How to get your boyfriend to take the photo you asked for

Show him the photo you want, on his camera. LikeThis puts your reference photo over the live camera as a see-through ghost. He moves until you and the background sit on the ghost, then shoots. The result has the same framing, angle, height and distance.

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Last updated: 2026-10-19

App screen: a ghost photo on the camera, ready to line up

Why the photo never looks like the one you showed him

You ask for one photo with the sea behind you. You get a close-up from below, your feet cut off, and the sea is gone. It is so common that it is a meme: on 13 October 2026 a post on X that says asking your boyfriend for a photo is torture had more than 41,000 likes within a week.

He is not doing it on purpose. A reference photo on your phone and a live camera on his phone are two different screens. He has to keep the reference in his head while he guesses four things:

Framing: where you stand in the frame, and how much of the background shows.
Angle: straight on, from the side, from below.
Height: the phone at eye level, chest level or hip level.
Distance: how far back he stands, and the zoom.

Reference: a woman on a beach at sunset, full body, island behind her — What I asked for

A bad copy: cropped legs and a shadow, island at the edge — What I got

With LikeThis: full body, island behind her, same framing — With LikeThis

The people in these example photos are AI-generated. They are illustrations, not LikeThis customers.

The fix: put the reference on his screen

Pick the photo. Open LikeThis and choose the photo you want: a Pinterest save, a screenshot, a photo a friend took of you last year.
Give him the camera. The photo is now a see-through ghost over the live camera.
He matches the ghost. He moves until you sit on your ghost and the horizon sits on the ghost horizon. A strong ghost helps him place you; a faint ghost helps him see the real scene.
Check it together. Slide between the reference and the new photo. If it is off, he takes it again on the spot.

Tips that make the first try work

Pick a reference shot with the same kind of lens. Most phone photos use the 1x lens; for wide shots, try 0.5x.
Stand where the person in the reference stands first. Then he only fixes the phone, not you.
For full-body photos, he holds the phone at hip height and tilts it a little. The ghost tells him if your feet are in.
Busy street? LikeThis Pro has Outline mode, which shows only the edges of the reference.

Questions people ask

Why does my boyfriend take bad photos of me?

Most of the time he cannot see what you see. You picture the full scene, the mountains and your shoes in the frame. He sees a person in the middle of the screen. Without a reference on his screen, he guesses the height, the distance and the zoom.

How do I teach my boyfriend to take pictures?

Show him a reference, not rules. A common tip on Reddit is to show him the composition and ask him to recreate it. LikeThis puts that reference on his camera, so he matches it while he shoots.

Is LikeThis free?

LikeThis is free to download, and your first shot is free. To keep shooting, you need LikeThis Pro: $4.99 a week or $29.99 a year, both with a 3-day free trial, or a one-time lifetime purchase. These are US prices on 2026-10-19; the App Store shows the price in your currency.

Does LikeThis use AI to change my photo?

No. LikeThis does not generate, edit or beautify photos with AI. It shows your reference photo over the real camera, and you take a real photo. It helps with four things: framing, angle, height and distance.

Next time, ask with the photo.