The majority of Americans have access to a camera, especially since modern phones come equipped with them. And the need for a perfect photogenic smile has grown with this trend. Because social media sites and online portfolios typically suggest users upload a personal photo, that photo of you is often seen by hundreds. Therefore, it’s important to be happy with your photo.
Whatever the occasion for your next photo, follow these tips to perfect your smile:
Smile
We cannot stress this enough: if you’re overly anxious, it will show through your photo. A forced smile will make you look tense. Relaxing looks differently for everyone. This could mean doing a couple of yoga poses before your picture is taken, picturing a familiar face, listening to music, or doing something silly. Figure out what works for you.
Because it’s also important for your body to relax, taking a few deep breaths will also work wonders.
Dress the part
If you know you’re getting your picture taken for something important and you don’t typically do well with photos, dressing to impress can help you out. If it’s a big enough occasion and you have the money to do it, treat yourself to something new. Surprisingly, what you wear can help you exude confidence.
Beyond the outfit you choose, lipstick color can come into play here. Wear a color you like and feel comfortable with. If your teeth are yellow, wine or plum shades can make your teeth appear whiter in photos. Be cautious with extreme colors or extra bright or dark shades because they can have the reverse effect.
Focus on Posture
Posture is more than just being relaxed. Certain postures may look unnatural or strained. The easiest bit of advice here is to be natural. However, if natural doesn’t work for you, try sitting up straight, turning your head ever so slightly, and dropping your chin a tiny bit. Be careful, however, drop your chin too much and you might give yourself chin folds.
See A Dentist
Your lack of confidence may be due to dental health issues. If the problem involves your front teeth or gums, a picture may catch that. To fix this, you may need to visit a dentist. Depending on what it is you want to work on, this could be a one-appointment fix such as teeth bleaching or multiple appointments for gaps or chips.
Close Your Eyes
Do you ever look at a picture of yourself and realize you blinked? Yeah, me too. Our body is naturally programmed to blink and taking a picture does not stop this process. We found that the best way to beat the odds here is to close your eyes right before the photo, that way the cycle resets itself.
Opening your eyes right before the photo helps you look more alert. It also moisturizes your eyes so that they look nice and bright.
One last perk here is that closing your eyes for a few seconds may also help you feel more relaxed.
Practice
Just like everything else you try to perfect, finding your perfect photo-ready smile requires practice. Luckily our phones offer front-facing cameras that make it easy to practice. And if holding the phone and snapping a photo yourself is too demanding for you and you don’t want to ask someone else to take the picture, self timers work great too.
Follow these super-simple tips and you’ll be dazzling everyone with your perfect photogenic smile in no time!
