TIPS FOR WHEN YOU'RE IN
THE PHOTO MUST
But you don't have your posing smile with you
I hear you thinking: huh? What does that say? Posing smile? WTF is a posing smile?
You know, the smile you put on when you're about to take a photo? The incredibly relaxed and especially super cool toothpaste smile that you need to be able to put on, otherwise the effing photo fails.
Okay. So I recently didn't have my posing smile with me, but I still had to take a photo (for Amayzine). And I can now tell you that on one hand there are worse things in the world, but on the other hand, of course, there just aren't. Luckily, I have, through trial and error, come up with sublime tips for you. Very nice.
Tip 1. Think of your favorite song and hum it to yourself. I learned this yesterday from Hadjar, our Amayzine photographer, and trust me: it works. Unless, of course, you start thinking about really depressing songs, like ‘Give me your fear now.’.
Tip 2. Suppose the aforementioned depressing song suddenly becomes the pink elephant in the room, so the song you absolutely MUST NOT think about, but you keep thinking about it – ‘Give me your fear now, I’ll give you hope in return’ – try to think of a cheerful song instead. I'll name a few: ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA, ‘I Feel Good’ by James Brown, ‘Call Me Maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen... Want more inspiration? Jetski wrote a super cool and handy piece last year with songs that make you happy.
Tip 3. Name it. Acknowledge that you're actually not in your groove at all. Ten to one that this will lift a weight off your shoulders, making posing go better. But don't underestimate the help a photographer can provide: they experience such smile breakdowns quite often and a good photographer has pro tips.
“Good luck with the photo.”
Tip 4. Accept it. It will most likely not be a photo that you could end up on the cover of Vogue with, but there will definitely be something useful in it. Then again: consider yourself lucky that it's not a shoot for Vogue. If all goes well.
Tip 5. ‘As long as your hair looks good’ is really not a myth. So: do your utmost best with that hair of yours, then people will have something nice to look at, goodness gracious.
Tip 6. Look down and take a moment to play with that fantastic hair. It at least gives you a posture.
Tip 7. Relax. Sometimes a tense smile really has to do with the fact that you're just super stressed about other things. Stand with both feet on the ground, focus on your breathing, and massage your cheeks.
Massage your cheeks? Did I really write that? Yes, because it helps!
Tip 8. Make sure you have something to hold onto. A cool bag, a to-go coffee cup – something. It makes you feel a bit less awkward and ‘naked’. Just be careful not to hold the cup too tightly in case of hot coffee spilling on your leg and such.
Tip 9. Do everything you can to make your posture as top-notch as possible. So do a celeb pose, where you, for example, push your right hip to one side and create a sort of S-shape with your body. Check the Golden Globes 2017 red carpet photos for inspiration.
Tip 10. Keep your head straight, push your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and keep your chin low. Keep that chin low, low, low. We don't want any flying chins in the picture!
Good luck with the photo.
