Wine Country Florist

Napa Valley, California

Phone:  (707) 224-0667

The following is from our friends at About.com.  Read the full article by clicking here.

How to Pose for Photos

From Julyne Derrick at About.com

Turn partially sideways to the camera, planting one foot in front of the other. Point your toe to the camera and place your weight on your back foot.

Pull head forward slightly to minimize any appearance of a double chin.

Hold arms slightly away from your body. This keeps upper arm flab from flattening out and therefore appearing flabbier (much like thighs do when one sits on a couch).

Pull shoulders back, chest forward and gently suck stomach in. Be careful not to suck stomach so far in that your ribs show, thereby causing those who later see the photo to cluck to themselves in a bemused, sing-song voice, "She's sucking it-in."

If you can get away with it without looking like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl wannabe, try the look away trick. To do this, look away from the camera, then turn towards it, breaking into a smile just before the camera clicks. Your smile will appear fresh, not frozen. This trick takes practice behind closed, locked doors.

When taking a photo it's also important the photographer does not snap the picture from below. This adds another 20-50 pounds to the 10 pounds automatically and annoying added by the camera.

Use objects you are holding to your advantage by placing them in front of parts of you you'd prefer to hide. A purse or corsage in front of your belly. A jacket slung over the shoulder. (Gwyneth Paltrow used a perfectly placed purse to hide her baby bump before she announced her pregnancy with Apple).

Check out Spanx hosiery. The very modern version of the corset, Spanx are famous for making women all over the world appear 10 pounds thinner.

Fake tans will make you look and feel skinnier. Unfortunately, they tend to reek, except for GlowFusion, a spray tanner I swear is not odorous.

It's not just black that makes you look thinner. Wearing an entire outfit of just one color will do the trick as well, whether it be white, beige, brown, blue or red. One color tends to elongate your figure. Avoid entire outfits in pink, however, unless you are four years old or younger.