Why Do I Always Look Awkward in Photos?

“I’m just really bad at having my photo taken.”

I hear some version of this all the time. And usually it comes from perfectly confident women. They run businesses, lead teams, speak to clients, give presentations and know exactly what they’re doing professionally.

Put a camera in front of them, though, and suddenly they have absolutely no idea what to do with their face. They smile. Then wonder if they’re smiling too much. They try smiling less. That feels weird. They become aware of their hands. Their chin, teeth and their posture. And within about thirty seconds they’re convinced they look awkward in every photo.

I don’t think you’re bad at having your photo taken. I think you’ve probably never had enough help while you’re having them taken.

Why do I always look awkward in photos?

One of the biggest reasons people look awkward in photos is incredibly simple: they feel awkward while the photograph is being taken. And a camera is very good at picking that up.

So if you’re standing there wondering what you’re supposed to do, trying to hold a smile while somebody points a camera at you, you’re probably going to look uncomfortable. That’s especially true if being photographed isn’t something you do very often.

Some people seem completely at home in front of a camera. Most of the women I photograph aren’t. Neither am I. And I actually think that’s useful, because I understand just how strange it can feel.

It matters more when you run a business

If you run a business and know you need to show your face online, feeling awkward in photos becomes more than an annoying family-photo problem. Suddenly you need photographs for your website, LinkedIn, social media, press features, speaking engagements and all the other places your face is expected to appear.

You know showing up matters. The slight problem is that you don’t actually want to share any of the photographs you’ve got.

So you either avoid using photos of yourself altogether, use the same one you vaguely like for the next six years, or post something and immediately start examining your own face in a way that absolutely nobody else looking at the photograph is doing.

None of those are particularly useful when you’re trying to build a visible personal brand.

A photographer shouldn’t just leave you to it

This is where I think a lot of people’s previous experiences of professional photography have let them down. You shouldn’t be put in front of a camera and expected to know what to do.

It’s my job to notice when you’re standing awkwardly, to notice that you’ve started doing the smile you hate. It’s my job to tell you when something isn’t working, move you, change what we’re doing and keep going until it does.

I’m not going to stand behind my camera thinking, “Well, she looks uncomfortable,” and carry on taking another 40 photographs. That doesn’t help either of us.

You don’t have to pose all the time

One of the things I do on a brand shoot is get you doing things. We’ll talk. We’ll move around. You might walk, work at a desk, make a coffee, look away from me or laugh at something I’ve said.

Quite often, I’m not actually waiting for the photograph you think I’m taking. I’m waiting for the second just before it or just after it. The moment your face relaxes. The smile you do naturally rather than the one you’ve decided is your official Photography Smile.

Those in-between moments are often where some of my favourite photographs come from. And they’re usually the ones where clients say, “Oh! That actually looks like me.”

That’s what we’re aiming for.

You need more than one photo you like

Another problem with believing you’re awkward in photos is that it can leave you relying on the same photograph for years. You finally find ONE you like and that poor photograph is suddenly responsible for your LinkedIn profile, website, speaker bio, press articles, social media and anything else that asks for a picture of you.

Three years later, it’s still hanging on in there doing all the work.

A brand shoot should give you a range. Yes, you need photographs where you’re looking directly at the camera. They’re useful and people respond well to seeing your face. But you also need photographs where you’re looking away, laughing, working, moving and doing something.

Those are often much easier to share, particularly if you’re someone who feels self-conscious posting photographs of yourself. And the easier your photographs are to use, the more useful they become to your business.

What if I don’t feel polished enough for brand photos?

This is another worry I hear, particularly from women who don’t wear much make-up or spend a lot of time thinking about clothes. You want to look professional, but you don’t want to turn up looking like somebody else.

There’s a balance.

Your brand photographs do have a job to do. If you work with corporate clients, for example, the way you present yourself may need to communicate a certain level of professionalism. But you still need to recognise yourself.

Good brand photography isn’t about transforming you into a shinier, more corporate version of yourself. It’s about finding the version of you that feels appropriate for your business while still actually feeling like you.

That’s why we plan clothes before the shoot. It’s why hair and make-up can be helpful for some people and it’s why none of those decisions should be made five minutes before I pick up the camera.

Please don’t wait until you feel completely confident

You might be thinking you’ll book photographs when you’ve lost some weight. When you’ve found the right clothes. Or when you feel more confident. Or when you finally work out what on earth you’re supposed to do with your hands.

You don’t need to sort all of that out before you book. That’s part of what I’m there for.

Before my brand shoots we plan what you’re going to wear, what we’re going to photograph and what you actually need the images to communicate. On the day, I’m directing you rather than expecting you to magically know how to pose.

Because you already have enough jobs in your business. You don’t need to become a model as well.

Maybe you’re not awkward in photos after all

I love the point in a shoot when someone who was absolutely convinced they couldn’t take a decent photograph sees one on the back of my camera and realises: “Oh. I actually like that.”

Because usually the problem wasn’t that they were unphotogenic. They needed someone to pay attention.

Someone to notice the awkward smile. Move the hand. Change the angle. Keep them talking. Give them something to do. And take enough care over the whole thing that eventually they stop thinking quite so much about the camera.

If you’ve spent years believing you always look awkward in photos, perhaps it’s time to stop assuming the problem is you.

If your current brand photos are years old, you’re relying on one photograph you actually like, or you’ve been putting off having new ones because you hate being photographed, take a look at my brand photography shoots in Yorkshire.

We’ll plan the whole thing together. And I promise I won’t just put you in front of a camera and tell you to smile.