How to look perfect in photographs. How to look good in a photo: advice from a photographer

It’s one thing to take a photo of yourself with your phone and not post it anywhere without serious editing. Another thing is to do a full-fledged photo shoot, when you don’t have to hide the background and apply a hundred effects. Questions immediately arise: how to stand up, where to put your hands, what to do to look better. Here are some tips from a professional photographer on how to feel better during photo shoots and look natural and beautiful in the photo.

Now, in the era of online communication, when meeting employers and clients often happens remotely, your photo matters more.

It is the photo that is the first thing your clients and partners evaluate if you do business via the Internet, so it is very important to look good in them, which is not so easy to do.

Here are 8 general advice from photographer Dina McCollum, which will help you look better in photos and create the image you want.

1. Professional makeup and hairstyle

Let's say that you yourself are good at using cosmetics, and your hairstyle is never careless. But before the photo shoot, it’s still worth visiting a stylist, because the image in the photographs will represent you for more than one day.

Professional stylists know how to highlight your strengths and hide your flaws, so you can see yourself from a new perspective.

Attractiveness gives you self-confidence, which is essential for good photos. Don't skimp on your stylist's services, and the difference will be noticeable immediately.

2. Dress nicely but comfortably

If you spent a long time choosing clothes, trying them on different options and finally found the best one, that is, by making an effort to look beautiful, you will feel more confident.

Clothes can hide figure flaws and create a beautiful body shape (which, together with the angle, can radically change a person).

However, you should not choose things that make you feel “out of place.” Main task your attire will express you and help you feel more confident, so choose something that makes you feel comfortable.

It is better to choose things with a rich, deep color, which makes the photos more “voluminous” and noticeable, but at the same time, the clothes should be monochromatic, since stripes and checks distract attention from the face.

Compare the two options not in the photo below: a girl in a black suit looks more noticeable and brighter than in a plaid shirt.

If you are taking photographs for work, it is better to avoid tight clothes and clothes made from thin fabrics, as this will look undignified.

3. Stand at an angle to the camera

No girl wants to look bigger than she actually is (except for the thinnest ones). Standing up straight with your shoulders and hips parallel to the camera makes you look larger than you actually are.

Turn your shoulders at an angle towards the camera and turn your face towards it, then you will look slimmer and more graceful.

4. If it bends, bend it.

A person standing in a photo with straight arms and legs looks ridiculous and unnatural. A smooth curve of the arm and a little free space between the arms and body looks much better. This position emphasizes the waist, creating an hourglass effect.

Shift your weight to hind leg, placing your knee slightly forward, closer to the camera. The ones that are closer to the lens look bigger in the photo, so by putting your weight on your back leg and moving your hips further away from the lens, you make them appear smaller.

5. Straighten your back

Even if you're slouching, it's worth making a little effort to straighten your back in the photo. People with a straight back look confident and successful.

6. Smile

To smile naturally, you need to relax. But even then, you may not look very good, due to the nature of a natural smile and laugh. When we really laugh or smile, we often pull our chin toward our neck, which creates unsightly creases (double chin).

Therefore, when smiling in the photo, try to breathe through your mouth and place your tongue behind upper teeth. This trick will help you smile both naturally and beautifully.

7. Hire a professional photographer

If you need not just a couple of new photos for your avatar, but a full-fledged presentation for your business, it is better to spend several thousand on a professional photo shoot, because a photographer is not only good camera, this is experience and knowledge in this field.

In addition, you can use professional photos for ten years, and for that amount of time it turns out to be quite inexpensive.

8. Be yourself

This is an excellent rule, and probably the most important one. A frozen piece of reality in your photo will definitely show how squeezed you feel. Therefore, the best thing to do is just relax and enjoy shooting.

If you are a cheerful person by nature, do not hide it; if you are serious, do not try to pretend to be perky. Best photos- those in which a person fully expresses himself.

Tired of group photos with friends in which you look the worst?

Tired of putting pictures from the Internet on your avatar because you don’t have good photos?

If you answered “Yes” to at least one of the questions, this article is for you!

Good photographs are a symbiosis of preparation, some knowledge and practice. They rarely happen just like that, so if you want to increase the frequency of their appearance, use these tips.

