Hot shot

Step aside, Ellen!

Your selfie (also known as a self-portrait) with a bunch of Hollywood stars at the recent Oscars, which turned out to be the most re-tweeted photo, is about to get whooped by the mother of all selfies.

The Royal Danish Air Force has released a selfie of one of its F-16 pilots flying his fighter jet, paired with an amazing background.

The snap, which was taken in 2012, saw him launch an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. It was caught in one frame as it blasted past the cockpit.

The selfie epidemic has spread to almost everyone, including astronauts, athletes and politicians, and has become a game of taking the most impressive shot.

Others just seem to draw as much attention to their social media pages.

Recently, US singer-songwriter Nicki Minaj posted a string of eight semi-nude snaps of her showering.

On the psychology behind taking the selfie, psychotherapist Stacy Kaiser told information portal iVillage: "It's about getting attention and being a conversation piece."

Sports superstars selfie

Turkish Airlines' advertisement The Selfie Shootout, starring brand ambassadors Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant, became a viral hit.

The ad features Messi and Bryant travelling the world to one-up the other's latest selfie, each time promoting the airline's countless worldwide destinations.

The ad then ends with Messi being photobombed by Bryant in the midst of taking a self-potrait in Istanbul.

Go-to selfie

Mr Baey Yam Keng, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2006 and is now representing Tampines GRC, is known to have the full selfie package, from the slight pout to the come-hither eyes.

So much so that Minister of State for Ministry of Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck (left, with Mr Baey) has come to him for tips on selfies.

Need we say any more?

Superstar selfie

The picture that broke Twitter.

This year's Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres posted a selfie in the middle of the ceremony with some of the most famous faces in Hollywood.

Leaders' selfie

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took a shot with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak at the start of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting late last year in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

He later posted the photo on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Top-end selfie

Russian daredevil Kirill Oreshkin climbs some of the world's highest buildings to get selfies of himself hanging off the top.

With Moscow below him, Mr Oreshkin, a stunt enthusiast, took a snap of himself appearing to hang on for dear life at the very top of a skyscraper with just his fingers.

'Spiritual' selfie

The Pope had his picture taken inside the Vatican with young people from the Italian Diocese of Piacenza and Bobbio, who had gone to Rome on a pilgrimage.

The photo went viral across social media last August.

Out-of-this-world selfie

International Space Station (ISS) astronaut Aki Hoshide captured the Earth behind him in the reflection of his visor - and it took the Internet by storm.

Mr Hoshide, who is from Japan, also captured the sun behind him. The snap was taken while he was augmenting the capabilities of the ISS last year.

US president selfie

US President Barack Obama got caught in the middle of a selfie sandwich.

He posed in the middle of two noted scientists, "the science guy" Bill Nye (left) and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson at The White House last week.

"What an honour. And we even pulled off 'The Presidential Selfie'," Mr Nye wrote on his Instagram account.

Sky-high selfie

In 2012, a Royal Danish Air Force F-16 fighter pilot took a selfie during a live missile launch. The image, labelled the "ultimate selfie" by some websites, has been burning up social media basically because of how it has taken "photo bombing" to dizzying new heights.

The pilot did not actually wield an iPhone - the viral picture was taken with a cockpit camera.

crobert@sph.com.sg

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