How to Look Good in Photos

There was a lot of interest recently in my post regarding why we don’t like to have our photos taken.  So many people (particularly women) think they look awful in photos!  So as a follow-up I thought I’d write some tips on how to look your best if you are having your photo taken, even a phone selfie!

Some general posing rules:

1. Anything you want to accentuate, put it towards the camera.  Anything you rather hide, shift it away from the camera.  Shift your weight to the back leg, push your forehead and chin slightly towards the camera (not too much!) and dip your shoulder a tad.  If it feels awkward it probably looks great!
2. If it bends, bend it.  Don’t leave your arms squished against your side, bend your elbow.  If you put your hands on your hips this has the bonus of making your waist look smaller! Bend your front leg (your weight is on your back leg remember?!).
3. Stand at an angle to the camera, not square on.  It makes you look slimmer.
4. Don’t smile too big, or you will squint.  Portraits have much more impact if you can connect with the model’s eyes.  “They” say if you put your tongue behind your teeth this helps prevent smiling too wide. 

If you are the photographer, here’s a few tips:

1. In a group photo, make sure you are all on the same plane, i.e. the same distance (ish) from the camera.  If someone is closer to the camera they will look bigger than everyone else.
2. If you want to look taller, shoot from a lower angle.  I would recommend this only for full body shots, otherwise you end up being able to see up your nose.  Not very attractive.
3. If you’re taking a headshot (or head and upper body), shoot from a higher angle.  Everyone looks better (slimmer) at this angle.

So you can see with just a little bit of thought before you snap your photo everyone can be photogenic.  I’m expecting to see a whole bunch of new beautiful profile pics next week!  Off you go!