Schonhose

Recently I have moved from shooting landscapes to shooting people. Don’t worry, instead of a gun I use a camera to do all my shooting. One thing I find fascinating working with people is how to make them look their best. We all have some unflattering photographs which we rather want to hide in the back of the closet. Not only does that prevent other people actually seeing them, it appears they also scare the rodents away.

If you scrounge the internet you will find various resources detailing with tips and tricks on how to look thin in photographs. It is no secret, the camera usually adds about 10 pounds (around 5kg) mostly due to unflattering lighting. In a studio shoot you can control the lighting but outdoors this is somewhat of a challenge (although not impossible).

However, as a model you can do some things as well. Here are 5 secrets you can use to loose the 10 pounds the camera adds (courtesy of Julyne Derrick of About.com):

1. Turn partially sideways to the camera, planting one foot in front of the other. Point your toe to the camera and place your weight on your back foot.
2. Pull head forward slightly to minimize any appearance of a double chin.
3. Hold arms slightly away from your body. This keeps upper arm flab from flattening out and therefore appearing flabbier (much like thighs do when one sits on a couch).
4. Pull shoulders back, chest forward and gently suck stomach in. Be careful not to suck stomach so far in that your ribs show, thereby causing those who later see the photo to cluck to themselves in a bemused, sing-song voice, “She’s sucking i-in.”
5. If you can get away with it without looking like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl wannabe, try the look away trick. To do this, look away from the camera, then turn towards it, breaking into a smile just before the camera clicks. Your smile will appear fresh, not frozen. This trick takes practice behind closed, locked doors.