Propping the phone up and getting the light right
Set the phone down so your face is lit, your arm is not aching, and they can see you properly.
Half the video calls in this country are conducted by a dark shape sitting in front of a bright window, and nobody ever says anything.
The camera sets itself for the brightest thing it can find. If that is the window, the window comes out beautifully and you come out as a silhouette. Turn the chair round and the problem is gone.
The second thing is the arm. Holding a phone up for forty minutes is genuinely tiring, and it is why calls with grandparents end sooner than anybody wants them to. Propped against a stack of books at eye level, it costs nothing to sit there for an hour.
Key points
- Sit so the light is in front of you rather than behind you
- Prop the phone at eye level and give your arm back
- Find the picture settings and lift a dim room
- Turn the camera around to show them what you are looking at
What to remember
- Light in front, phone at eye level, something to lean it on. Three small changes and you look like yourself.
- Every video app has a picture setting somewhere. It changes only what leaves your device — nobody else has to do anything.
- Switch camera is the button that turns a conversation into a visit.
Try this
Before your next call, sit where you usually sit and open the camera app on the front-facing setting. That is what they see. If you are a dark shape, turn the chair round and look again.
Practice: Propping the phone up and getting the light right. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.