The four best places, in order
1. A full-length mirror in a room with a side window. Stand so the window is at your side rather than behind you or behind the mirror, and turn the ceiling lights off so you are not mixing two colours of light. If the mirror leans against the wall, the lean is doing something: five degrees of tilt lengthens the body and bends the verticals, so check a door frame in the reflection before you decide you like it.
2. A gym mirror. Large, flat, usually clean, and lit by strip lights that run parallel to the glass rather than directly over your head. The catch is social: other people are in the reflection. Use the stretching corner, keep your back to the quietest part of the room, and be quick.
3. A lift lobby or a mirrored lift. The mirrors are usually floor to ceiling and the space behind you is empty rather than cluttered. The constraints are time, since a lift arrives every 30 seconds or so, and a downlight directly overhead. Step back against the far wall, and turn the flash off.
4. A hotel or restaurant lobby mirror. Often the best-looking mirrors you will stand in front of, with warm light at head height. Two problems: lobby tungsten mixed with daylight from the entrance splits the colour on your face, and staff and guests cross the reflection constantly. Wait for the gap and shoot at 2x from further back.
Six you will find when you are out
- Shop changing room. Private, but lit by warm downlights from above, which is the bathroom problem again. Shoot waist-up at 2x so the rails and the pile of rejects stay out of frame, and expect the colour to read warmer than the garment is.
- Shop window from outside. Plate glass acts as a partial mirror, and at dusk it gives you a reflection plus the shop's interior in one frame. Two problems: the staff and customers inside are looking straight at you, and flash bounces back hard. Stand at about 45 degrees, flash off.
- Pub or bar toilets. Often the most flattering light in the building, because it is warm and at head height rather than overhead. The problems: a queue behind you, a small mirror that forces you close, and a background of hand dryers and cubicle doors.
- Wardrobe and sliding door mirrors. Full length and convenient, but sliding door mirrors are often slightly warped, which shows as a wave in a straight line. Check a skirting board in the reflection before you trust what it says about your body.
- Office or meeting room glass. A partition with a dark room behind it reflects well and frames you in clean architecture. It only works when the far side is darker, so it is a late afternoon or evening location.
- Station and shopping centre mirrored columns. Usually polished metal rather than glass, which softens detail and distorts slightly, under overhead fluorescents. Treat them as a texture location rather than a reliable full-length one.
Four that only work after dark
- Any window at night. Once it is darker outside than in, a window becomes a mirror. The complication is double glazing: two panes give two offset reflections, a bright one and a faint ghost. Shooting at a slight angle reduces the ghost. Turn off any lamp behind you, or you photograph the lamp.
- A car window, parked. Window fully up, stand about a metre back, shoot the reflection. Car glass is tinted and slightly curved, so expect darker, greener and gently stretched. Dirt is worse at night, because every street light behind you becomes a flare.
- A bus or train window. Good for a seated, half-reflected frame with lights streaking past. Not a full-length location, and the interior lighting is above you, so expect dark eye sockets. Brace the phone against the glass to avoid motion blur.
- A dark TV or monitor screen. A switched-off screen is a very flat mirror with a deep black background, good for a moody waist-up frame. Wipe it first, because dust shows badly, and keep the flash off.
