Wide selfies / Why do wide selfies stretch faces?
Wide selfie guide
Why do wide selfies stretch faces?
By Con, founder of Music Wide Selfie · Updated 22 October 2026
Short answerWide lenses exaggerate whatever is closest to the lens and stretch the edges of the frame. Keep faces nearer the middle, move the phone a little further away, and avoid tilting it sharply.
Two effects
Closeness: the nearer something is to a wide lens, the bigger it looks compared with everything else. That’s why noses and hands look huge up close. Edges: wide lenses stretch things at the sides and corners.
Five fixes
- Hold the phone a bit further away.
- Keep faces out of the outer edges.
- Keep the phone level rather than tilted.
- Don’t put a hand or object right by the lens unless you want the effect.
- Crop a little after shooting if needed.
Questions
Is distortion a camera fault?
No, it’s normal for wide lenses. Framing decides how much you see.
A camera built for this
Music Wide Selfie is an iPhone camera app in development: the widest front view your iPhone supports, with your music still playing.
One email when the app is ready. Nothing else.