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.5 Photo Trend: The Viral Look Taking Over Social Media

Explore the 0.5 selfie trend and viral photo effects like monochrome contrast, hyperrealism, and analog echo. Create eye-catching, unique content that stands out on social media.

In the media space over the past 22 years, the 0.5 selfie photo trend began to emerge among representatives of the Z to Alpha generation, which is known for its iconic forehead shot that gives the image a certain charm. Along with this photo trend, no less trending photo effects, such as monochrome contrast, hyperrealism, analog echo, etc., began to gain popularity. These effects can be combined with selfies 0.5 to create unique content that attracts many more new readers than template-boring photos.

What Is a 0.5 Pic

Many people are wondering: “What is a point 5 picture?” A 0.5x is a fashion photo taken with a smartphone's ultra-wide-angle lens. This type of image has subtypes: 0.5 selfie forehead and 0.5x photo. Young people prefer selfies of the forehead due to the comic effect of the appearance of the distorted images. It is an art to know how to take a full-face selfie.0.5 selfie forehead| Skylum Blog

The 0.5 pic is appealing because it is wild. As compared to slick portraits, these are photos of strange angles, long limbs, and over-emotional faces, all with a filter-free style. It is the thing to capture the moment, even if it is not perfect. That unprocessed, a bit rough fashion of storytelling represents the way Gen Z and Gen Alpha tackle visual storytelling, the bold, the playful, and utterly not concerned about the symmetry.0.5x photo | Skylum Blog

The other reason why the 0.5 selfie gained popularity is that it disobeys the principles of good photography. There is only you or your friends, and whatever is caught on the lens. It is quick, it is comic, and it does not take itself very seriously, which is why it continues to go viral.

How to Take a Point 5 Photo

Girl zooms in on photo on smartphone | Skylum BlogDon't know how to take a 0.5 selfie? For an atmospheric photo, you need a phone with an ultra-HD lens, a bit of imagination, and knowledge of trending photo editing. However, there is no reason to worry, as we can help you out. 

Here are your 5-shot examples of how to take a photograph with iPhone:

  1. How to do it step by step as an iPhone owner:

  2. Go to the default Camera of your iPhone.

  3. Ensure that you are in Photo and Video mode.

  4. Check the camera screen, and you will find the button with 0.5x (or ultrawide camera icon) on it, and press it. It will set it to the ultra-wide-angle mode of your camera, and that will also enable you to take a wider portion of the scene in your photograph.

  5. Position the camera in front of the subject you are taking a photograph of, and move yourself far enough so that you can achieve the effect you would want it to have. Then you will put your finger on the button, and a photo or a video will be taken.

The auto‑fix feature edits your 0.5‑selfie in seconds.

Download Luminar Mobile for iPhone now

A guide for Android owners:

  1. Open the Camera app.

  2. Switch to the front (selfie) camera. This is usually done using the camera switch icon.

  3. Look for the icon to change lenses. This can be either a number symbol (like 1x or 0.5x) or something that is a symbol of a wide angle.

  4. Press the icon to choose the ultra-wide-angle (0.5x) lens.

  5. Make a selfie.

Grab the Android version today and start editing ultra‑wide selfies wherever you go.

Download Luminar Mobile for Android now

Make additional settings (if necessary):

  • Focus and exposure: to get the focus and exposure, touch anywhere. 

  • Filters: There are filters to improve the appearance of your pictures in color and lighting.

  • HDR: enable HDR or disable it to bring out more details in highlights and shadows. 

  • Live Photos: You can also enable Live Photos, in which you get a brief video alongside your photograph.

Fixing Your Photos with Luminar Neo

Editing photos in Luminar Neo| Skylum BlogTo obtain the most impressive effect, it is necessary to use auto-fix photos. Luminar Neo by Skylum allows you to do this. This software will edit your image quickly, efficiently, and without any questions.

  1. Supersharp AI—a property that automatically sharpens up your beloved memories.

  2. Blend Two Images—it is able to take your photo to the next level by combining two photographs.

  3. GenSwap—exchanges boring things with visual effects that merge flawlessly in your pictures.

  4. Background Removal AI—removes the background behind any object in your photos.

  5. Enhance AI—the ability to control multiple settings with a single slider controlled by artificial intelligence.

Tip: For a point five pictures with a compositional emphasis on the dominant feature, a blurred background is better suited. Blur the background of a photo to ensure visual concentration by removing distracting elements. This is what a photo should look like, which should focus all attention on one object:

Blur can create a glowing effect on an object, thereby emphasizing it even more.

An AI Future that Starts with Photography

Artificial intelligence is an intricate system, which is actually a reflection of the human mind, and it does not always operate with facts. Still, it analyzes, explores, and copies. It can do much more than what only humans could do: poeticizing, editing images, recognizing emotions, composing sound music, and even having a dialogue, where one can talk and feel that there was a meaningful and caring dialogue.

AI follows people in their tracks: people have learned what new things are, and so is the case with AI. People abolished slavery, so did the slavery of pictures.

Want to modify the background of a photo but don't know how?

Use Skylum's artificial intelligence—GenExpand.
GenExpand in Luminar Neo before | Skylum Blog
GenExpand in Luminar Neo after | Skylum Blog

It is easy to use. It has lightweight but useful functionality that will help you enlarge the background, which will further make your selfie 0.5x more fantastic.

Rule of Thirds: Quality Comes First

Rule of thirds in Luminar Neo | Skylum BlogThe rule of threes is one of the multiple techniques and principles that professionals apply in order to create a composition. The rule of threes is a pictorial rule of composition applied to paintings, photographs, and websites. It consists of dividing the image imaginatively into nine parts of equal size (two horizontal and two vertical lines that cross each other), and the core objects are put in the intersection of these lines (or on them).

This helps create a more dynamic and balanced composition than simply centering an object. You can turn on the camera grid on your phone, but you'll need to move and adjust your subjects manually to create high-quality photos. But why go through the trouble when you can do it with Luminar Neo? You can tilt the photo with just a couple of taps and create a breakthrough in composition. Useful tools for creating a composition are:

  • CropAI—automatically crops a photo based on an analysis of its content;

  • Optics Auto Corrections—designed to remove imperfections in the image caused by the lens or camera processing;

  • Horizon Alignment—horizontally straightens the picture automatically. Appropriate when the images are below or above the horizon and possess a natural horizon or straight lines up and down.

These tools are based on artificial intelligence, which will do it quickly and easily.

Selfies Are Cool, and Even Better if They're Family Ones

Selfie in 0.5 with family | Skylum Blog0.5x photos are a new way to show yourself, the world, and your grandparents in the frame. Whether it's a comical forehead shot with funny eyes or a stylized wide-angle photo of the whole family on the beach, there is a positive tone to such selfies. They are emotional, spontaneous, and, to some extent, absurd and endearing. When the family sits at the table, do not tell them cheese, but here is 0.5!

What makes these photos special is the shared moment. Unlike traditional group shots where everyone lines up and smiles on command, 0.5 selfies capture the laughter, chaos, and real energy of being together. The ultra-wide angle squeezes everyone in without forcing them to pose, even the dog usually fits in.

It’s become more than a trend; it’s a way of documenting memories without the pressure of perfection. Whether you’re capturing a holiday dinner, a walk in the park, or just hanging out on the couch, a 0.5x pic brings everyone closer—literally and emotionally.

.5 Picture Trend: How Gen Z Made This Shot Iconic  | Skylum Blog(3)

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.5 Picture Trend: How Gen Z Made This Shot Iconic  | Skylum Blog(6)