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Not everybody is comfortable posing in front of a camera.
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It can add 10 pounds to your figure, make you look older than you really are or accentuate any number of perceived flaws. Good news: You can do many things to make yourself look better when the camera gets pulled out, and they won’t cost you a dime.
As we all get together for family reunions and outings with friends, you can put your best self forward in front of those pesky smartphones.
1. Stay away from morning photo shoots. In the mornings, our eyes can appear droopy and saggy, says Charlotte “Ginger” DiNunzio, 50, a Morro Bay, California-based photographer whose specialty is photographing families. You’ll look better later. “The face needs to relax,” says DiNunzio, who makes it a point to meet with clients in the latter part of the day, “when lighting is so much softer.”
Shade does more than protect from sunburn
2. Keep out of direct sunlight. “It accentuates the wrinkles,” she says. In the shade, the features that bother most people, including lines and body marks, are less visible.
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3. Get that camera at eye level or above. Being photographed with the camera at an angle underneath you will make you look fat, old and monsterlike. The classic shot of the Frankenstein monster from the 1931 horror film was taken from this angle. The camera needs to be at either eye level or looking down at you so your jowls won’t be emphasized.
“Anyone with the slightest hint of a double chin will look fatter when shot from below,” DiNunzio says. But with the camera looking down at you, “the chin and body look slimmer.”
4. Twist toward the shooter. Turn at a slight angle to the photographer. Why? Because it will make you look thinner.
Groups don’t have to be disorganized
5. Take charge and arrange everyone for a group photo. Don’t leave the order to chance. The heaviest person goes in the middle, and the slimmest people go on the outside so the largest person doesn’t stand out.
“I know this from experience,” says DiNunzio, who recalls a shoot when she was heavier. “I was once photographed with three friends who were all slim, and I was on the outside and looked 5 feet wide. Never again.” She has since shed 50 pounds.
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