7 Photographer’s Tips for Snapping the Perfect Photo

Nadine Esterl and Anthony Pontillas, co-owners of Evrydy Studios, give us the lowdown on how to take the best photos for your social media feed. Esterl is a German-Ghanaian model, and Pontillas is a photographer who hails from Manila. Both studied design and ended up partnering together to establish Evrydy Studios, based in Shenzhen for your complete commercial, editorial and fashion photography and videography needs. 

1. Confidence is key

Make sure you’re comfortable wherever you’re taking the photo. Maybe that means moving to a less crowded area. Relax, your confidence will shine through and make for a great photo.

2. Angles, baby

Cameras and phone cameras have different lenses and create distortion. If you’re taking a body shot and want your legs to look longer, take it from a lower angle, tippy toe or slightly place one leg forward. Take face selfies from above because it will make your chin smaller. Never look at the camera straight on, try tilting your face 45 degrees to the the left or right or tilt your chin down. Make sure not to look too far too one side as only the whites of your eyes will show.

3. Posing

Relax your lips, breathe through your mouth and exhale. If you don’t know what to do with your hands, try holding a drink. For men, looking a bit ‘angry’ works.

4. Movement

Always add a bit of movement for that ‘candid’ shot. Flicking or touching your hair always works. 

5. Preparation

 If you want that perfect photo, make sure you put on your best outfit, or just touch up your makeup. If you’re heading on a vacation, check the location on Instagram and see other pictures people have taken for inspiration. If you’re heading to the beach, pack some baby oil – it’ll give you a glossy shine.

6. Lighting

 If you’re in a dark location, make a DIY reflector by using a white towel. Reflectors are amazing and we would recommend a 5-in-1 reflector for beauty or half body shots. Also, having light directly shine from above (aka midday sun), creates shadow on your nose. Have light coming from straight on, and face the light.

7. iPhone Hacks

Turn on your camera grid to easily center the subject or position them using rule of thirds. Also, the new 0.5x optical zoom feature is great for capturing landscape, scenery and architecture.

Follow Anthony at @anthony.pontillas or Nadine at @wolf_sister on Instagram.

[All images courtesy of Evrydy Studios]