Every location, its light and its problem
| Location | Typical light | The problem | The fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bedroom full-length mirror | Side window daylight | Clutter, and a tilted mirror bending verticals | Clear a metre either side, check a door frame |
| Gym mirror | Even strip lights | Other people in the reflection | Stretching corner, back to the quiet wall, shoot quickly |
| Lift lobby | Overhead downlights | About 30 seconds before the doors open | Stand back against the far wall, flash off |
| Hotel or restaurant lobby | Warm lamps plus daylight from the door | Split colour, passers-by | Wait for the gap, 2x from further back |
| Bathroom | Directly overhead | Dark eye sockets, shadow under the nose | Ceiling light off, door open, borrow the hallway |
| Changing room | Warm downlights | Rails, hangers and inaccurate colour | 2x waist-up, correct Warmth afterwards |
| Shop window from outside | Interior light through glass | Flash bounce and staff looking at you | 45 degrees to the glass, flash off |
| Bar toilets | Warm, often at head height | Queue, small mirror, clutter | Waist-up, no flash, be quick |
| Wardrobe sliding door | Room light | Warped glass waving straight lines | Check a skirting board or door frame first |
| Office glass partition | Interior light, dark far side | Only reflects when the far side is darker | Late afternoon or after dark |
| Mirrored column | Fluorescent, overhead | Metal softens detail and distorts | Detail or half-length frames only |
| Window at night | Whatever is in the room | Double glazing ghost image | Slight angle, or phone close to the glass |
| Parked car window | Street lights | Tinted, curved, dirty glass | Window up, a metre back, wipe it first |
| Dark TV screen | Room light | Dust, fingerprints, flash bounce | Wipe it, flash off, waist-up |
The three problems every mirror has
Flash. A mirror reflects at the same angle the light arrives at, so a flash fired square at the glass comes straight back into the lens and leaves a white disc where your phone should be. Leave it off, or turn your body and the phone 15 to 20 degrees off square so the beam misses the lens. More geometry in how to take a mirror selfie.
Clutter. A mirror photographs the room behind you at full size, and you will not notice the drying rack until afterwards. Look at the reflection rather than at yourself, and clear only what the frame holds, which at 1x from a metre back is about a metre and a half either side.
Light from above. Bathrooms, lifts, changing rooms and most shops light from the ceiling, which puts the brow in shadow and a hard line under the nose. Turning it off and borrowing light from a doorway or a window fixes this better than any retouching tool, and takes two seconds.
Other people, and how not to be that person
Every good public mirror belongs to somebody else as well. In a gym, a changing room or a bar, other people are in the reflection and did not agree to be photographed. Angle so the busy part of the room is behind the camera, shoot at 2x for a narrower frame, and delete rather than crop when somebody ends up in the shot.
Gym etiquette, plainly: many gyms ban filming in changing areas, and most ask you not to shoot on the weights floor at busy hours. The quiet corner exists in almost every gym.
Timing solves most of this. A gym mirror at 6pm is a crowd and at 10am is empty; a lift lobby at lunchtime is traffic and at 9pm is a private studio. If a location here sounds impossible, the problem is usually the hour rather than the place.
Ours, and not out yet: ShutterAI has a Mirror Mode that un-flips reversed text at capture, so gym signage and shirt slogans read the right way round, plus Clean Up for a stranger who walked through the background. It reaches iPhone this fall, free to start, with a waitlist for now.
Questions people ask
What are the best places to take mirror selfies?
A full-length mirror in a room with a side window and the ceiling lights off is the best. After that a gym mirror, which is large and evenly lit, then a lift lobby, which is usually floor to ceiling with an uncluttered background. Bathrooms are the worst common option because the light is directly overhead.
Why do bathroom mirror selfies look bad?
Because bathroom lighting comes from the ceiling, which puts the eye sockets in shadow and draws a hard line under the nose. Turn the bathroom light off, open the door and let light in from the hallway or a window instead.
How do I take a mirror selfie at the gym without getting other people in it?
Use the stretching corner rather than the weights floor, stand with your back to the quietest wall, and shoot at 2x so the frame is narrower. Go at an off-peak hour, and check your gym's rules, because many restrict filming in changing areas.
Can you take a mirror selfie in a window?
Yes, once it is darker outside than inside. Double glazing produces a faint second reflection offset from the first, so shoot at a slight angle or hold the phone close to the glass, and switch off any lamp directly behind you.
How do I stop the flash ruining a mirror selfie?
Turn it off, which is right almost every time. If you want the flash look, turn your body and the phone 15 to 20 degrees off square to the mirror so the reflected beam leaves at an angle and misses the lens.