How to Look Awesome in a Photo: Part 3

Aside from those arty feet-only photos that your college boyfriend took and the cell phone shots of your blurry torso that your best girl snapped after a few too many at Nye’s, practically all photos of you will showcase your beautiful face. Faces come in a wide variety of shapes, of course, and different angles will flatter different shapes. But there are a few things we should ALL avoid when someone moves in for a headshot, as you’ll soon see.

First off, here’s our neutral: straight-on, grinnybear.

Does one of your eyes always look bigger than the other when you smile? I feel like such a mutant sometimes …

ANYWAY, aside from my ponytail flyaways, there’s nothing wrong with this photo. This facial position is passable for many. And yet, I – like you, and everyone we know, and everyone else besides them – am always trying to improve upon this neutral position. And it can certainly be improved upon, but not using the techniques that I gravitate toward.

My instinct is to stick my chin WAAAAY out to diminish any possible double-chinnage. Sometimes it works. But more often, I look like this:

A little tense, a little out-of-proportion, and a little like Bobblehead Sal. The shadow cast by my thrust-out noggin looks strange falling across my upper neck. Not a good plan.

Another chin-related instinct is to tip your head upward:

This gives off the baby-bird-waiting-to-be-fed vibe. I also look a little like I’m about to laugh, which might seem like a good thing … but somehow just reads as unnatural and awkward. With all that neck exposed, my facial proportions are distorted. AVOID!

Just for contrast, here’s what tipping your head down looks like:

Not something I see many folks gravitating toward, unless they’re going for a demure, eye-batting pose. This position actually defines my facial structure fairly well, but … well, I don’t have to tell you it looks weird. Just plain weird. I look a bit like you’ve just told me that you traded in your Camry for a fire-breathing camel and I don’t believe you.

So now that we’ve covered the dont’s, here are some do’s:

Do look over your shoulder. We’ve been over that one ad nauseum. Do lean against a wall – placing your lower back against the surface and leaning your upper back a bit forward. This creates angles behind and around you that will frame and flatter.

Additionally:

Do, if possible, have the photographer position the camera slightly above your head. Not like in a helicopter or anything. Think about getting your mugshot done at the DMV. That camera is usually below your neck, so it’s going to photograph major chin-region plus it captures your head at an angle that will make it look strangely bloated up top. From slightly above, however, you tilt your head up without straining, which creates sleek lines and easy angles.

Finally:

Find your smile.

Not everyone has a Tooth-and-Gum Festival like mine. I’ve made peace with the fact that, if I’m genuinely happy, hapless viewers will learn a great deal about my oral hygiene, whether they want to or not. But this is not so for everyone. Although my mom always told me that my closed-lip smile made me look like I’d swallowed a comb, some people can toothlessly smile and appear elegant and poised. Some have mastered the coy half-smile. Some can smile using only their eyes.

My point is this: you can spend endless energy positioning your body as I’ve recommended in this series of posts, but if you’re scowling or tense or unhappy, you will not photograph well. Donning a pained, strained face when someone approaches with a camera might deter them from photographing you. But if it doesn’t and you plaster on a stiff semi-smile as the shutter clicks, they will simply create an eternal reminder of your dismay and discomfort in that single moment. Better to maneuver yourself into a flattering set of angles, cheese it up, and remember that photographs are not the enemy. Photographs fill in the details that our memories let slip. They truly do enrich our lives.

And since you’re already pretty, you shouldn’t be so stressed about them anyway.