Arm's Length: a 2010s selfie aesthetic AI photoshoot
Arm's Length recreates a home selfie series from around 2011: an old phone held out at arm's length, afternoon sun in the face, and one hallway mirror shot with the LED flash firing. Crops run crooked, the arm enters from a corner, and every file looks pulled straight off an early smartphone.
Art direction: Alex But
- Camera
- 2011 smartphone
- Lens
- 28 mm equiv.
- Aperture
- f/2.8
- Shutter
- 1/30 s
- ISO
- 400
- Light
- Window sun + LED flash
Best for
Six frames from this shoot
Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.
Frame 1 · Arm's Length 
Frame 2 · Arm's Length 
Frame 3 · Arm's Length 
Frame 4 · Arm's Length 
Frame 5 · Arm's Length 
Detail · Arm's Length
About the arm's-length selfie look
A small phone sensor behind a 28 mm-equivalent lens at fixed f/2.8 keeps almost everything in focus while losing fine detail. Indoors the shutter drops to about 1/30 s at ISO 400, so shadows smear into JPEG noise and one frame shows a hint of handshake. Window light sits slightly too bright on the forehead, the room behind stays patchy with warm lamp light, and the mirror frame catches a hard white flare.
Clothes, place and when to pick it
haloshot splits the wardrobe for women and men: women wear a star-print tee over a white long-sleeve with wide jeans and a pendant chain, men the star tee alone with baggy jeans. An open gingham shirt, big black glasses, a flat-brim cap and white high-tops are shared. Shot on a sofa and at a mirror, it suits a throwback post with your face.
How it works
Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Arm's Length with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.
How to take a 2011-style selfie at arm's length
The look comes from old hardware: a small 2011-era phone sensor, a fixed f/2.8 wide lens and JPEG processing that smears shadows and clips windows.
- Buy a used 2011-era smartphone; a current phone's HDR and night modes would clean up the flaws.
- Seat the subject facing a window on a bright afternoon, a warm lamp on behind.
- Hold the phone 40 to 60 cm out, a little above eye level; indoors it settles near f/2.8, 1/30 s, ISO 400.
- For the mirror shot, use the rear camera a meter from a hallway mirror, LED flash forced on, at chest height.
Clean the mirror first, since the flash picks up every smudge and fingerprint.
Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated
More Y2K shoots
See the whole Y2K collection · 11 shoots
Collections
Shoot Arm's Length with your face
Three photos in, five free preview frames out. Keep the best ones in HD.