Smile with your eyes

Do you dislike having your picture taken because you always seem to come out looking hideous? Have you ever been on a date with someone whose online photo knocked you out but whose appearance in real life turned out to be a bit uninspiring?

What's the deal with pictures? While being photogenic just comes naturally to some people, there are a few things that anyone can do to look better in photos. Try out the tricks in this article and stop running for cover whenever the camera comes out.

Wear clothes with colours that suit you.

Certain colours complement certain skin tones, while others tend to bring out the worst. Also take into consideration your hair colour. You may have a feel for which colours you look best in, but if not, do some research and some trial-and-error.

Determine your best angle

Beyond the obvious hiding of blemishes, finding the right angle for your face can be a bit more difficult. The best thing you can do is experiment using a digital camera so that you can immediately see the results of each pose.

It will very quickly become obvious which angles are most flattering for you, and you can then use that angle as much as possible in the future. The classic model's pose is to arrange your body 3/4 toward the camera with one foot in front of the other and one shoulder closer to the camera than the other.

Get rid of a double chin

Tilt your head down slightly and try to position yourself so that the camera is a little above your eye level. This will hide a double chin fairly effectively. You can also put one hand under your chin as though you're resting your head on your hand (keep the thumb side of your hand out of the camera's view, if possible).

Don't actually rest any weight on the hand, however, or you will push the skin into an unflattering position. Also try resting your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

Stick your neck out

One trick models often use is to present a 3/4 pose to the camera (turn your head so that 3/4 of it is exposed to the camera, as opposed to a full frontal shot) and then lift your neck and slightly tilt your head down, as though you are a turkey sticking its head out (without actually thrusting your chin out). This improves facial definition and helps ameliorate wrinkles and flabby skin.

Relax

Many people end up looking odd in photos because they freeze into odd facial expressions with a "say cheese" type of smile on their face. If you are used to having bad pictures taken of yourself, you probably get nervous in front of the camera, and this can make things even worse.

Smile with your eyes

Nothing projects happiness and beauty like smiling eyes: a happy, somewhat mischievous expression of the eyes.

To achieve this effect, imagine that the camera is a person you have a crush on walking into the room.

This will create wider open eyes and a relaxed smile. Chances are you unconsciously do this all the time; the trick is to be able to bring it out on demand, so practice the smiling eyes in front of a mirror.