How to be More Photogenic: Tips for Perfect Photos

We all know that one friend who is effortlessly gorgeous in nearly all pictures and barely stresses about looking good in the picture, if you have that kind of friend, congratulations! Chances are you are that friend. If you relate to having great pictures on camera and keep hearing that you are photogenic, it basically just means that you look really good in your pictures from a general perspective. But what if that’s not the case? Well, it will be soon because today you will learn all about how to be more photogenic in your photos. 

If you have been told by somebody that you are not photogenic, don’t take it on heart, because being photogenic doesn’t necessarily mean that it is an attribute that you are born with. And if you have looked at somebody’s or your photo and felt like that perhaps their natural version isn’t coming through the photo or to speak in a more modern way “they don’t look photogenic” chances are, it’s either one of these reasons why it may appear to be so:

• Awkward pose
• Bad lighting
• Skin or makeup problems
• Incorrect camera angles or settings
• Expression mismatch
• Clothing or background clashes

But the great news is that it’s not as difficult as you might think to learn how to look good in pictures.

Choose the Right Angle

Find what’s your good side. Have you ever noticed how celebrities aside from posing always try to tilt their head towards a certain position and lift their chin up a bit as paps take their pictures on the red carpet? That’s because they have figured out what their good side is. 

Hold your camera still and tilt your head sideways a little to see where your features appear to be most symmetrical. Most people don’t have a symmetrical face when they are staring straight into the camera lens. So find what your good side is by experimenting with as many photos as you like. 

Now you are solely responsible for finding what your good side is, but here are a few angles that are usually suggested to grant you a great picture and will help you figure out how to be more photogenic in pictures:

• Slightly turn your body away from the camera where you are still looking in the direction of the lens except your head and body are a little tilted towards the right or left. 

• When you place the camera at exactly the eye level of the subject you are taking a picture of, you will end up making them look short so make sure that the feet are just placed at the bottom of the picture without any extra space. And place the camera either below the surface level or above eye level.

Use the Natural Light

Lighting is key to good photos and that’s why you would notice how Instagram influencer’s entire careers depend on their ring lights. Lighting is one of the versatile components of getting the most perfect photo and you can work around it by playing with it in the most creative ways, but when you have natural light (source: sun), you can’t go much wrong with it. 

As harsh as the sun may seem to be, the lighting in the phone can be adjusted, but the sun is the best source of light to get a picture in as long as the sunlight isn’t getting in your eyes because then your face will just look funny, 

Here are a few lighting tips that are sure-fire ways to grant you a good picture:

• Take your picture in the golden hour. This is usually when the sun has just risen and there is a goldish hue across or the time when the sun begins to set. 

• On bright sunny days look for shades where you are facing the sun but it’s not harsh enough to go into your eyes.
• Invest in a good ring light that makes your skin look fresh and bright in the most natural yet subtle way.

The Best Photogenic Pose

• This pose is especially famous with celebrities and it goes by “The Classic Three Quarter Turn”.  This is where you turn your body slightly to the side while keeping your face angled towards the camera creating that slimming effect all while adding depth to the photo.

• It’s certainly easier said than done but be confident. Know in your head that you are looking flawless and give the most casual pose, perhaps keep your hand in your pockets or on your hips and smile.
• The safest pose is the “over the shoulder pose”, all you have to do is turn your head around, look at the camera and smile.
• For a more candid shot slowly walk towards the camera and look to the side, maybe let out a little laugh as well, it will give you the most natural seamless candid shot.

Get the Perfect Appearance

1. Makeup

Makeup is meant to enhance the already God-gifted features you have. You are beautiful and there is no shame in enhancing your features so they seem more attractive, but there may be a chance you are not doing it well enough so here are a few tips to enhance your makeup skills so they seem good in pictures:

• Make sure to wear your correct foundation shade, if it is too dark or light it becomes fairly apparent compared with the skin tone of the rest of your body.
• Remember to not skip on skin prep, sometimes the texture of the skin becomes way too apparent on camera which ultimately disturbs the whole look, you can use a good primer, or learn to create a smooth base.
• Accentuate your features. They can be eyes, lips, nose, cheeks. No harm in hopping on to YouTube and watching a couple of makeup tutorials. 

