The answer is that they don’t invest any time in improving their camera image.

Those public figures that do put time and effort into their photographic image come over a lot better visually, not because they are beautiful people but, because they’ve learnt how to look good on camera.

You don’t have to have be a beautiful person to look warm, friendly, commanding, trustworthy, seductive, intriguing……

Looking good on video is just an extension of looking good in still photographs. You need to know what works for you and practise in front of the camera.

In order to discover what works for you, you need a photo-shoot with a photo image coach who can show you how to improve your body language, expression and posture.In this way you learn how to influence what the camera sees. 

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com

Why do the paparazzi ambush the famous and beautiful outside night clubs in the early hours of the morning? Because if you want an unflattering picture of someone, wait until they are tired with a skinful of booze and you can’t go wrong. 

Sorry but being photogenic and drinking alcohol are not compatible. If you know that you are going to be photographed and you really want to look your best - stick to the mineral water. 

“But one or two won’t hurt,” I hear you say. I don’t want to be a spoilsport – I’m very partial to a few drinks myself – but if you want to look your best in those photographs, stay on the wagon. 

Alcohol is a very effective relaxant and analgesic (pain killer), but it also reduces reaction time, impairs thinking ability, affects balance, and induces sleep. 

Yes there is a dose effect i.e. the more you drink the more pronounced the effects become; and yes people are affected by alcohol to varying degrees; but even if you think you have a high tolerance to alcohol, small amounts will still have an effect. You may not notice them, but the camera will. 

Think of the camera as an extremely sensitive breathalyser! 

Because alcohol is a muscle relaxant it reduces tone in the facial muscles. Interesting really when you think how much money is spent on cosmetics that claim to increase facial tone. Nobody tells you that a couple of glasses of wine will reduce facial muscle tone far more than any toning lotion will increase it.

Reducing muscle tone makes facial features less sharp and well defined. It leads to a “jowly” almost dopey appearance. It also affects posture making people look more “slumped”, more round shouldered, more “blobby”. 

Even small amounts of alcohol mimic the effect of fatigue and sedation, by for example increasing blink duration, thereby greatly increasing the chances of you being photographed with your eyes completely or partially closed. 

So if you know you’re going to be photographed at a particular event (a wedding for example) stay off the booze until the photographs have been taken. You may feel better after one or two tipples, but trust me you won’t photograph as well.

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985 

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

In a previous post I was extolling the virtue of the still photograph over video: but even the still photograph needs to have a sense of movement.

In early portrait photography the subject had to keep still for a few seconds while the camera recorded their features onto a plate. Any movement would blur the image. 

The resulting rather statuesque appearance in 19th century portraiture perhaps set the fashion with everyone assuming that they were meant to look rather stiff and serious when being photographed.

With continuing improvements to the methods by which photographs were produced it was possible to reduce exposure time to fractions of a second. However even with an exposure of one thirtieth of a second, sudden movement can significantly reduce the sharpness of the picture. 

Popular cameras incapable of shorter exposure times than this were being sold well into the second half of the 20^th century. So, everyone was encouraged to keep quite still and “watch the birdie”. 

Today’s cameras are very different and are capable of very short exposure time, with shutter speeds far faster than is needed for crisp portrait photographs. 

Yet it is surprising how many people still think that they have to freeze for the camera. I like my subjects to keep moving from pose to pose. It helps relax the person being photographed and brings some movement to the still images that we produce. 

So when you’re being photographed keep moving between brief poses albeit relatively slowly i.e. slow foxtrot rather than breakdancing (is that how you spell it?) and your pictures will have movement and meaning.

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

Videos are great for recording events and action. Every week most of us watch hours of moving images in some form or other.

So why do we still take still photographs?

When we see a moving image we watch it very much as we do real events happening around us. We look to see what it’s going to do. We enjoy trying to anticipate its next action. Because we’re concentrating on the action we take in relatively little of the detail of the image and concentrate largely on the aspects of it that are changing.

Because we are pre-occupied with action, we often miss detail. That is why it is quite common to see something in a still photograph that we did not notice when we were taking the picture. 

The still photograph doesn’t change, so we have time to study it in detail. A good still photograph therefore has the potential to convey so much more in terms of human emotion. We can see sadness, pathos, despair and tragedy as well as anger, joy, love and beauty. It has the potential to capture human strength alongside human weakness. A really great still photograph, much like a painting, has the ability of showing us something different each time we look at it.

Still photographs get hung on walls or stood on sideboards as a constant reminder of a point in time. Videos tend to be less enduring being archived into constantly growing storage capacity. 

Try to look good for the video camera, but make doubly sure that you look your best in those enduring stills.

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

Now there are women who look very good with their hair up, women who look good with it down and some who look good with it up or down (Alex, the bride on the front page of our website is one such lady). However girls, if you will permit a mere male to give his opinion, many of you look better with your hair down.

Putting your hair up can give you a very severe look and can emphasize your neck and ears.  Hair can provide a frame for the face and have a major softening effect. If you have decided that a certain style suits you best for everyday purposes, why change it so drastically on your wedding day? 

Another problem with wearing your hair up is that the laws of gravity dictate that at some time it is going to start falling down. You therefore run the risk of having your photograph taken when your hair is becoming increasingly untidy. If you have short hair or wear your hair down, it is a lot easier to do a little titivation prior to posing for your photographer.

If you disagree with me, at least have your photograph taken with your hair up beforehand. That way you can judge for yourself and/or show the photos to a few people who you know will give you an honest opinion.

In a look Good on Camera photo-shoot we give you the opportunity to be photographed with your hair up and with it down. 

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

I believe that the same principles should hold for a photographer and have therefore added a section on Client Confidentiality on the About Us page of the website. I know that some other photographers do include a Client Confidentiality clause in their Terms of Business. For publicity seeking extroverts that may seem somewhat strange, but there are people who find having their photograph taken almost an invasion of their privacy. Yes, there really are people who are incredibly camera shy. It is this latter group that benefit most from a Look Good on Camera photo-shoot. Confidentiality is therefore vital to our business.

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com 

So the answer is to stand at 45 degrees to the camera (i.e. half way between full frontal and side on). In this way you will reduce your body width by about a sixth without profiling those ever so slightly podgy bits! 

For those of you who feel you are a little on the slim side, then present your body full on to the camera. 

A Look Good on Camera photo-shoot will give you the opportunity to practice this along with many other tips on how to look better and achieve your photogenic best in photos and pictures. Believe me, you really can look better in pictures and photos and become more photogenic. It just needs a little practice. Don’t be camera shy. Give me a call. I’m here to help.

email bob@lookgoodoncamera.com to find out more about looking good in photos or telephone 07920 130985

Go to Home Page www.lookgoodoncamera.com