Looking good in pictures...

[CoasterMatt]

Photographers keep telling me to "stop making faces"...
It's kind of depressing, I just look that way

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Your MySpace pages are lovely.

I'm not particularly photogenic, but I'm pretty sure that I look like myself in photographs, for better or worse.

[Isaac]

Call me (and remind me to charge my camera's battery).

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I also think your myspace pictures look lovely. Especially the one with the really perky breasts. (I think that might describe all of them, though.)

Alex suggested fill lighting, and on this I wholeheartedly agree. More lighting-- try from different angles-- is the key to professional pictures.

[€uroMeinke]

I'm with the take a lot of pictures camp - have fun experiment and see what looks good, maybe play around with different outfits as well.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I also think your myspace pictures look lovely.

In the name of constructive criticism (I too think your myspace photos are charming), take these comments from people who know you in person with a grain of salt.

More than once I've seen a photo of someone I didn't know, came away with one impression of their attractiveness, then met them in real life to find them more attractive than I thought. So I thought, "Ah, bad photo." Then I went back to look at the photo after having met them...and suddenly the photo doesn't seem to make them look as less attractive as I first thought. So I think we have a tendency unconsciously extrapolate our real-life impression from a photo of someone we know. So unless it's a gawd awful shot, those of us who know you will likely always be slightly less critical of your photos than people who haven't met you in person.

[BarTopDancer]

I don't like my smile in photos. It's too big and looks fake. So I try and smile like I was laughing. But I forget.

I took care of the main cause of disdain of my photos though.

I think we should have a photo party.

[blueerica]

GD - Yeah, it is something I've considered, but I also consider how I look at pictures of people I do know. Even when they look different, I assimilate the differences into the person I know. This person saw me and was completely surprised. I could tell by the look on her face, but then hearing it from my friend the same night (obviously, she made a point of telling him), and his agreeing that I should probably get some better pictures taken of me kinda made me look at how I've viewed "getting my picture taken" for my entire life. He's known me for some time now and probably did the thing I do with my friends' pics.

Myspace photos jogged the issue... but nearly 3 decades of bad (or at least not so good) photos are what's making me seek out ways to look better in front of a camera. I don't really need to be unhappy with photos anymore, so I'm going to do a lot of the suggestions here. I may try this out over the weekend.

[blueerica]

Oh my goodness, I meant to thank everyone that's posted here! I knew I wasn't alone in this plight, so the suggestions and the relating have been really great.

[wendybeth]

I am horribly un-photogenic, and yet I married a photog. I have always hated getting pictures taken and have avoided it to the best of my ability my entire life. I am one of the whitest people I know, and I always looked washed out and ill in pictures. I really hope I look better in person.