Closed eyes

This is very common problem. Someone takes a photo, you stand there and think: “Don’t blink, don’t blink, don’t blink,” and in the end, you fell asleep in the photo.

Solution: When preparing to take a photo, close your eyes for a few seconds and open them slowly before the bird flies out. Trust me, it works.

If the photo must be taken with flash, look at the light source for a few seconds, your pupils will constrict and your eyes will be ready for the camera flash.

Double chin

Either you have it because you're fat, or it appears when you tilt your head down.

Solution: Keep your chin down. Every time you take a photo, you lift your chin and pull your head forward a little. Do this and no double chin!

Find your “working” side

Beckham, judging by the photo shoots, has a left working side.

Believe me, everyone has it. Look at the photos that you like, in which you think you turned out great, and try to find something in common in them - a pose, a turn of the head, a smile.

Oily facial skin

Oily skin shines in photographs and gives you an unhealthy wax figure look.

Solution: before the photo, remove sebum using napkins, special or ordinary, but at least toilet paper, the main thing is that you won’t shine like a Madame Tussauds exhibit.

Don't look at the camera head-on

The photo shows how unsymmetrical the face is, but the starry areola still does its job.

It is rare to meet a person with a perfectly symmetrical face, without any flaws or imperfections. If you are not perfect, do not take a full-face photograph, turn your “working” side to the camera.

Suitable lighting

Any professional photographer will tell you that lighting is... most important aspect high-quality photo. The first thing to avoid is direct artificial light shining down on you. It causes dark shadows to appear under the eyes and makes the face look tired.

Solution: ideal - diffused daylight light falling directly on you. Sunlight will make the complexion warmer and no shadows under the eyes.

Natural smile

Looks like he met an old friend by chance.

A smile pulled on specially for a photo is terrible if you don’t know how to “stretch” it correctly. A real one, on the contrary, will brighten up any photo, but you’re not always in the right mood.

How can you bring your smile closer to its natural appearance, even when you’re not in the mood?

You can remember some joke or funny incident from life and sincerely smile at it, which will ultimately be captured in the photo.

As you most likely know, a sign of a sincere smile is eye expression. If the eyelids squint a little, and facial folds appear at the corners of the eyes, then the emotion is most likely natural. Therefore, to get closer to this, smile not only with your mouth, but also with your eyes.

Pose

If you slouch, you look fatter, your chest is narrower, your back is like a wheel - all this will make the photo terrible.

Solution: correct posture, stand straight, shoulders back, chin up, plus a smile - and your photogenicity increases significantly!

Use your tongue

99% Ron in this photo is using this technique.

A trick of fashion models is to press your tongue against your teeth when you smile. At the same time, the facial muscles relax because you are focused on the tongue, and a relaxed face looks better in a photograph, plus there are fewer facial wrinkles.

Many girls face the problem of how to look good in photographs. Each of them considers herself not photogenic, but in most cases you can follow simple tips and the photos will turn out much better.

Ask any professional photographer, and he will answer you that there are no ugly people in nature, there is only a photographer who could not express inner beauty person in the photograph. But you can make the photographer’s job easier and find out simple rules, which will help even non-professional photographers to look good in photographs.

Find out which smile suits you

Before your photo shoot, it's best to find a smile that suits you. Don't be afraid to go to the mirror and practice. Try it different types smiles - modest, sincere, open. If you don't succeed the first time, don't give up - watch yourself.

Try to notice the moment when you sincerely laugh or smile at some joke, remember the pleasant moments in life - perhaps due to excessive rigidity you will not be able to do this the first time, but beautiful photo worth the effort.

Next time, before taking a photo, remember this smile (or better yet, practice it in front of the mirror several times) or just think about something pleasant and smile boldly.

The secret of a sincere smile is that a person smiles not only with his lips, his eyes also laugh, they reflect the same emotion. Try to smile so that your eyes reflect the same emotion.

When smiling, it is better not to hide your teeth if they are straight and white. If you are not confident in the condition of your own teeth, it is better to smile with a more closed smile.

Facial expression is the key to a successful photograph

Stiffness and enslavement in the presence of a photographer is the most common reason for failures during photography. Naturally, all our doubts are reflected on the face, it becomes gloomy or waxy. How to overcome this self-doubt?

