With the advent of Snapchat, the art of sniping a photo has become more and more popular. For those of you that don't know, sniping is taking a photo of someone that does not know you are taking that photo of them. My parents think of it like you are stalking someone. And in a way you are, you are showing affection for someone by taking a photo of them unknowingly.
Frequently I will receive a photo, or a text, from a friend that demonstrates that they have seen me around. It is a form of showing that they were looking for me and recognized who I am as a person. By showing this affection it begs the question why this is necessary.
It started as innocent fun. You see your friend, you do not want to shout across a field or a classroom, so you use your mobile device to demonstrate your knowledge of their movements. Granted, it can also be used to take a photo of something you want to share with your friends.
The most common sniping photo seems to be one taking a photo of an attractive individual, a funny outfit, or a funny event that occurred.
Now if you follow these steps, you might be able to be the future stalker than SnapChat lends itself to:
1. Make sure your phone has a camera.
This is number one, since if your phone doesn't have a camera, you have to carry around a digital camera (or gosh forbid a film camera), which is a little more difficult to hide.
2. Turn your flash off.
There is nothing more embarrassing than trying to take a photo of the attractive cashier and having your flash go off. Trust me on this one, it turns into quite a pickle trying to explain why your flash was spontaneously going off.
3. Understand your phone.
Basically, this means know how to "text" on your phone while getting the correct angle of the photo. You can always go with the "just taking a selfie" phone pose, but that can also come off as weird in certain contexts. I always go with the "oh I am just texting someone," when in reality I have my camera pulled up and I am trying to take the most flattering picture possible.
4. Take a good photo.
Good sniped photos can be ruined because someone got in the way, your finger was over the lens, or you cut the top of their head off. So make sure you know what you are taking a photo of before you press the button.
5. Send it to the right person.
This may be rather self-explanatory, however, I don't know how many times I hit the wrong name, and before I know it my perfect photo was out in cyberspace. Hitting the wrong name on Snapchat can ruin all of your hard work.
If you follow these five rules, I am positive you will be a certified sniper in no time.
