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How to Update Your Profile Photo in Under 5 Minutes for Less than $15
You will need:
A smartphone with a camera
Daylight
A tripod, gooseneck phone stand, or stack of books
Optional:
Lightroom Mobile App
AG Lightroom Mobile Presets (use code IGSTUDENT to save 50%!)
Snapseed Mobile App
STEPS:
Find a spot in your home or workspace that’s near to a window and has good natural, even light. You may need to turn off artificial lights in the room to look your best and achieve balanced color.
Open your phone’s settings, find your Camera app, and open the video settings. You want to have “1080p x 60fps” toggled ON.
Look over the spot where you want to take your photos, and eliminate any distractions from the background. This might include waste bins, cords, Kleenex boxes, stacks of mail, or hanging print art that has text on it.
Set up your camera to face the spot where you’ll be sitting. You can orient your phone to be vertical or horizontal, depending on how you want the final images to look. I used a gooseneck phone stand to take the video above, but you can prop your phone up with stacked books if you don’t have a stand.
Open your Camera app and select the video option. You can do front-facing camera if it makes it easier, but you’re likely to get better images if the back of the phone is facing you. This could take a couple tries to get lined up, so if you’re short on time, just go for the front-facing camera.
Start recording yourself holding different poses for a few seconds each. I’ve sped up the video above, but I held each pose for 3+ seconds.
When you’re done, review the video and screenshot any and all poses you liked.
Open the Lightroom Mobile app, and crop the screenshots to the dimensions you want.
Apply custom editing, or fast-track the process using AG Lightroom Mobile Presets. The images in the video above were edited using the AG Winter Wonderland preset!
Blemishes or other distractions? Use the healing tool inside the Snapseed Mobile app to tap the flaws away!
This isn’t a permanent substitute for professional headshots, but for Instagram profile images and mixing up the images on your site during lockdown, this is such an easy option!