How To Look Good On Camera
Everyone wants to look their best in photos and videos. After all, in this day and age of ubiquitous camera phones and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, it’s next to impossible to avoid being in front of the camera.
However, if you’re not used to having your photo or video taken, you may be at a loss as to how to properly present yourself. Although there is no foolproof method for instantly improving your appearance in photos or videos, there are steps you can take to change things for the better.
Here are a few tips for looking good on camera.
Get The Lighting Right
When shooting a photo or video, the quality of the lighting may make or break the output. Lighting from above will cast unflattering shadows on your face, and lighting from behind will hide your features. Use the light sources that are facing you. Natural lighting can create a wonderful ambiance.
Artificial lighting can be used to supplement or even replace natural light. When you want to impress your audience with beautiful, flattering light, a ring light is the way to go. It is also crucial to maintain a consistent color temperature while using artificial lighting. Choose a light that blends in with the rest of the room’s illumination. Warm or true white light from the sun is perceived differently from the cooler light from an electronic device, which might give off a more clinical or mechanical vibe.
Learn Your Best Angles
Taking some selfies with your phone to see which angles of your body and face look best, as well as trying out different smiles, is the ideal method to practice producing your ideal on-camera appearance. To avoid a double chin and achieve a more attractive angle, taller people should hold the lens slightly above eye level.
If you need to stay on your tiptoes for the entire shoot because of your height, bring a stool to your workplace or the studio where you will be filmed so you can comfortably stand on it instead. If you are taking photos or videos of yourself, there are a number of ways to achieve the ideal height for your camera, including mounting it on your monitor, purchasing a stand, or just placing your phone on a tripod.
Dress Your Best
What you wear can have a huge impact on how to look good on video or photo. Wearing clothes that do not complement your physique will most likely result in unflattering pictures. Pick out a style and color scheme that suits your figure and skin tone.
Here are a few other ways to look better on camera:
- Don’t wear anything with a busy print like plaids, stripes, or florals.
- Avoid wearing reflective or shiny clothing.
- Shiny jewelry can distractingly catch the light and make noise when recording, so leave it at home.
- Choose colors from the middle of the color wheel, including maroon, dark gray, and purple. Green and blue are acceptable as long as you’re not shooting with a green or blue screen.
- If you plan on wearing loose-fitting pants that you don’t want to be recorded, pay close attention to the camera’s field of view.
- Consider wearing a top with a collar.
In addition to these guidelines, consider your background while making color selections. If you don’t want to disappear, don’t wear or carry something that matches the color of the background. On the other hand, pick a bright color that stands out against your background if you want to be easily seen.
Don’t wear or use anything that can cause you discomfort during the shoot or stream. The audience can tell if you’re acting awkwardly. If you’re going to be recording, it’s best to try out your clothing in advance and not wear something brand new that can cause distractions.
Mind Your Posture And Make Eye Contact
Consider your posture, body orientation, and eye contact as you prepare to appear on camera. At this point, you now have a good idea of where to position the camera for optimal results; but remember to maintain an upright posture, especially if you’ll be seated for much of the shoot.
Making direct eye contact is also crucial. Even when you can’t actually see the audience through the camera, it’s important to maintain eye contact as if you could. In addition, the audience will pick up on your enthusiasm, and it will be simpler to hold their attention if you frequently smile while you speak.
Think About the Rest of the Picture
The setting and props in your photo or video say something about you. There are probably a lot of things going on in the background that your camera will catch. Think about your surroundings and how it reflects your personality and professionalism.
Before going live or beginning filming, check the camera’s viewfinder to ensure that you are happy with the scene. If the video was shot in your bedroom, for instance, the last thing viewers want to see is a pile of dirty laundry on the floor or a messy bed. The ideal backdrop would be a blank wall.
Use A Green Or Blue Screen
You can use a green screen if you’re streaming live and want to hide your current backdrop or insert a new one that fits your topic. For instance, weather forecasters on TV don’t have huge maps or images behind them when sharing the news. Instead, they are filming against a green screen, and the effects are digitally added in post-production. Because of this, the graphics can be updated quickly, and you can use any background you like.
Because human skin tones don’t typically include green or blue, these are the colors used for the screen so that human subjects can be easily distinguished from the solid-color background.
Conduct A Screen Test
Because of the differences between how people appear on video and in person, running a screen test can help you catch and correct common errors. This will give you a chance to try out your gear and lighting setup without worrying about being judged by an audience. Conduct a screen test to make sure everything looks good on camera, from your complexion to your clothes to any stray hairs. Use the same equipment as you would for the actual shoot, including the camera and lighting.
Use Mattifying Moisturizer
Many people worry about how their skin looks. Photographers often discuss how to best highlight the subject’s eyes but overlook the skin, the body’s largest organ.
When you’re feeling anxious or stressed out, your body releases a lot of hormones, including cortisol, which is known as the “stress hormone.” This causes your facial sebaceous glands to overproduce oil (sebum), making your face appear greasy.
There may not be much you can do to stop the body’s natural chemical processes or the amount of sebum it produces, but there are some things you can try to minimize it. One option is to put in time and effort to boost your self-confidence. To reduce shine and take control of your oily face, you could try using a skin mattifier, such as a mattifying lotion.
The best way to instantly look and feel more confident is to reduce the shine on your face. After much research, we’ve come up with a mattifying lotion that should do the trick. You can achieve a matte, shine-free, moisturized, and confident appearance with d*shine’s Mattifying Moisturizer, specially created for people like you. Just apply some on your face before heading out for a photo/video shoot or as needed. That’s all there is to it.
Wrapping Up
Angles and lighting are everything when it comes to looking your best on camera. Put some thought into what you’ll wear and how the room will be set up, how the light will fall on you, and how the camera will capture your image.
Related Articles:
Men’s Guide On How To Look Gook In Pictures
How To Fix Oily Skin So Your Face Doesn’t Shine In Photos
If you’re one of the many men who struggle with oily skin, or just a shiny in general, you know how irritating it can be to try to make sure that your greasy face doesn’t become the focal point of every photo and video you take. We can help with that.
d*shine’s Mattifying Moisturizer with Oil Control is a high-quality mattifying lotion for men like you. It’ll keep your skin moisturized and protected while also soaking up excess oil. It’s the only face moisturizer you’ll need to stay fresh-faced all day from work, photoshoots, video shoots, to play.
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Our mission is to help men become even more confident in their own skin through amazing content and quality, class leading products. Looking and feeling confident doesn't need to be hard, evidently, with d*shine.
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