Stiffness can just as easily be removed by training in front of a mirror. Find your best facial expression, remember it and try to repeat it several times. Try not to see the photographer as an enemy who wants to make you look terrible. Play along, relax, remember a pleasant joke. Enjoy the process of the photo shoot. Strive to show all of yourself.

Try to stay straight and straighten your chest with a wheel. Yes, this is the cruel truth of posing - it is not always convenient, but it is the most advantageous position for posing while sitting, or in full height - with this position, the back will not look hunched, and the pose will be as feminine as possible. Well, for the sake of beauty, you can wait a couple of minutes.

When posing, you need to pull your stomach in, tuck your butt in as much as possible, straighten your shoulders, and straighten your chest as much as possible - this way you will look fit in the photo, and this will help hide some figure flaws. However, to look natural in this pose and express sincerity with your face, you will have to practice a lot in front of the mirror.

Never spread your legs wide enough. It doesn't matter whether you stand or sit - this is a serious mistake when photographing. Even if you think that no one will notice this, believe me, everything will be perfectly visible in the photograph.

Try not to hide your hands in the photo. The eternal problem of all people is where to put your hands in the photo? For some reason, many girls try to hide them somewhere: put them behind their backs, grab onto their purses. In life, this pose looks quite normal, but in the photo it looks like people are missing some limbs. It looks pretty creepy.

When you look at something, try to open your eyes a little wider than they actually are - this will prevent small eyes from appearing in the photo.

Makeup for photos

Makeup is one of the most important aspects of photography. Correctly selected tone, shadows - for this it is better to turn to a professional, however, if this is not possible, and you have to paint yourself, try to highlight your advantages as much as possible. The paradox is that the less natural it looks at home, the more beautiful it will look in the photo. Outline your eyes or choose a rich lipstick - emphasize the advantages that you consider the most important. Don't forget about your complexion - it is very important to have an even tone.

Hairstyle

There is no need to talk much about the hairstyle - choose the one you like, the main thing is neatness and naturalness. You should not put your hair in an overly slicked ponytail, especially with blond hair - it seems that a girl with such a hairstyle has no hair at all. The rest is up to your wishes, but do not leave undyed roots or dry split ends. The basis of any girl’s beauty is a healthy and well-groomed appearance.

What not to do before you decide to take photos

Before taking photographs, it is necessary to adhere to some restrictions so that all the photographer’s work is not wasted. You can smile beautifully at the camera as much as you want and look great, but if you make obvious mistakes before taking photos, this can seriously spoil the entire impression of the result. Why convince yourself once again that you are not photogenic when you can look quite good in a photo?

It is better to take pictures two hours after you wake up. The fact is that the body accumulates fluid, and the face in the photographs immediately after waking up will come out swollen and with bruises under the eyes.

At least a day before the shoot, do not drink alcohol or eat large amounts of salty foods. It’s understandable why - alcohol worsens the condition of the skin, and salt will accumulate water in the body, and the face will look puffy. And if you have already drunk, then try, for example, with folk remedies.

It is better to take off your glasses before taking a photo - they create glare that will not allow your eyes to be seen.

When a group of people is being photographed, it is better to become denser, otherwise separate standing man will look aloof in the photo.

Try to spend as little time as possible looking for the right pose, then your body will lose its naturalness, but looking natural in a photograph is one of the basic rules.

Pay attention to your clothes - do not choose clothes that are too tight or too loose - this can ruin your figure.

Use heels for shoes. If they are not visible in the photo, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that they slim your legs and make your butt more toned and firm.

Take old pictures in which you turned out well, and analyze what you need to look good - pose, smile, clothes. Pay attention to all the little things you miss in life. Try to repeat the facial expression and smile as in successful photographs.

During the photo shoot

1. Where to look?

Very rarely do people look natural if they look into the lens and know that they are posing. Such a test is usually passed only by professional actors and models, as well as public people who are already accustomed to photography, have rehearsed everything to the smallest detail and are quite confident in themselves.

The reason lies in the fact that many of us are always looking for flaws in our appearance by looking at ourselves in the mirror. And in a bad mood, our facial muscles tense up differently.

