The time has come to say goodbye to “Statue Girl.” She has been my avatar since I first started blogging at Routines for Writers back in 2008. She is my Gravatar. My Twitter feed. Even my little-used Facebook girl. I like her because she is a fairly accurate representation of me…for a statue. She’s on the quiet spectrum of the introvert/extrovert scale and always has a book open. I can relate.
So I’ve been looking up advice on what kind of photo to take. What do I wear? What angle should the shot be? Glasses? No glasses? (I always wear my glasses nowadays, but if I get a head shot sans frames I’d be doing the Clark Kent/Superman thing….because people are always recognizing authors on the street, right?)
As I was doing all this research, it occurred to me that this information might be helpful to other people, (say, for facebook profile pics etc.)
So here is the gist:
What (not) to wear?
- no bare shoulders; so nothing sleeveless
- solid colors; no tiny prints, no polka dots, no stripes, etc.
- no taupe. One site said “Taupe is not your friend.” Ha, ha.
I was planning on taupe.
Angle?
- apparently for a man, the camera should be looking UP at him to make him appear stronger, more confident, but for a woman, the camera should be looking DOWN on her for reasons I was too miffed to read about. Whatever.
- JAW ANGLE, it seems, is VERY IMPORTANT. I love this tip and here is a video explaining it. You want to stick out your face so the light can wrap around your chin, thus creating definition via a shadow. (Instead of pulling your chin back and giving yourself a double-chin.)
Eyes?
Glasses or no glasses? I don’t know if it matters. Apparently it’s all about the SQUINCH (video below) or SMIZING (Tyra’s “Smile with your eyes” video below the Squinch) or, if you are a Disney Tangled fan, it’s the SMOULDER.
Since I can’t seem to squinch, smize, or smoulder, maybe I’ll wear the glasses.
