The Sony selfie experiment

Let me just start by saying I’m no expert but I do LOVE taking a selfie – selfies on my own, with my husband, with my friends, with my dogs and yet, for the life of me, I can’t explain the selfie addiction. Maybe a well-placed selfie is proof that I’m living it up or verification that I’ve been somewhere, maybe I am just a poser, I might be feeling lekker that day or maybe I think I’m just blessing everyone with my presence for a moment (that was a joke!)

Sony however, stopped me in my selfie tracks and encouraged my self-involved behaviour. Sony challenged, yes challenged me to a day of selfies! Pfffff, I thought – I had this licked!

The truth however, a day of posing for hundreds of self taken photos was no easy feat but impossible it was not and after we shook hands I knew I had a fun day ahead of me.

The mission, should you choose to accept it

I would be allocated a Sony Xperia XA2 and would have to take as many selfies in 24 hours as possible. Easy right? Nope, the catch was to get to as many beautiful and iconic destinations in Johannesburg, my home, to take the pics.

Thank goodness nothing self-destructed after the meeting with Sony though.

So, I cheated and organised a chariot and a driver… the Harley and “the Stig” would suffice. I mean, “the Stig”, of course I was in good hands!

The selfie stops included Linden, Melville Koppies, Vilakazi Street and Nelson Mandela’s house in Soweto, Orlando Towers, then we popped down to Maboneng to shoot some graffiti, Munroe Drive lookout point, Houghton, Saxonwold and finally Parkhurst.

Selfie tips and tricks

Sony’s also kindly compiled a list of thing to keep in mind when taking a selfie and also making it the perfect selfie.

Step 1 – Know your angle

Selfies are first of all about creating a photo of yourself that you love. The key to any selfie lover’s success is learning which angle works for you. Forget about anyone else and try taking photos from a range of different angles until you find one that accentuates your features in the way that you really like.

Step 2 – Find the best lighting (or let the phone do the work)

Natural light sources and a softly lit back wall are all renowned for providing the best selfie lighting.

Step 3 – Take your time

Selfie “experts” admit that taking the perfect selfie requires patience. Not many people can get the perfect selfie in one shot, so taking a few in order to find the right one is common practice.

Step 4 – Frame the shot

Framing is always important in photography and selfies are no different. Make sure you prep your picture. If you’re taking a shot, make sure you prepare the area around you. A quick tidy of your room can stop anything from detracting eyes away from you.

Step 5 – Adjust your settings

Your Xperia will always aim to get true to life imagery when you press the camera button, but with the manual settings, you can optimise the camera so your photos come out looking just as you want them.

Step 6 – Strike a pose

Pouting, smiling and a playful tongue poke are all great ways to achieve a selfie to be proud of. One thing you don’t want is a frown or a confused look as you try to press the camera button.

If you struggle with the two-things-at-once dilemma, then make use of the ‘smile shutter’ in the settings menu. It tracks your face and automatically takes a picture when you smile to the camera. You can even customise the ‘smile shutter’ to shoot based on the size of your smile, covering you from a little smirk to a toothy grin!

Step 7 – Find a friend

While selfies are really about you, nothing makes taking a selfie as meaningful as capturingthe moment with friends and creating a timeless memory. Thanks to the wide-angle lens, you can fit all your friends into the frame without compromising quality.

Step 8 – Post online

The last move is to share your selfies with others on social media. You can do this straight from the camera app.

Let Sony know how you got on and share your selfies on Twitter @SonyXperiaZA.

You see, the Sony XA2, exclusively available from Cell C, (see link for details or read below) has a 23MP rear camera for sharp, bright selfies but the point I was trying to make is with the 8MP wide selfies. Basically you can fit more into the frame, thanks to the super wide-angle 120° selfie camera.

More great features include 4K video and smooth and steady recording, 120 frames per second super-slow motion so you can take blur-free videos even while in motion with SteadyShot.

What a great day spent with the Sony XA2, let me know what you think of the pics and give me some selfie hacks that you find useful!

Sony Xperia XA2 Black 32gb Dual Sim Lte-A

• Smartdata 5GB – R449 per month for 24 months 5GB Anytime Data.

5GB Anytime data + 10GB Nite data + Unlimited* Wi-Fi Calling minutes + Link up to 14 SIMs

• Smartdata 10GB – R549 per month for 24 months 10GB Data

10GB Anytime data + 20GB Nite data + Unlimited* Wi-Fi Calling minutes + Link up to 14 SIMs

• Smartdata 20GB – R749 per month for 24 months 20GB Anytime Data

20GB Anytime data + 40GB Nite data + Unlimited* Wi-Fi Calling minutes + Link up to 14 SIM

• Smartdata 50GB – R1159 per month for 24 months 50GB Anytime Data

50GB Anytime data + 100GB Nite data + Unlimited* Wi-Fi Calling minutes + Link up to 14 SIM