Raise your hand if sometimes you hate the way you look in pictures? I know that I do! We are all so self-critical when we see ourselves in photos.
The key to looking and feeling great in pictures is all about the posing. That is why you hire professional photographer. Hopefully your photographer makes you feel comfortable and knows how to pose.
Make sure that when you are having professional pictures taken that you let your photographer know if you have any areas that you are self-conscious of. Do you hate your arms? Do you have a good side that you prefer? Do you have fat ankles? Are you a guy who is balding and you are self-conscious about it? Let your photographer know. They will (hopefully) be mindful of those things and make you look your best. Communication is key!
However....sometimes you don't have a professional photographer taking your picture. How do you look your best even when someone is just taking an iPhone picture?
I have put together a few tips that will hopefully help you pose yourself to look your best and have you start loving yourself in photos again.
In preparation for this blog, I convinced my beautiful nieces and one of their friends to pose for me! We happened to be up at the cabin and the boys wanted to go fishing, so while they fished we walked around the lake finding beautiful light. It was so much fun.
It was a little tricky to do these photos because these girls are amazingly beautiful and have perfect bodies so trying to get them to pose "wrongly" was hard!!!
Tip #1
Whatever is closest to the camera is going to appear the largest. Do you hate your arms? Then don't turn your body and have the side of your arm closest to the camera.
Instead, angle your body and open up your shoulder so you see more of a 45 degree angle of your body. Again, McKenzie does not have big arms so both of these pictures are cute of her, but do you see how in this photo having her turn a bit more and open up her shoulder is a little more flattering?
Tip #2
Loose limbs!! Leave a little space. If you are squishing your arm tight to your body it will cause it to squish out and make it appear larger. Instead, push your arm out from your body a bit and your arm instantly becomes skinnier! Here is an example for you. Anna had her leg pushed against the ground for these pictures. I was loving them and I showed her the back of my camera and she said "my leg looks really big". I didn't even notice. She has great legs so she doesn't need to worry. But by pushing it against the ground, it appeared larger.
So I told her to lift her leg up a bit and instantly her leg looked more shapely making this picture go from great to WOW! See the difference?
Tip #3
This one is for the ladies when you are taking a picture with your guy. Our natural go-to pose when taking a couple picture is to stand next to each other with your arms around each other facing the camera. The widest part of your body is facing the camera! That is why we always hate photos like this, am I right ladies? Again, these girls are so cute that they don't look bad, but here is the photo that most couples take naturally.
Here is a little hint I learned from another photographer. Ladies, put your belly button on your guy's hip. This angles you a bit and hides half of your body behind his. Viola!! You instantly lose half of your body! In this picture, Anna is the "girl" and Ashlynn is the "boy" (sorry Ash). See how Anna looks in this photo compared to the other one! This one is a game changer ladies!!!
Tip #4
Angle your body and put your weight on your back foot. Remember tip #1. Whatever is closest to the camera appears the largest. So angling your body and bending your front leg makes you instantly slimmer. Here Ashlynn is facing the camera straight on. She looks good.
But turn to the side a bit and put your weight on the back foot and bending the front leg. Even better!
And here is an example with all three girls. So next time you are taking a picture with your girl friends instead of doing this.
Try this. It is flattering for everyone, not just the girls on the end!
Or this!
Tip #5
Get cozy, touch each other and make sure your arms are visible. I am constantly telling clients to get closer, hug it up, pretend like you like each other! I just makes for better pictures. If you are worried about your arms and you hide them...not good. Then you look like you don't have any arms and it is awkward! If you are super self conscious of your weight, hide behind your kids and then wrap them up in a big old hug. This is my favorite family picture from a few years ago. I think it is my favorite because I am hiding behind my oldest, my arms are away from my body (not squished) and my head is pushing forward therefore getting rid of any double chins (see tip #6).
The girls did a good job of this one too. I told them to get together for a picture and this is what they did.
Then I told them to hug each other and they did this. But notice McKenzie. She isn't touching anyone and she looks awkward.
So I told her to grab their arms. And magic!
Also, I got a little closer because in my opinion, closer is always better. So if you are taking the photo, step forward and take a close up!
Tip #6
Getting rid of the double chin. Our natural instinct when we take pictures is to pull our chin in and smile. Ashlynn had to try REALLY hard to make this double chin. It was pretty funny.
This is why photographers are always saying, chin up! They are trying to avoid the double chin. However, I have found that when I say that to people, they get a strained look and weird neck tendons. So instead, here is a little trick for you. Just before taking the photo, look down to the ground at a 45 degree angle. Almost like your cheek is close to your shoulder. Then when the photographer is about to take the picture, lift your head back to the camera. I use this all the time. Another thing you can do is the turtle head. Instead of lifting your chin, think about pushing your forehead and face toward the camera. It kind of looks like this from the side. Awkward.
However, from the front, it looks like this. See how pronounced her chin is and how lovely it looks. This is especially good for those of us who are a bit older and have a little bit of loose skin in our necks. Not a beautiful tight skinned teenager. But you get the idea!
Tip #7
If you are awkward in front of the camera, add some movement or do something with your hands. Do a little spin. Walk toward the camera. Run your hand through your hair. Too often we feel like Ricky Bobby and say "I don't know what to do with my hands right now". Grab your kids in a big hug and rock back and forth (using them to shield your body if you are critical of your weight). Skip and jump. It will make you loosen up, laugh and give a genuine smile!!! And most of all....DON'T AVOID THE CAMERA. I know we all aren't at our ideal weight. We want to wait to lose weight. Or get our hair done. Or whatever. Your kids don't care about those things. They want pictures with you and of you! So use these tips to make yourself more comfortable and get in front of the camera!
I could probably go on and on, but that is enough for today. I have to keep some of my trade secrets, right!? If you really want to look great in front of the camera, call me and we can do some pictures!
Stay tuned and later this week I will show you the rest of pictures from this fun session!
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