When we are in an elevated and relaxed mood, the wrong muscles work. As a rule, in such a mood we do not look in the mirror. And we attribute the occasional shots taken by friends on soap boxes to a happy accident.

In fact, we do not know our real face and our body, we are embarrassed by our appearance and bury all the best that was given to us by nature and genes from our parents. And we don’t even suspect it. Deep down, we are even a little jealous of Hollywood stars who pose so effortlessly on the covers of glossy magazines. Plus very “friendly” criticism of our loved ones (parents, friends, neighbors, classmates, etc.), which is firmly ingrained in our memory.

Alas, we remember the bad things much better, and when we take pictures, we always remember all this. The eyes become dull, nodules and depressions appear where they were not there before, the shape and relief of the face change. And each subsequent photograph only confirms the already established opinion about my appearance: “I am not photogenic, I am naturally ugly, I have no charm and charisma, etc. etc.”

Therefore, never look DIRECTLY into the lens. Unless they specifically ask for it. It is better to look to the side, for example, at the photographer's ear, or up, looking at the clouds in the sky or the foliage of trees, or at nothing, listening to the noise of the street. Count the steps on the stairs over there, or remember and read the poems out loud. Keep your eyes and brain occupied with something. And don’t even think about being filmed!

In order not to blink when shooting and not to end up with half-drunk or closed eyes, close them for a few seconds and, at the photographer’s command, open them sharply. When shooting in a studio or in the sun, this trick helps prevent tears and squinting in bright light.

2. How to stand in front of the camera?

It’s much easier for guys and men to live and pose for photographs. :)))

All you need to do is stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart; in most cases, this pose will look natural in a photograph. And if your athletic build allows it, you can also tense your muscles a little to emphasize their relief.

Girls and women, oh, how difficult it is to stand up beautifully and naturally. After all, men evaluate and love us with their eyes! And our girlfriends strive to find another flaw in us... and fill us with honey of flattery.

If a man's figure consists of straight lines and angles, then in a woman's figure everything should be smooth, sinuous, curved and twisted, intertwined and braided.

Girls, never stand directly in front of the lens with your legs straight apart, unless the photographer himself asks you to do so! Always stand sideways and smoothly turn your whole body towards the lens until it says “Stop”!

The girl's head should tilt slightly to the side, in no case forward, towards the lens. Unsightly folds may form on the neck.

In addition, tilting the head forward looks quite aggressive and stubborn, like a bull's head. A slight turn or tilt of the head to the side will immediately make the photo much more feminine and advantageous. You can’t throw your head back sharply - it will give the impression of a broken neck.

Quite well-fed girls often develop some kind of pads near the armpits and mounds appear on the upper part of the arm. To disguise them, do not press your hands to your body, but, on the contrary, move them slightly to the side. U mature women The skin on the chin and neck may sag - do not press your chin to your neck and do not make sharp turns of your head to the side!

Stand on only one leg if standing. Stretch the other leg, bend it, lift it to the side. Your socks should not be parallel to each other and look straight into the lens, forming an almost straight line with your figure. It is better to place them at an angle of 30-60 degrees relative to each other.

When sitting, your knees should not be bent at right angles.

3. What to do with your head?

Advice for everyone: before the photo shoot, you need to wash your hair and dry it with a cold hairdryer!!!

Men have a choice: to comb their hair normally or tousle their hair well. A comb is necessary in any case.

Girls: do not hide their hair, unless some kind of catastrophe has happened to them: a bad hair coloring or haircut.

Loose hair will allow you to take much more interesting pictures than the most fashionable hairstyle. In terms of sexuality, the most attractive ones are those with long, slightly matted hair or very short crew cuts. Least sexy is smooth hair that is carefully styled or pulled back. They are more suitable for a business image.

Long and voluminous hair provides more opportunities for creativity: lighting, showing the dynamics of movement, emphasizing the beauty of the face and eyes. Hair can be thrown up, spread out, laid out on the floor, used as a screen and even clothing. Hair combed forward onto the forehead makes the look mysterious and enigmatic.

To increase the volume of your hair, comb it from the back of your head forward, and then throw your head back with a sharp movement. It is especially good to first comb wet hair with a large comb, dry it with a hairdryer, and then throw it back. And don't comb them anymore!!!

