Ways to Look Better In Pictures

Summer is almost here and that means taking lots of snapshots, but making people look pretty in pictures is no easy job -- professional photographers get paid lots and lots of money to do just that (more than any other creative professionals, actually). Even so, you can improve the look of just about anyone (including yourself) with some basic photo-taking and -editing tips, the best of which we've compiled here. All of our suggestions can be executed using simple, inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras and free post-processing software: iPhoto on Mac, or Picasa on PC are our top choices. (Other apps, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements [PC/Mac] and GIMP [PC/Mac/Linux] are great as well, but the former will cost you a few bucks.)

1. Look younger

If you want to make your subjects look younger than they are, focus on the skin tone: Our number one tip is to use flashes in sunlight. It might seem counter-intuitive, but flashes override the shadows that overhead sunlight might cast on faces, making for pronounced under-eye and chin shadows. Also, putting anything white or translucent over the flash while indoors (or up close) will soften the light, making for much smoother skin tones through softer lighting. If you're in a bar, for example, just hold a napkin in front of the flash (in your camera settings, you might also want to turn the flash power up, if that's an option). You can also use the "brush" function -- usually indicated by a brush icon -- on most photo programs (such as those mentioned above) to virtually brush over age-revealing wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, and blemishes.

2. Lose weight

Okay, other than getting them to go to the gym that they're already spending $79.99 a month to be a member of (not including sign-up fees), how can you make your pleasantly plump friends look slimmer? According to the Rocky Mountain News, the best way is to get them to stand like a ballerina. "The most flattering (read slimming) pose is to face front and cross one leg in front of the other, then turn your body at a 45-degree angle away from the camera and turn head and shoulders toward the camera. Place feet in ballet third position (one foot angled in front of the other)," says the News, which also suggests putting your hands on your hips, to make your shoulders look less rounded. Or if that all sounds a bit too staged for your tastes, then just get them turn to the side just a little -- especially their legs. The easiest thing to do? Lean slightly towards the camera, which can reduce the dreaded second or third chin.

3. Get the pale out.

Since most of us rarely get away from our computer age in this age of YouTube, gadget blogs, and, uh, "work," we're lacking in the melanin department. So, if you want to make your subjects look rosier, tanner, and generally healthier, then fear not, as the solution is easy. In your photo-editing app of choice (Picasa, iPhoto, etc), boost the saturation (found in the "Levels" area): This will add more red to the color balance, and make your friends look like they've actually seen the light of day in the past two weeks.

4. Fix problem skin.

If your subject has some acne that they'd rather not show off to the world, soft lighting (i.e. diffusing your flash, as described earlier) will definitely help. Also, nearly all photo applications now have "retouch" or "touch up" functions (sometimes indicated by a 'brush' icon), which essentially make a digital "brush" out of your cursor and allow you to create copies of the good areas of the skin over the bad areas. (Just be careful - the only thing worse than bad skin in photos is clumsy touch-up work, so 'brush' carefully.) Also, pat your subject's face with a tissue if it's hot (or if they simply have oily skin) to avoid the dreaded shine.

5. Increase height.

Other than having them stand on phonebooks, the best way to make short people look tall is to shoot them from low angles, and to avoid shooting them next to tall people. Alternatively, take shots of them engaged in something active...like, sitting. You can even use your photo app to "straighten" the frame of your shot (essentially a technique in which your software application zooms and rotates the frame, ever-so-slightly changing the image's orientation), which can sometime work to make short people look taller. But more often than not, it can also just make your photo look crooked -- so handle with care.

6. Make big noses (or other body parts) smaller.

The fill flash tip is also good for reducing the apparent size of one's "distinguishing features." High contrast shadows by one's eyes/nose/lips can make them look more with the ugly, so fill in those shadows with a flash on a sunny day (or a diffused -- aka napkin-covered -- flash in a dark room). Also, experiment with angles: Some people look better from 45-degree angles, others from straight on (depending largely on the symmetry of their face).

7. Taking (out) the red eye.

Red eye is what happens a whole lot when using most compact cameras - it's because the flash and the lens are so close together. Fortunately, it's also one of the easiest things to get rid of. In any post-processing program (we recommend iPhoto on Mac, and Picasa on PC), there's an actual red-eye removal button: Just choose it, select the red eyes in the photo, and boom: digital Visine. Of course, the problem is that these programs don't know what color said eyes are actually supposed to be - so often you end up giving your blue-eyed girlfriend black eyes. Then again, pushing the red-eye correction button is a lot less expensive than buying colored contact lenses, so the creative license is up to you. In addition, some cameras now have built-in red-eye reduction, which can also work pretty well, and keeps you from having to do as many edits on the back end.

8. Smile better.

Some people just don't smile well for photos, and the solution is to make them smile naturally. Make them laugh by telling them jokes, or have them think of funny things like giving their dog a shower, or Bill Murray in 'Stripes,' or just say "No butt scratching." And do what the professionals do: take lots of photos. It's one of the great advantages of shooting digital, since there's no film to waste, and will virtually assure you that one of the many shots will come out with the smile that works. It's a great solution for your friends with Awkward Syndrome.

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