Have you ever seen one of those tee-shirts bearing the slogan “You looked better on Facebook (*)”? There is a very good reason that these humorous shirts exist – an increasing number of people are choosing to use their digital cameras to take photographs of themselves (to be used as their main profile picture) which are so flattering that they make the individual in question look far more attractive than they are in reality.

And why not? Considering the fact that the average person spends at total of 4 hours and 39 minutes on the social network each month (according to mashable.com), seeing an ugly representation of ourselves staring back at us constantly is hardly going aid our levels of self esteem! Everyone could do with a little confidence boost every now and again and photographs which show a person in their very best light are sure to receive lots of complimentary comments and ‘Likes’.

If you want your very own flattering Facebook profile pic, here is what you need to do:

(*) MySpace variants of this garment also exist.

Tart Yourself Up for Your Photograph

It should be obvious that taking a photo of yourself the very second you roll out of bed in the morning is unlikely to provide you with the desired photographic results. The most flattering of pictures show people at their most pristine so don’t even think about pointing a camera lens at yourself if you haven’t ran a comb through your hair or made any effort to remove the night-time gunk from the corners of your eyes!

Ladies should make the effort to apply make up in preparation of taking their picture. Even women who don’t generally like to wear makeup will benefit from using a little foundation, for this helps to even out the complexion (blotchy skin so isn’t what photo perfection is made of!) Men meanwhile might like to shave and/or trim their facial hair. Anyone who feels that they have no attractive features of which to speak might feel more confident in front of the camera should they don an accessory such as a pair of sunglasses or a hat.

Master the MySpace Camera Angle

Image accreditation: windowseat.ca

The image on right nicely demonstrates the camera angle that is most commonly adopted by those looking to take a flattering profile photo. This angle is known as the “MySpace angle” by many, for pictures which comprised it became extremely prevalent during the height of the once-leading social network’s fame.

This camera angle is particularly popular with overweight individuals since it helps said individuals to appear instantly slimmer.

The obvious use of this technique will automatically make your profile onlookers think you as either vain, or so unconfident that you can’t abide seeing yourself in any other way. Do not extend your arm too far away from your face (or you arm might be included in the shot) or too far up into the air – the technique works best when used subtlety.

Take Many Pictures of Yourself

Even the most professional of photographers find that they need to take hundreds of snaps of their models in order to attain the perfect shot for that fashion catalogue or advertorial. You should then, take many photographs of yourself in order that you have a wide selection to choose your new profile pic from. I suggest that you use the rapid shoot mode (*) on your digital camera, so that many pictures are taken in quick succession. Be sure to change the angle of the camera and/or the expression on your face very slightly throughout the duration of these shots.

Using this camera mode will mean that you save yourself from the tiring regime of taking one picture, checking it, disliking it and then deleting it before repeating the process all over again.

(*) The name of this mode will vary depending on the make and model of your digital camera.

Photoshop Your Mug a Little

Photoshop (or another, similar image editor) can be a great tool for fixing images that would be ideal as profile pictures if only they were different in some small way.

However, it should be noted that the overuse of Photoshop will once again see people judging you as unhappy with your appearance (remember; confidence is sexy!) and could actually make your look less attractive than you actually are. This means that you should try to avoid over-editing your picture. The image tool is most useful for red eye removal, smoothing out minor blemishes such as spots and/or removing visual noise from images. Experimenting is the key to discovering image treatments that both look natural and make you look wonderful.

Jeremy Clark is the author of this guest post. Jeremy works in the industry of camera insurance and photography insurance.