Selfie Self-portraiture has never been so popular an act since the days of Picasso. Smart phones’ high-quality built-in cameras are making “selfies” a good form of self-expression among young people. Tina Craig takes and posts a lot of smart phone self-portraits. She is a well-known blogger who has taken hundreds of photos of herself from different angles. She often depends on some magazines to study the poses. For most people, the most useful self-portrait is the headshot, which can be used as a personal picture for social-media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Ms. Craig says lighting is important: She stands in front of a window to capture the natural light when possible or finds a soft but effective artificial source. She angles the camera to capture her face slightly from the left, which she believes is her good side, and lets her face and hair fill the screen. Smile at the camera, she says, even if you feel silly. Frequently, Ms. Craig takes a full-length photo of herself to show how she looks in a new dress. Then she posts it on Twitter or Sina Weibo, a popular site in China. “This is a way to show my personal style, and then readers will get to know me,” she says. To appear slender, Ms. Craig suggests, all you need to do is cock your hip — on the side where you’re holding the camera — and let the other shoulder go forward. The legs should be crossed at the ankle. And no matter what you plan to wear when you leave the house, wear heels. “This creates the look of a long line,” she says, adding, “I have read a lot of interviews with supermodels of the 1980s and 1990s.” Ms. Craig has a rule for taking photos of her shoes. She aims the camera straight down, with the edge of the frame reaching the area between her hips and her knees. “It makes you look like you have mile-long legs,” she says. After the photo is taken, it can be adjusted for a better effect before it is posted. Instagram allows users to modify the photos and make them appear more beautiful. Knowing how to take a good smart phone self-portrait has been an important professional skill for young people, like Ms. Craig. It’s part of their leisure life and a way to show their unique personality. Lack of the skill may mean a lot!