How to Look Great in Photos: The Ultimate Guide
- Chani Anderson
- Mar 8, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 5, 2023
or How to Look less Minger more Dinger for the Corkonian Paps.
‘No don’t get me in it, I ruin photos!’
If I’d a cent for every time I heard this, well let’s just say I wouldn’t be arsed writing this blog now.
The thing is, I hear ya, there’s a good reason why I started hiding behind the camera rather than in front of it. Focusing on our uglies is human nature & when I look at myself in pictures the flabby skin around my jowls and my gomey tooth are all I see.
It doesn’t help that we are constantly bombarded with body positivity nowadays (I think it is officially a stonable offence to say someone’s bum looks big).
We all go around telling each other we are pure beors, then someone takes our pic in Reardon's and we realise we are less fine-thing and more car-crash.
Still, on the odd occasion, someone manages to snap a pic of me where I don’t look like the rejected love child of Mama Frateli and an Oompa Loompa and it got me thinking , why did I look good then and not five seconds earlier.
Well I’ve spent the last 2798 hours watching You Tube videos (you’re welcome) and here it is:
My Complete (Corkonian's) Guide & Top Tips to looking Hot in Photos.
So read on to learn how you can all look like proper Cork lashers up there on Insta....
Of course if you prefer instant gratification you can just skim my Top Tips below.
Top Tip: Get to know your own face & memorise your favourite go to expression.
Top Tip: Set the alarm 10 minutes earlier every morning so there is time slap on some paint & powder and adopt a clothing style & colours that work for you now.
Top Tip: Posing your body is about making or faking curves. Never stand or sit straight on and create some interesting angles with your limbs.
Top Tip: Smiling is great but it has to be real or just don’t bother, find some nice light and tilt your face towards it.
Top Tip: Don't assume your photographer knows more that you, feel free to direct & make them retake shots until you are happy.
Top Tip: Looking great on the outside starts on the inside, being the best version of yourself possible takes effort, time and a commitment to love yourself.
My name is Chani Anderson, a Portrait, PR & Travel Photographer from Cork City. Inspired by these incredible women among others I recently quit the day job to launch www.capturesbychani and am now making it my mission to inspire others that it's never too late to be amazing & follow your dream. Join me on my journey @captures_by_chani
Step #1: Flirt with Yourself!
Get to know & love (or mildly tolerate) your own face.
There is no way around it, if you want to look like a big ride you need to know your best angles. So, the next time you have a few minutes to spare while waiting for the bus, pull out your phone and make big pouty lips and doe eyes at yourself in the selfie camera. All the cool people do it so nowadays you won’t look crazy or anything. Of course, if you were born last century like me, you could always use the bathroom mirror instead.
The idea is that you need to know your own face, figure out if you have a good side, what smile not to use unless you are trying to make friends with a horse, and memorise your favourite go to expression. Then, when you’re told to strike-a-pose at the very least you won't panic and look like a trout.
Step #2: Embrace your Inner Drag Queen!
or at least avoid the dragged through a hedge backwards look.
This is another one I’m working on myself. I won’t lie, As the skivvy to three kids, packs of animals and a husband with the morning disposition of a disgruntled grizzly, the five minutes I have to myself at the start of the day is mostly about coffee. Brushing my own hair often feels like an extravagance I just don’t have time for, never mind lippy!
But I recently read it takes Panty Bliss 3 hours to get into make-up, which guilted me into action and I have started to set the alarm 10 minutes earlier every morning so there is time slap on some paint & powder and leave the house looking (slightly) more Barbie than Boris.
I can tell you honestly, it feels good. My confidence has boosted no end and if I spot the Paps hovering around Passage West, I will happily be camera fodder.
Oh and clear out that damn wardrobe, even if you lose a few pounds are you really going to start wearing those hot pants that looked great on you 10 years ago? Adopt a clothing style & colours that work for you now & fill the drawers with choice pieces that make you feel foxy & confident so you actually want to wear them.
The next step for me is to upgrade my Aldi branded foundation & mascara (but I am not giving up my Spice Girl runners ever!)
Step #3: Remaster those Sir Henry's Dance Moves.
& think angles when positioning your limbs and hips.
If you are Barbie, then you can stand however you bloody like so skip to Step 5.
