Say what you will about Myspace profile pictures, but it’s tough to argue that they’ve been anything other than revolutionary. No time else in photography’s long and storied history have so many people depicted themselves from such extreme angles, with such interesting color choices, and with such … unique … exposure decisions. And thank God for that.

Myspace users - this is my open letter to you. You need to start taking better Myspace profile pictures. I know, I know, it’s tough to find time to figure out how to use your digital camera in between complaining about how your parents just don’t get you. But I’ve made things easy for you. Put away that book of terrible emo poetry and just listen up for a few seconds. Here are seven deadly sins you are committing with your Myspace profile pictures and how to fix them. It’s quick, easy and they won’t cost you a thing. Believe me, I know how expensive Fall Out Boy CDs can be.

1. The Myspace Angle

More than anything else, this has been the lasting contribution of Myspace profile pictures to the field of photography. All of a sudden, portraits everywhere are being taken from more and more extreme of angles. Nothing is more in vogue right now than snapping off a headshot of yourself with your digital camera held as far above your head as possible.

I know why you do it. From that extreme of angle, people can’t tell from your Myspace profile picture that your nose is that big or your acne is that bad. But taking your profile picture from that angle just alerts us that something is wrong. Even if we can’t see it, we know there is something that you are trying to hide. Taking a Myspace profile picture like that isn’t fooling us - it’s just making us suspicious.

Plus, many people actually look worse in a picture taken from that angle. There’s a reason that many portrait photographer try not to take a client’s picture from too far above or below eye level - things start to look weird. Extreme angles make foreheads, noses and chins all look bigger than they actually are.

Stop taking Myspace profile pictures from so far above your head. You aren’t fooling anyone - and you may not be actually putting your best face forward.

2. Overexposure

This is arguably the second most-common trait of Myspace profile pictures. Whether it is to hide a debilitating skin condition or simply to look like a vampire, I can’t say, but Myspace users love to overexpose their photos. Take a look around the site - it’s disturbing how many profile pictures are completely washed out.

The technical term for this phenomenon is clipped highlights. When an area of an image is too bright, a sensor on a digital camera is unable to record any information at all. The result? The area is depicted as pure white. This is less of a problem if you are shooting a photo in broad daylight - it’s difficult to eliminate clipped highlights entirely. But when the area that is clipped is your face, then we have a problem.

There’s several methods to eliminate clipped highlights from your Myspace profile picture. First, many cameras have a feature called flash exposure compensation that will throttle down the power of your digital camera’s flash so as not to blow out your face when you are at close range. Another solution - especially when you are at a setting like a club or a concert where you can’t control the lighting - is to lower the shutter speed of your camera. This will cause less light to hit the shutter, resulting in fewer clipped highlights.

3. Alien skin

With the proliferation of free photo editors like Picasa or one of its online equivalents, Myspace profile pictures are being post-processed more and more. Many Myspace users have discovered tools like hue or saturation and are using these to tint their photos all sorts of unnatural colors.

Here’s a guide for what works. Black and white is classic. Sepia - that old-timey tone - can be alright on a rare occasion. Everything else is generally hokey and cliche. If you want people to think your Myspace profile picture is cool, stick to something close to what your camera gives you. Anything else just makes you look like an alien.

4. Photoshop filters

Oh Myspace users. We won’t speculate on how so many of you managed to get licenses to a $500+ piece of software, but the world is worse because of it. Photoshop filters are not there to warp, distort and emboss your Myspace profile picture into oblivion. This isn’t photography, and it isn’t cool if I can replicate the same result with a few mouse clicks. It just makes you look strange.

Photoshop is a professional tool that can do a lot to correct the problems of your Myspace profile pictures, but you all seem stuck on one menu. Get away from filters and learn how to use curves, levels, and the other corrective tools that Photoshop has to offer. Your Myspace profile picture will gain a lot more from that than anything else.

5. Strange Rotation

Rotation is the bastard cousin to angle in the realm of Myspace profile pictures. Just like a strange angle does not make a photo interesting, neither does a weird rotation. There are a lot of cool things you can do in photography, but generally a photo that is level is much more appealing to the eye. We all can twist our wrists, but there’s generally very little reason too when taking a photo. The only time this may work is if there is some sort of vertical line to anchor the photo - an imaginary line from your head to your foot, for example. This gives something for the eye to fixate on and gives the rotated photo some sort of organization. Otherwise, its a pointless effect that has no place in your Myspace profile picture.

6. Backlighting

Look at the profile picture above. What the hell is that? You can’t really tell, and a large part of the reason is the lighting. Too many Myspace profile pictures are just shot off without a thought to lighting, and that’s a big problem. Generally, you want to stay away from sources of bright light that could be in your background - the sun or a window, for example. These mess with the exposure settings on your digital camera and make your face back lit and hidden in shadow. All you gothic kids may find this desirable, but it’s bad photography. Take your photos in a place with nice, even lighting.

7. Blurriness

In low lighting like a bedroom, it’s tough to get enough light to take a photo. The digital camera has to use a longer shutter speed, which increases the chance that your new Myspace profile picture will be all blurry. Many of you don’t seem to care, but it’s an easy fix. Believe it or not, they make a specialized tool to eliminate camera shake. It’s called a tripod. But in lieu of that, put your camera on a desk or on a pile of books before clicking the shutter. Most digital cameras If that isn’t available, try and take your photo right after you exhale. Your body will be calmest at that point, and your arm will shake less.

How big of a problem are these seven deadly sins? I found all the examples of bad Myspace profile pictures within the first two pages of results for new users. That’s bad. Good photography doesn’t cost a dime, and a nice Myspace profile picture will spruce up your profile and help you make friends. I know you have 4327 already, but avoid these problems and you’ll have even more.

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