About a month ago I asked for volunteers who would be willing to model for me so I could write a few blog posts on how to look better in photos. I asked for people who don’t like the way they look in photos so that we could demonstrate that a beautiful picture is possible for anyone – regardless of how they see themselves in snapshots.
We all have insecurities about how we look – thank you media! Rachel wrote, “I hate the way I look like I have many chins! When I look at pictures of myself now, I feel like I just look like someone’s old tired mom!” She mentioned during our session that the chin issue is a running joke in their family because apparently no one thinks they have a chin.
As an aside it’s true that people with well defined chins photograph better naturally – which I happen to know because my chin is not particularly well defined!
In any case, this is a typical snapshot pose – it’s how people are normally photographed. There’s no positioning or refinement at all, and Rachel’s body is square to the camera, which is not a flattering angle for anyone.
The first thing that we did was have Rachel turn so that her body was at a 45 degree angle to the camera. This is a much more flattering body position, since it creates more visual interest.
This image is improved but Rachel is still going to hate her chin and potentially other problem areas that women sometimes are concerned about. For example, she thinks she looks pregnant in this picture (she’s not). So we further refined her position by having her put her arm behind her back. You can also put your arm on your waist, but it has to be something you’d normally do or it looks strange.
This is a huge improvement but Rachel still isn’t going to love her chin, so we’re going to have her lean forward a bit and make a sort of chicken neck.
This is much better and while she has a phenomenal smile her body looks a little tense and the leaning forward is too obvious. So the next thing we did was pull out a stool since this can really help with relaxed body posture.
We went through a similar progression with these. First a picture of what she looks like square to the camera (not ideal!).
Then I asked her to slouch so it could be contrasted with sitting up straight (it makes a huge difference).
After she sat up straight we moved her arm and had her move her face in the exact same “chicken neck” position as before, only now that her body is relaxed, it looks significantly more natural.
Which brings us to our final image! Rachel’s chin is defined, her arm is out to her side, but most importantly she looks happy and comfortable in front of the camera.
Rachel wrote about this photo, “Definitely the best picture I have seen of myself in a long time! Of course, it is still hard to look at without thinking about particular insecurities.” Hopefully this was still a step in the right direction though!
So the take home points here are:
1. Stand or sit up straight.
2. Always turn your body at a 45 degree angle to the camera.
3. If you don’t have a well defined chin, even moving your face forward or leaning from your hips a little can create a more well defined chin.
4. Move your arms away from your body by putting them on your hips or behind your back, or even just slightly away from your body.
5. If you feel uncomfortable, you’ll look uncomfortable, so be sure to relax!
Thanks so much for modeling Rachel! Pictures of her beautiful family are coming up soon!
