As a make-up artist and hair stylist in Orange County, CA…I love to share ‘trick of the trade‘ and ‘beauty secrets‘ to all my clients.  I came across this make-up and beauty blog by Karen today and found it very helpful and would like to share it with everyone.  I hope all my clients, friends, and family find ‘how to look your best in pictures‘ helpful for your next engagement photography session with your photographer, wedding day photography poses , senior portraits and photo shoot session, and modeling photo shoots.

• Try a 3/4 pose. If you’re standing, turn slightly and rest your weight on one foot. If you’re sitting, angle slightly to one side or the other. Doing so angles the body, tips the shoulders a little and angles the head just a bit. It adds dimension to your pics and looks more interesting and natural than a straight-ahead pose.
• Lean slightly toward the camera. It adds interest, dimension and looks natural, too. Think of having a long neck like a giraffe. Tilt your chin down slightly to hide any double chin/s and to block the camera’s view up your nostrils.
• Learn, like Tyra says, to smile with your eyes. Think coy and demure, like a cougar luring her prey to come closer by acting harmless and innocent. Huge ear-to-ear smiles focus attention on your gums and can make you look like you’re squinting.
• Think BAM! Practice a picture pose trigger. Models are taught to change their state of mind in an instant by developing a trigger. When they’re about to have their picture taken, even if they feel like crap, they fire their trigger and BAM! — great photo. One trigger you hear a lot about is called the rear cheek squeeze.

  Don’t laugh, but it’s just like it sounds — you squeeze the cheeks of your rear end together and hold them that way for the shot. Try it in your next picture.

• Keep looking up! That is, don’t look directly at the lens; look slightly above it. It brightens the eyes in pictures and makes you look more vibrant and alive.