Did you know that today (June 21) is National Selfie Day? Considering it’s also the first day of summer, that means it’s the perfect time of year to head outside and take some fun, candid photos with your favorite people. We certainly hope that group includes some 3-Day pals!

Selfies are commonplace on the 3-Day. We use them to grab a team photo, capture the excitement of the Opening Ceremony, snap a candid moment along the route, show off the beauty of our host cities and as a way to remember a truly special weekend.

But do you have your selfie game up to snuff? If not, we’re here to help.

The best way to hold your phone for a horizontal selfie, in the opinion of all our 3-Day coaches, is to hold the phone with your pinkie on the bottom, your pointer finger on top, and the middle two fingers behind the phone for stability. If you position yourself on one of the edges of the selfie group (not in the middle), you’ll be able to capture tons of people or a cool background. Just click the shutter button with your thumb and…ta da! Perfect selfie!

If you really want to know what it takes to get the perfect 3-Day selfie though, ask Coach Jennifer from Michigan! She’s been a 3-Day walker as well as coach, and she always gets the best pictures on event.

Here are her top tips:

• Always hold the camera up and look up into the camera for the most flattering selfie, or hold the camera slightly above your head, pointing down. Don’t take a selfie from below. No one wants purposeful double chins!

• Try to take the selfie in shade – if that’s not possible, face into the sun to eliminate shadows.
• Take off the sunglasses!  (Even facing into the sun!)
• Check your camera settings to see if there is a timer option. My Samsung phone has a timer feature that gives you about a 5 second countdown which makes it super easy to get a great selfie. Make sure you can see everyone in the photo before starting the timer.

• Smile! Yes, a genuine smile. Forget the silly duck face, most people can’t pull this off anyway.
• It doesn’t have to be perfect. Candid shots are sometimes some of the best pictures. ?
• Use a filter to make it more fun.
• Speaking of fun: Have fun with it! Some of my favorite selfies are the ones where there are a lot of friends trying to cram into the phone, laughing and simply having fun!

Need more inspiration? Here are some more great selfies from more of our 3-Day coaches!

Share your best 3-Day selfie with us in the comments! We love seeing your smiles!