HOW TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS FOR YOUR DOCTOR
Most people have a digital camera these days, or a smartphone with a good digital camera, so here are some tips on how to take good photographs for your doctor
AVOID SELFIES
Selfies generally turn out poorly as the angle incorrect and the image is too close.
GET SOMEONE ELSE TO TAKE YOUR PHOTOS.
If you have someone else in your ‘bubble’ that can use a camera, ask them to take the photos, the results will be much better.
TAKE A SERIES OF 3 PHOTOS.
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A WIDE one, so we can see where on the body the problem is.
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A MIDDLE one so we can see the problem area and the surrounding skin.
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A CLOSE one (keep it in focus!) so we can see more detail (if you have a ‘macro’ option, use it)
TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS TO GET THE BEST ONE.
There is no extra expense with digital photography, so snap away. Take photographs straight on, from the side, underneath. Snap away!
USE GOOD LIGHT.
Photography literally means ‘writing with light’, if you don’t have good light, you won’t get a good photo. Flat light is best, avoid shadows (we don’t want any Rembrandt portraits). Use flash, it gives a good flat light, however, if you are too close, the image will go white in places (this is called flash burn), try moving camera back and zooming in a bit.
MAKE SURE AREA OF INTEREST IS IN FOCUS.
We can’t diagnose what we can’t see.
DO NOT ALTER THE ORIGINAL IMAGES.
#nofilter this isn’t Instagram!
PHOTOGRAPH ON A PLAIN BACKGROUND.
This avoids confusion in the image due to background distractions.
DON’T BE OFFENDED IF WE ASK YOU TO TAKE THE PHOTOGRAPH AGAIN.
It’s just we can’t see what we need to.