It's not something that can be described very well in text. Insofar as I have words for it:
If you're in the habit of tilting your chin up, tilt it down so the camera isn't looking up your nose. Never face the camera straight-on; it will make you look flat and fake. When we look at people in real life they're always moving, so give the camera an angled view that looks more like what someone might see in a moment of sitting across from you, as you move while talking or thinking or reading a menu.
If you're looking at the camera, look at the camera: not the photographer, but the center of the lens. If you're looking away, look fairly far away so it looks intentional.
Put emotion in your eyes and on your face, as though the camera were your friend or your lover or some other person you feel strongly about, someone who cares about your feelings and would want to know what you were feeling from looking at you, someone you want to emote for. Have some phrase or concept in mind for the feeling that you're projecting: "We share a secret" or "I love that hat" or "How wonderful to see you! I didn't know you were going to be here" or "I tolerate you photographing me only because I love you" or "I'm sad and trying not to show it" or whatever. It can be complex or simple, but whatever it is, feel it strongly and do your best to make it shine out of you.
Talk with the photographer as they're taking photos. Have the most interesting conversation you can, and let it go where it will. The camera is a reporter, scribbling down note on the interview the photographer is giving you (or you're giving the photographer). You are a story that the camera is telling. Laugh, grin, smirk, frown, ponder. Feel things. Be who you are in that moment, as hard as you can.
I am not doing a very good job of this at all, but maybe you get a little bit of the idea.
(If you pull up my very lengthy userpic page and look for photos taken by banesidhe, you will get a sense of the applications of this.)
no subject
If you're in the habit of tilting your chin up, tilt it down so the camera isn't looking up your nose. Never face the camera straight-on; it will make you look flat and fake. When we look at people in real life they're always moving, so give the camera an angled view that looks more like what someone might see in a moment of sitting across from you, as you move while talking or thinking or reading a menu.
If you're looking at the camera, look at the camera: not the photographer, but the center of the lens. If you're looking away, look fairly far away so it looks intentional.
Put emotion in your eyes and on your face, as though the camera were your friend or your lover or some other person you feel strongly about, someone who cares about your feelings and would want to know what you were feeling from looking at you, someone you want to emote for. Have some phrase or concept in mind for the feeling that you're projecting: "We share a secret" or "I love that hat" or "How wonderful to see you! I didn't know you were going to be here" or "I tolerate you photographing me only because I love you" or "I'm sad and trying not to show it" or whatever. It can be complex or simple, but whatever it is, feel it strongly and do your best to make it shine out of you.
Talk with the photographer as they're taking photos. Have the most interesting conversation you can, and let it go where it will. The camera is a reporter, scribbling down note on the interview the photographer is giving you (or you're giving the photographer). You are a story that the camera is telling. Laugh, grin, smirk, frown, ponder. Feel things. Be who you are in that moment, as hard as you can.
I am not doing a very good job of this at all, but maybe you get a little bit of the idea.
(If you pull up my very lengthy userpic page and look for photos taken by