by Rhianna Carlson

Created on: May 26, 2007

We've all posed for pictures and cringed at the results before. Maybe you tend to blink whenever a flash goes off, or your pose makes you look frumpy or catches you at the wrong angle. If a picture says a thousands words about you, you want to make sure that they are good words! Bad pictures are embarrassing and it makes you camera shy.

Have you ever noticed that celebrities almost always look great in pictures (except for those embarrassing paparazzi pics when they are caught off guard)? This is because celebrities study the way they look in pictures and are constantly being photographed so they have a lot of poses to compare. They also have professional photographers, make up artists, and managers that ensure they always put their best foot forward.

The good news is that the techniques used by celebrities for perfect poses in pictures are simple to use in your own life. Following these simple rules will help to ensure that you never take a bad picture again.

Remember when your mother used to tell you to stand up straight? Well, this is also the first step to posing for the perfect picture. In order to look your best in a photo stand up straight, elongate your neck, and roll your shoulders back and down. This will make you appear taller and leaner. Keeping your shoulders back also helps to accentuate the chest. Also, tighten your tummy muscles to give yourself a sleek, toned stomach. It is important to keep in mind, however, that you do all this naturally. Straining to keep your shoulders back as far as possible will look uncomfortable and fake in a picture.

Next if you place one foot in front of the other with your knees slightly bent, it will make your legs look longer and leaner. It is important that your knees are not locked because it is detrimental to your joints. Locking your knees also makes you look bad in a photograph.

If you have time to pose properly before someone snaps a picture it is a good idea to put down your purse or any other object you may be holding. The picture should be focusing on you, not insignificant accessories.

By tilting your chin down just a bit and looking directly into the camera when the picture is taken it will make your presence pop ten fold. The expression "make love to the camera" applies here. If you have a friendly relationship with the camera, you will take better pictures.

If you wish to appear slimmer, simply rotate your shoulders of the way toward the camera while keeping the rest of your body where it is. This will slim down your waist and hips.

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