White Ruffles + How To Be A Better Subject For Pictures

Shop My Look:
 Top: Forever21 | Jeggings: Target | Heels: Madden Girl | Bag: French Connection

I'm definitely no expert in the area of photography, and I'm not going to be much help in the use and operation of your camera, or the proper way to set your aperture, or what filters to use on vsco. haha! BUT! Over the years, I've gotten better at being the subject of the picture, so I wanted to share a few tips that truly help my pictures turn out better. 

Don't look straight at the camera.  I will occasionally do this, but for the most part, you'll notice that I tend to look off, to one angle or another, and not point my face directly at the camera. Most people's faces aren't perfectly symmetrical... most of us have a side or angle that photographs better, or, at the very least, we look better from a slight angle, than just straight on. While I don't stick to my "good" side for every picture (I just feel that's kind of misleading and silly. People can tell if they only ever see the right side of your face! haha.), I do like to look off into the distance, rather than straight at the camera, in a lot of shots.

Look up with your eyes. This is a good tip to help you look awake and younger. Looking upward with your eyes naturally opens up your eyes, creating a doe-eyed, youthful effect.

Work with different poses and angles. Try out different poses and face angles, as you're taking photos. This will mean that when you review your pictures, you'll have more angles and poses to choose from, and will be more likely to really love some of them. Not every outfit photographs the same way. Some poses will work great with one outfit, and look silly with another. (I've found this out the hard way!) So give yourself lots of poses and angles to work with, and you're more likely to be happy with some of them!

Smile! You don't have to smile in every picture, but I like to smile in some of my photos. A smiling face just seems more approachable. Not smiling, ever, can make you seem cold and distant. I want my readers to feel like they know who I am... and I am happy! I'm happy to have the opportunity to shoot these photos and share them with you! Sure, smiling can sometimes emphasize wrinkles, but I'd choose that over looking cold and unapproachable, any day!

Catch natural-looking, casual motion. My sister and I take photos of each other. So, we'll both notice when the other is in between poses, but did something natural and casual, that looks pretty. So we'll say "oh! Do that again; put your hand in your hair and look down, like you just did." Whatever it was, those are usually our favorite photos, because the pose looks so natural (because it is!)

Change up your accessories mid-shoot. If using a coat, try the look with the coat draped over your shoulders, then without the coat at all, then draped over your arm. If I'm using sunglasses, I try to take some pictures with the sunglasses on, and some with them in my hands.

Have fun! I think it's easy to tell if someone is stressed or anxious, in pictures. I tend to get stressed and anxious on photo-shoot days. With two young children, there's a lot to coordinate before I can actually get to the photo-shoot part of the day. It takes a lot of hard work and preparation, so that can leave me feeling more frazzled than I would like. But usually, once I get out there, taking photos with my sister, we start laughing at ourselves and having a great time, all while getting beautiful content, and my anxiety subsides.

I hope some of these tips are helpful, if you're looking to improve your posing and blog photographs. 

Thanks so much for reading! 

Jessica