
The screen when the picture above was taken. The picture on the left was taken with the face at the top of the screen, and the picture on the right was taken with the face in the middle of the screen Born in 1981. Since 2006, he has been working as an editor for the news website Impress ” Digital Camera Watch”, covering the camera and photography industry and writing equipment reviews. Free since 2018.
Smartphone cameras extend beyond the screen
The “grid” feature on your smartphone camera is useful when taking photos that make your legs look longer. The setup method varies depending on the device, but on many devices, the standard camera settings screen has a feature called a “grid” or “shooting guide.” When you turn this feature on, a grid will appear on the display camera preview screen.
When taking a full body photo, make sure your face is in the center of the grid and your feet are at the bottom of the screen. The top of the grid is intentionally left open so that the background can be inserted. The way the whole body looks will obviously change when you use this method and when you don’t.
Standard camera settings screen from Galaxy S22 Ultra. When you turn “Shooting guide on”, a grid will be displayed. On an iPhone, it’s called “Grid” and it’s in the settings screen.
We once again asked Mr. Takeishi explained why such a difference occurs.
“Camera lenses have the property that the wider the angle, the more the outside of the screen is stretched out. Smartphone cameras also often have wide-angle lenses as standard, so if you frame your legs towards the outside of the screen, the outside of the screen will be stretched out.
On the other hand, the center of the screen is not stretched, so by placing your face in the center, you can make your face appear smaller compared to your body. As a result, it can be said that the style comes out well.
This property of “with a wide-angle lens, the wider the image is stretched towards the periphery” is called “perspective”, and this effect becomes more obvious the closer you are to the object. You can make the legs look longer by getting closer to the person.”(Takeishi)
Takeishi explains that if you try to take a full-body shot so that the face is at the top of the screen, “Even in that case, due to the nature of the wide-angle lens, the face will be stretched vertically and the image will be looks more distorted than it really is.”When taking pictures with a wide-angle lens like a smartphone, it looks more natural if you place your face near the center of the screen rather than around it.
When you actually take a picture, you can see that even if the magnification is the same, changing the position of the face makes a big difference. There is a difference in the size of the face and the length of the legs, and you can clearly see the difference when you look at them as a whole.
Before. After shooting so that the face is at the top of the screen. Before → After shoot so that the face is in the center of the screen. AFTER cutting the top part of the shooting time
How can I take pictures just like the real thing?
The above method is a trick to take photos with a standard camera to make the legs look longer, but this is just taking advantage of the wide angle nature of smartphone cameras. The outside of the screen is stretched, so the legs appear longer than they are in real life.
So what should you do if you want to take a full body photo just like the real thing?
“If you use an external camera on your smartphone, you can take photos just like the real thing by moving away from the subject and using the conditional zoom function, so zooming in as far as you can when shooting results in less perspective and a more natural shot It depends on the model and the situation, but I think it’s easier to shoot at 2x to 5x.
Another option is to use a telephoto lens (telephoto camera) and shoot from a distance from the subject. Telephoto lenses have less perspective, so even if you take a picture of a person across the screen, there will be less distortion of the head and legs. So, it can be said that you can take photos with images that are close to the real thing. When taking a picture, instead of taking the picture from above or below, you can make the picture look more natural by pointing the smartphone directly at the person from about the person’s belly button height (around the person’s waist ). This is a method often used for fashion snapshots.
Shoot at a distance from the subject with 5x zoom. The size will be close to the real thing. this is the reality
I think the degree to which you seek “accuracy” when taking pictures varies depending on the situation, but if you take pictures as a hobby, I think there are a lot of people who want to look even a little more stylish. If it is clearly different from the real thing, it will look unnatural, but this seems to be acceptable.
Also, by knowing this method, you can avoid situations where your face appears bigger and your legs look shorter than they really are. If you’ve ever had someone take a picture of you and been shocked that your face is bigger than what you see in the mirror, you should be shocked because this could be due to the nature of smartphone cameras that will disappear.
This time, I took the picture standing on a stick for verification purposes, but when taking pictures with nice scenery, I think if you are specific about your pose, you will be able to take pictures that look great . There will be lots of photo opportunities during Golden Week, so if you’re planning to travel or go out, take a look.
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