Phew, now that she is gone, read on cos the rest of us, beanpoles and beanbags alike all need to know these tricks.
Posing your body is about making or faking curves, getting them in the right places is about perspective, remember Dougal’s cows in Father Ted? If something is closer to the camera it looks longer and bigger.
First engage your core (if you think I’m talking about apples start with section 5 and work backwards).
Spin your body 45° to the side, shoulders back, lean your hip and weight into the back leg and put the other leg in front, turn your torso and lean in slightly towards the camera.
Hold your arms slightly out from your body and create some interesting angles with your limbs, this is great fun in group shots, especially if barbie is beside you.
If you are sitting same applies, angle your legs towards the camera so they look longer and don’t squish your body parts together.
Your fingers are not sausages so engage your hands or put them in your pockets (thumb out!) and point your toes.
Got all that?
If you lost me at spin then just keep moving like Stevie-G is in the house and get someone to keep snapping, you’re bound to get lucky with one of the shots.
Step #4: Hide your Tonsils and Excess Chins
& other useful tips for facial expressions.
Cheese…good with a nice bottle of plonk, terrible in photos, if your photographer mentions the word fire them immediately.
Try this one, fake laugh for a couple of seconds, go on give it gusto, throw a snort in, there you go. Did it turn real? This works even better in a group, (however if anyone ends rolling around the floor with leakage from their eyes and nose best to stop shooting for a while).
With or without the smile, make sure you find some nice light (nothing too harsh) & turn your face towards it.
Tilt your head to the side slightly.
Chin forward & down.
Lips open a smidge.
Eyes either piercing the lens (without becoming a deer in headlights) or focused somewhere else entirely.
Now smoulder!
Step #5: Become a Bossy Bitch
& don't be too timid to educate your photographer.
I remember my first shoot with professional models, they were all over it, telling me exactly where they wanted to stand for the right light and shadows to highlight their cheekbones (See Step 3). Commanding me take pictures I thought were fine over and over so they could perfect their elbow angle or because they had forgotten to point a big toe, yes that's a thing! (See Step 4)
Of course, I came across as an absolute plank, but it worked, and I ended up with some incredible shots of the wagons.
So don't assume your photographer knows more that you (they may crazily not have read this blog yet) and feel free to direct & make them retake shots until you look pure vogue even without a filter.
Step #6: Go Zen for the Shits & Giggles
Beauty (& core muscles) start on the inside, so downward-dog let's be having you.
I know, I know, pukey cliché alert, but it’s true. I’m completely allergic too, but I struggled to find a you tube video tutorial that was being given by someone who looked like they eat Hillbillies curry chips on a regular basis.
If you want to figure out if you were genuinely born without the ability to do a sit up then I guess you have to rule out the sheer bloody laziness excuse first. Don’t get me wrong I embrace all body shapes, but this is about being the best version of yourself possible and that takes effort, time and a commitment to love yourself.
I’m not talking about extremes here, whatever works for you.
That said I do have a couple of friends who seem to live on a diet of spinach juice & mung beans, they do yoga daily and take the kids paddle boarding & hiking at the weekend, and you know what, they look amazing (the hoors). Not only that but they are the most positive people I know, they have buckets of energy, and they smile all the time with (what appears to be) genuine happiness.
There it’s been said. I’m going to just leave it there for you to mull on while I cry into my full fat, double chocolate chai latte and watch Joe Wicks do another lunge.
My Inspiration & Favourite Cork Muses:
My name is Chani Anderson, a Portrait, PR & Travel Photographer from Cork City. I lied at the start of my blog when I said I got all these tips from You Tube, the truth is all the incredible female influencers I need in my life are right in here Cork City. Inspired by these amazing women among others I recently quit the day job to launch www.capturesbychani and am now making it my mission to inspire others that it's never too late to follow your dream. Join me on my journey @captures_by_chani
For motivation to get off your arse when it comes to wellness & exercise check out my guru Hazel Buckley & download her new app!
(and big thanks to Hazel for letting me use her images for this blog - proof her practice works!)
Need a bazzer?? Val & her team in Ikon hair are cutting edge & the chats are great too.
Not sure what to wear? Fashionista extraordinaire & internet sensation Emily O’Donoghue has you covered
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