2. Hair 

Your hair can make or break your look, whether you’re heading to an event, a photoshoot, or just trying to make a good impression. Having healthy, well-styled hair enhances your overall appearance and boosts confidence. But achieving the perfect hair isn’t just about genetics—it’s about care and styling choices and that alone can impact on how to be more photogenic in group photos.

Hair Tips:

• Don’t shy away from trying new braids, updos, or accessory trends to elevate your look.
• Make sure there aren’t any flyaways and frizz in your hair, by applying a gel or a hair serum to make your hair appear smoother. 
• Always look at yourself in the mirror to see if your hair looks fine to avoid feeling bad about how your hair is in the photo later.

3. Wardrobe Selection: 

Your wardrobe is more than just a collection of clothes; it’s an extension of your personality and a tool for expressing your mood, professionalism, or creativity. If your wardrobe choices are good enough they can also enhance your body shape, complement your skin tone, and ensure you’re dressed appropriately for any occasion.

Wardrobe Tips:

• Invest in timeless staples like a white shirt, tailored trousers, and a little black dress that can mix and match effortlessly.
• Highlight your strengths—use belts for definition or structured jackets for balance.
• Choose shades that complement your skin tone and try seasonal palettes to stay on trend.
• Add statement jewelry, scarves, or shoes to transform a simple outfit into something remarkable.
• No matter how stunning the outfit, it won’t shine if you’re uncomfortable wearing it. Choose fabrics and fits that make you feel confident.

BeautyPlus offers an image quality enhancer that does more of a job of an image quality enhancement. So think of it as something like; you take an image with your phone, but you either moved too fast or the camera moved too fast or you took the picture with a phone, whose model is far from recent and now you end up with a slight distortion of the image. 

Image quality enhancer works by giving you two options ultra HD mode and Portrait mode where it enhances your picture a lot more, making it seem professional grade. 

BeautyPlus editing features allow so many editing tools where you can make slight or even drastic adjustments to your physique and looks to make it how you want to be seen. 

Here’s just a couple of things BeautyPlus is capable of helping you achieve how to be more photogenic male/ female:

• Face Smile: It will put a smile on your face the most natural way. If you want a slight smile or a big bright grim, BeautyPlus has all kinds of smiles in store for you.

• Makeup Looks: If you want to try different makeup looks without having to go through the trouble of doing it yourself, put your trust in BeautyPlus because it will apply makeup to your face in the most seamless and undetectable way possible, and you can go through all the looks to see which one suits you best.

• Hair: You can even browse through multiple hairstyles and unlike other photo editors where the hair looks oddly unnatural, BeautyPlus Hair feature will apply hair to your look in the most natural way and all styles will seem as if you got your hair done by a pro from a salon. 

• Concealer: BeautyPlus also allows little touch-ups where you just want to hide a blemish or scar. You forgot to put on concealer before taking the picture, well who would’ve thought you could apply it digitally on an app?
• Oiliness: Your face is a little extra greasy in a picture you took on a hot humid weather, it’s this easy to mattify the look with BeautyPlus.
• Tone: why invest in a gua sha when you have an app to slightly make your face appear naturally sculpted as if you were born with it?

• Expression: you get multiple expression options in BeautyPlus that don’t turn out to be artificial looking and perfectly go with your looks.

• Contour: You can perform some contour edits to your face like reducing double chin, highlighting certain features, diminishing dark circles, brightening certain areas of your face etc.

Looking good in a photo often comes naturally and once you let go of the fear of how you are perceived by the camera and be yourself all in the meanwhile accept your beauty for what it is, you will ultimately find your pictures more photogenic and feel more confident in yourself. Learning how to be more photogenic can certainly help with your confidence and BeautyPlus will help you achieve that photogenic look only with a few clicks here and there. Try it now, you might become a fan.