Westfield Group
It's not a matter of vanity but rather history. Grandkids won't remember the girl in the great dress with a hand in front of her face and that hunk skimming through Facebook now wants to see a shining open smile rather than a frozen grimace. And that's the funny thing about having a good photograph taken. If you wind up looking lovely no-one would dare accuse you of vanity, they simply want to know your secret.
Here are some useful tips on how to 'Strike a Pose' thanks to the very helpful advice that NIKON have shared with me
HOW NOT TO POSE
• Call it emotional magnetism but often in a group shot everyone clumps together and leans in – don't do it. The footy huddle distorts your body shape to unflattering Cubist angles, flashes boobage and makes creates fish face.
• Maybe this gets a bit predictable on the red carpet but….always stand slightly on an angle –it slims the hips, lets you peek over your shoulder like Dita Von Teese and lengthens the body.
• Avoid being photographed eating. Jerry Hall stressed this in her memoir "Tall Tales". In her book lips are for blowing kisses and sipping gold rimmed goblets not gnawing on chicken bones.
• Try to find an expression for every occasion that is not a "photo" face. We all have the one friend who surfaces in every image pouting like Bardot or doing "Blue Steel" ala Zoolander. They look artificial and in years to come they will cringe at the artifice.
• Sorry, but I am marching you back to the mirror to practise your Kate Moss "post orgasm" smile and your Kate Middleton "meeting the Queen" massive grin. Have a look. Have a laugh. And release a little more magic with every click of the shutter. If all else fails re-rent Austin Powers. I have never seen a bad snap of a woman mouthing the words YEAH BABY.
HOW TO STRIKE A POSE
• Imagine yourself in towering Prada heel, even if you are barefoot in the grass! Good posture elongates your line, slices pounds off and evades the possible ambiguous folds that slouching creates.
• For those oh-so-contrived-but-we-love-'em-Thelma-and- Louise style self portraits – hold that camera up. A flash from above gets rid of any (extra) chins and casts you in a more flattering light.
• Have a good go at smiling in the mirror; try it playing music you love, laughing with friends, sipping a teacup of champagne. The smile you give the world should be like the smile you give the person you love most: full wattage, teeth and all!
• Carry a compact for quick scans of nose shine and missing dental spinach.
• Look into the lens & enjoy the photo. Imagine someone utterly luscious is snapping you. Even if Granny ain't Avedon in 1967.
• Wait for the flash. Hold your pose. Especially with cameras such as Nikon that have red eye reducing technology. The camera fires off initially to reduce red eye before capturing the final image.
• When in a cocktail dress or mini angle, keep the knees to one side & point your toes otherwise your gonna' be the thigh monster, the fat knee chick or the knicker flasher. Liz Hurley routinely ignores this advice. Especially at weddings!
• Light concealer and even very translucent light diffusing makeup comes up roses in photos. White chalky concealer, lipstick missing in the middle, heavy eye-liner streaky fake tan and too much blush or powder just waste the film.
