I get this statement from my clients a lot: “I never look good in my pictures”, “I hate getting my pictures clicked” or “I feel so uncomfortable in front of the camera! If feel odd and tense and all awkward and then I don´t like my photos because I look odd and tense and all awkward”.
Well, the first thing I want to tell you is to relax because that happens to most of people! So many of my clients express this fear to get their photos clicked. Imagine how common it is that it even has a name: it is called Camera Shyness, and if you think you have it, you came to the right place, because I’m going to give you 10 tips you can start applying right now to transform how you see yourself in your photos. Granted!
A good photographer will always guide you during the Photo Session to get your best pictures, but this is also tricky because the photographer needs to know you at least a little to understand what kind of content and poses will match your personality. That is why the first thing I recommend you is to have a face-to-face session with your photographer and explain to her or him what you want out of your session and what is your approach to it. Most photographers even have a questionnaire to help both parts understand what is the best approach for your Photo Session.
That includes guidance for your outfit, what props to use, the kind of makeup if any, what style and theme to apply, and of course how to pose and act once you are getting your photos clicked. So, don’t be afraid and share honest and openly with your photographer what do you expect from your Photoshoot. At the end of the day your are investing your money and your time to get a final product that satisfies you. Better to make the best out of it!
Once you have told to your photographer what do you want and both sides agree in how to go through it, here are 10 tips that will help you feel better in front of the camera and will definitely enhance the final result.
Let’s get to it!
1. Probably you are your worse critic
Is it possible that no one agrees with you in how bad you look in your pictures? That’s because we generally are our worse critic. We obsess about what we don’t like about ourselves and tend to overlook our strong points. Be kind and nice to yourself. Learn to accept and love your body the way it is. And I’m saying this not only for the sake of better pictures but for the sake of better lives: we have so much pressure to look on a certain way that we keep comparing our bodies to unattainable beauty references, and then we blame ourselves for not being up to the mark.
I say screw that! Your goal should be to have the healthiest body possible, not the one that the last rockstar or the influencer of the moment tells you to. Stop comparing and start enjoying your body. After everything it does for your every single day, don’t you think it deserves some love and compassion from you?
2. Learn how to dress for your body type and your features
To get the best result out of your Photo Session you need to understand what looks better on you. That means to understand which colors suit your skin complexity and which type of outfit highlights the strengths of your figure. It takes a little time and research but the efforts are totally worth it.
3. Learn how to pose
Don’t get too overwhelmed for how it sounds. Of course no one expects you pose like a professional model but there are a bunch of things you can apply to get closer to them.
– First and foremost, relax and roll your shoulders back, no slouching, please!
– Engage your core (yes, honey, we do abs while getting our photos clicked!), this will automatically give you a better alignment of your body and will help you suck your tummy in.
– Chin forward and down.
– Create negative space with your limbs. This means that instead of totally dropping your arms, try giving some nice angles and play around with your limbs. Placing one hand on your waist, shifting your weight to one leg or positioning one hand near your face are very simple examples you can try. By the way, this also applies to your head: tilt it to different angles and find your favorite.
– If you want your arms to look thinner don’t press them against your body because they will automatically look bigger. Same goes for your thighs in sitting positions: try lifting them to make them appear thinner. Generally for males it goes opposite: if you want your arms to look bigger and stronger try pressing them a little against your body and you will look more pump up!
4. Find your best body and face angles
Practice some poses and facial expressions and know which ones look good on you so that when you are in front of the camera you can always recur to those life savers and keep going. Practice especially smiling with eyes and opening just a tiny bit your lips with your jaw relaxed. Smiling is ok but don’t laugh too hard because as fun as cute that is in a Photo Session, it generally doesn’t look good in the final photo.
5. Understand that not everything in Social Media is real
You need to know that even with professional models as much as 100 shoots are required in order to get the perfect one that you see on TV or in Social Media. No matter how good we all are: Getting the perfect photography takes time, a lot of effort and maybe even post-edition. So do yourself a favor and have realistic expectations.
6. Discover your strong points and work on and with them
We are often so fast to list the qualities we don’t like about us but we all have amazing unique qualities that make us be ourselves and no one else. Maybe you have beautiful eyes, or a stunning smile or some part of your figure you are really proud of. Discover your better attributes and use them during your Photo Session, you will like much more how the final result will come up and it will boost your confidence.
7. Don’t be afraid of experimenting
Your Photoshoot is your space to try what you really want to express. That is why the first meeting with your photographer is so important: they will help you to approach the session in a way that resonates with your personality and what you carry inside. A good photographer will always encourage you to experiment and try things beyond your comfort zone if that’s what you feel. Don’t feel embarrassed and let your creativity flow: there is where the magic happens!
8. Relax and show your personality
This point is tightly related with the previous one: allow your photographer capture you. Your real you. Part of why so many people freeze in front of the camera is because there is nowhere to hide: it is a moment of truth where there is only you. This can be very challenging but it can be also extremely liberating and empowering! Be yourself. Show us your true colors and shine!
9. Get used to look at yourself from the other side of the mirror
One of the reasons some people don’t like how they look in their pictures is because they are used to see themselves in a mirror and what you see in a photo is its mirrored image! Think about it. As much as we want our faces to be absolutely symmetric that’s actually never the case. And definitely there are subtle differences between seeing your face directly or a mirrored image. That’s why most people have a favorite profile. If when looking at your photos you have that faint feeling of not being yourself, is because what you consider yourself is what the mirror gives you back every morning. You are just not used to see yourself from that angle. One of the best things you can do is to get used to it: just get more and more photos clicked and recognize yourself in them.
10. Have fun! This is a process!
It makes little sense to get involved in a creative process like a Photoshoot just to suffer and struggle. Loosen up and have fun! Maybe your first one will not be perfect, but practice makes the master. Take it easy and enjoy the process!
