What to do with my face?

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  • I have a problem when it comes to posing for photos. I have no idea what to do with my face...

    I've tried so hard to try different expressions, but I feel like the majority of my photos end up with the same face. One time I tried to do "sexy" and all the pics looked like I was about to sneeze. Does anyone have tips for making your face look more interesting in photos? I feel like my default expression is bored.

  • Practice in the mirror. Try with basic emotions first, (happy, sad, angry, etc) and get used to how your face feels while you are making those faces. Also, study your angles so you naturally move your face to highlight your best features. Practicing these things will help posing come more naturally when you are getting your photo taken.

    Also, if you have smaller eyes like I do, try to intentionally widen your eyes. Not enough to look surprised, but enough to make you look like you aren't glaring lol

    Another tip is to keep your lips slightly parted. It keeps you from looking tense or bored.

    You will also want to know how to find your light. Try not to tilt your head too far down; instead keep your head held high. You'll feel like you have your nose in the air, but it helps keep your face lit and prevents unfortunate double chin incidents xD

    If you have a rounder face, try dropping your jaw slightly and lightly sucking in your cheeks. It will feel weird, but it will make your face look thinner. That is something you should practice too though, otherwise you might end up with fish face lol

    Honesty my best advice is just to practice. Real expressions tend to be more subtle, but for photos you will want to really exaggerate your facial expressions. It's hard to do if you aren't looking at yourself, so a mirror really is your best friend until you get used to how your face feels in each pose.

  • I agree with the previous poster. Also, some people can do "outside in" easier than "inside out" when it comes to facial expressions for the camera so you can either try mimicking how you think it looks from the outside or you can play pretend and try to make the facial expression some out and turn that up by 150%.

    I do panels on posing for cosplay photos and have been condensing some of the biggest points into several tumblr posts here:

    [url]http://wjscosplayphotography.tumblr.com/post/128802273305/posing-tips-for-cosplay-photos-part-1-of-many[/url]

    [url]http://wjscosplayphotography.tumblr.com/post/139159185605/posing-tips-for-cosplay-photos-part-2[/url]

    Hope that helps.

  • great informational post WJS

  • I've tried looking up images of facial expressions/emotions before and trying to copy/portray them in the mirror. Practice is what I think is the key and try to get expressions you like into your muscle-memory. Also posing with your hands or props to your face can help. Like if you're trying to do a sexy face, try biting your fingernail or something. Something else I have tried is to imagine you're looking at someone when you're making an expression, like imagine your friend is wherever you're looking and think of something happy or funny and it will make your smile will look more genuine.

    Also you do not need to pose to avoid a double-chin or suck in your face or anything else to make yourself look thinner. You're already beautiful the way you are!

  • I found this quite helpful back in the day
    [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff7nltdBCHs[/url]

    Peter is an amazing guy, and has a phenomenal understanding of human face/light/posing

  • There is a lot of great stuff here on this post.

    I'd like to add if your character smiles a lot try to make yourself laugh a little. Usually my photographer is my friend Jen so she knows how to make me laugh but if you don't have someone like that try finding something that will make you laugh. I like to make that noise that Bayamax makes when he fist bumps in BH6 or any of Caboose's lines from Red vs Blue. Laughing helps make the smile seem more natural and it helps loosen you up a little.