WITH short hair Another trick works better: lower your still wet head and vigorously shake it to the sides, like a dog shaking water off itself. And let your hair dry like that. The result will be a very natural and relaxed hairstyle, you might really like it. :)))

4. Let's learn acting!

We repeat once again: when a person looks at the camera for a long time, the photo will almost always show “no” facial expression, and in the eyes - at least the entire depth of space, but not intelligence or emotions...

To get lively and emotional photographs, you need to experience real emotions or depict them only at the moment of shooting. Professional actors and models are fluent in this art. They are very easy to remove, working with them is a real pleasure: they are like soft plasticine in experienced hands!

To the rest of the people in this not an easy task You will need quite energetic support from the photographer.

Evoking the desired mood and the right emotions in the person being photographed is, one might say, the same essential skill of a photographer as owning a camera. The photographer must be a good conversationalist, an actor and coach, and even a clown in order to relax a person, infect him with his mood and turn the photography process into an exciting game.

Remember, any artificial emotion fades away almost instantly. Therefore, to achieve a dazzling smile, you need to try this trick: turn away from the photographer, create the right mood in yourself, and at the moment of shooting, sharply turn to the photographer with a magnificent smile that cannot be controlled at this moment. This is done on the count: “One-two-three!”

This is how you get the most natural photos.

5. Where to put your arms and legs?

First: do not “ampute” your limbs!

The hands and feet should always be fully visible in the photograph. If you place one or both hands behind your head, your hands should be either on the top of your head or to the side of it and in the frame. Most worst option: hands hidden behind the back of the head.

If your hands are in your pockets, it is better to make sure that the skin of your hands is completely hidden by clothing. If your hand is bare, then it is better NOT to put it in your pockets in any case...

It is also highly undesirable to place your hands behind your back, especially if there are no sleeves.

Dark or contrasting boots, socks or short boots on bare legs visually cut them off. Such legs do not look aesthetically pleasing in the photo. The exception is high-heeled shoes, as well as open summer shoes in soft colors.

When shooting in an interior, you should always show off your arms and legs in front of the lens, and not hide them behind a table, stool, or sofa.

Second: hands must be in motion or occupied

Any action or emotion in the photo will appear unnatural if both hands or one of the hands dangle lifelessly in the air. Therefore, it is better to analyze your body position at the time of photographing and do something with your hands. When taking a waist-length portrait, ALWAYS keep your arms bent at the chest and head area. Do whatever you want with them, just don't put them down!

This is especially true if you play some role in the picture. A dangling arm or arms will negate any acting excellence.

Third: a sneaky perspective

Anything that is stretched out or tilted forward towards the lens will be distorted in the photograph: head, torso, arms, elbows, legs. This distortion does not always turn out interesting and attractive in the picture. The necessary parts of the body may fall out of focus. As a result, a lot of frames have to be discarded precisely for this reason.

Therefore, only an experienced photographer can predict in advance the result of an experiment with angles. If he doesn’t ask you to take such a pose, don’t even think about such an initiative. Imagine that you are a wooden man between two glass plates, and your freedom of movement is slightly limited. All body parts can be moved parallel to these plates.

For example, when showing off your hair or collar with your hands, it is better to spread your elbows to the sides rather than pointing them in the direction of the camera.

When sitting cross-legged or on the floor, do not point your foot towards the lens. It is better to extend your toes to the side or towards the floor so that your knees are closer to the camera, not your feet.

And one more nuance related to perspective.

Don't turn your nose up, otherwise you might end up with a funny little snout instead of a normal nose in the photo. In addition, there is a risk of earning bulldog jaws in addition to this. And do not lower your nose too low so that it does not run over your lips. It happens that the forehead expands to an incredible width. Combined with a close look into the lens, the result is a portrait a la Kashpirovsky.

Therefore, listen carefully to the photographer’s commands: to the side, a little higher, no, lower, double!

6. How to move?

Due to modern life, the difference has become very sharp not only in physique, but also in posture, in the movements of people who are actively involved in sports and dancing, and office-sofa loungers. Sometimes this difference in photographs becomes simply stunning. Therefore, please read this section carefully.

Any movement can be decomposed into a series of phases that continuously replace each other: beginning, middle and end.

As a rule, the most interesting movements are those that are completed completely.

Movements that were “stopped” in the intermediate phase do not always turn out as aesthetically pleasing in the photographs.

When a particularly good angle or an interesting pose comes across, the photographer may exclaim: “Stop!” - and instantly snap a series of frames. He may ask you to repeat the movement again. Show me how to do the same thing differently. Be calm about everything.

Therefore, you need to move SMOOTHLY in front of the camera and try to freeze a little longer than usual in extreme points movements when any gesture or movement is completed to the end or until the command “Stop!” Count: “One-two-three-four” and linger a little: “One-two.” And then we move smoothly again and count down: “One-two-three-four”... - this will be the optimal speed of movements and changes of poses. And posing is not tiring, and you can have time to shoot a particularly advantageous angle.

Why can’t you make sudden and unnecessary body movements? Firstly, it’s harder for a photographer to catch an interesting moment, angle and immediately compose beautiful frame. Moreover, even with good lighting There is a risk of getting blurry images. Extra movements only distract attention and tire the photographer. At this time he scrolls through the options and thinks: “No, it doesn’t fit... and this doesn’t fit... and this too!”

Note to men: at the moment when the photo is taken, you need to take a sharp breath, suck in your stomach and stretch out so that your whole body is tense. The figure will be more photogenic, and the definition of the muscles will add more attractiveness to the photo.

Girls: move your shoulders and pelvis back!!! Bend your lower back!!! Flex your body! And also inhale through your chest - your stomach will retract a little.

However, the chosen pose should not be tiring: swollen veins and tense tendons will not decorate anyone in the picture unless this was specifically intended.

7. What's next?

We sit down at the computer and look at the photo catches together. We immediately discard unsuccessful shots and mark them interesting points and select the most successful photographs. I often do this in the middle of a photo shoot so that the person can figure out how best to stay in front of the lens to get the desired result.

As a rule, after the first viewing, the percentage of good and excellent shots increases sharply.

Photo portraits are used in almost all areas of our social life. We want to look beautiful in our passports, in our resumes and on our social network pages, we want to be attractive and for everyone to love us. But we don’t always look beautiful in photos. close up. It turns out that it can be not only about appearance, but also about how exactly we carry ourselves in photographs. Below you will find 7 simple tips, which will help you look much better in portrait photos.

1. Find your best angle

All faces are asymmetrical. That's why one side usually turns out better than the other. Do you need to empirically find out which side of your face and at what angle to the camera looks most advantageous? Then for any portrait shooting face the photographer with her.

2. “Adjust” the squint

For some reason, it is believed that you have to look into the lens with your eyes wide open. Yes, for many it is the right decision, but not for everyone. There are quite a lot of people who, with such a facial expression, look surprised, scared or not very smart. What to do? Experiment with squinting. For example, for many movie stars, such as Sharon Stone, Drew Barrymore or Angelina Jolie, such a squint helps make their gaze more convincing and attentive.

3. Don't overdo it with your smile.

A too wide smile doesn't suit everyone. It looks unnatural, especially in combination with wide open eyes (see previous paragraph) And besides, it emphasizes wrinkles. Smile more subtly and your face will look more pleasant.

4. Watch your cheeks

Especially those who are naturally endowed with large cheeks or developed cheekbones, in order to look more attractive in portrait photos, should try to visually reduce the volume of their face. According to the advice of professional photographers, here's how you can easily solve this problem: turn your better side with the camera half a turn, about 30 degrees. And press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This will visually narrow your face.

5. Don't do the duck-beak or chicken-butt pout.

Contrary to the opinion of many girls, “duck” lips do not decorate the face at all, but on the contrary. Therefore, do not pout your lips, but purse them slightly, as if you want to kiss someone. Do not pull them into a tube.

When your face is slightly lower than the camera, you will look into it as if slightly upward, stretching your neck. This will make the photo more successful. Conversely, when the camera is looking at you from below, your face will appear more massive and less attractive.

7. Lift your chin

If you decide to take a profile photo, raise your chin. This way your neck will stretch out and become visually longer, your cheeks will become narrower, your face will become more expressive, and the double chin will also disappear if one suddenly appears.