When your shoot comes, we want to make sure you're in control of all your facial expressions so you don't even have to think about it the day of your shoot.

We do this business to help you look your best online, but this is not because you're not already a fine looking individual—it's because no one has told you how to pose, what to do with your eyes, how to move your arms and shoulders, or which direction to look. People look funny to people online because of awkward selfies and the inability to feel natural in front of a real camera. The goal with this document is to give you some insight before we actually coach in person. If you can get a head start on some of this information, coaching will go much quicker, and we can inevitably get more quality shots out of you.

Let’s talk about the evolution of expressions a bit.

Let’s say you’re in a scenario where you’re frightened. You’re walking down an alley and someone threatens you with a knife and attempts to rob you. Your facial muscles have evolved since the beginning of humanity to convey something at that very moment. Let’s say you’re feeling confident in a place or situation where something is fairly normal to you. Maybe you’re informing someone about a topic you’re well versed in or playing a pickup basketball game and you’re driving toward the hoop with determination. Your facial structure will probably form confidence. Let’s say you genuinely find something hilarious. Maybe an internet meme, a standup comedy special, or a joke your friend told you. Your face will combine all of its muscles to naturally express the joy of what you thought was funny. You probably haven’t thought in depth about what your expressions convey to others, but it’s extremely important—whether in front of a camera selfie with friends, or on a first date with brand-new person.

Each of these scenarios result in an expression that’s universal for the most part. No one had to tell you how to feel or respond in these moments—you just did it on your own. It’s developed throughout our history as humans: facial expressions. But what if you have to dial in confidence in front of a camera? In front of bright lights? For someone you literally just met 20 minutes ago? What if you’re self conscious about your looks or feeling worried about how the photos will turn out. This is incredibly normal, and it’s why people dread “company headshot day.”

This is where it’s important to analyze the individual features of your face, body language, and posture to find out what each conveys. Combining these different components of your face can unlock expressions that you can demonstrate on command in any situation, even if you happened to be scared to death. This is so important, because whether you realize it or not, our face is an algorithm of communication to others’ subconscious. It’s a puzzle. Eyes, mouth, eyebrows, jawline, shoulders, etc… each of these, even changed so slightly, can communicate something subtle to someone without them even having any idea. This is crucial when someone makes a split-second decision as to whether or not they want to take a further look at your profile. The human subconscious is incredibly shallow, but it’s ultimately for the best since we make daily decisions based on micro expressions that our brain has adapted to interpret.

I want to go through facial features one at a time and, to the best of my ability through text, explain the importance of each. After this, we’ll see how the individual features are cohesive in forming an expression that genuinely shows who you are and makes you look desirable.

Eyes

Let's start with the eyes.

Your eyes are what the soul gravitates toward. They are the window into who you are as a person. People say things like “you have kind eyes” for a reason. We’re designed to lock eyes in effective communication, but this also applies when looking at photographs of others. Give a quick scroll through the photos below then right back…

You probably made eye contact with the people in the photos. Yeah, they have nicely styled hair and a sly, suave, sneaky little smirk, but the eyes are contagious. Dialing in your eyes is important in conveying that you mean business, both in the dating world and beyond.

The way you control your eyes and eyelids for a photograph is directly correlated to how much confidence you’re giving off. Remember the robbery scenario from above? You were terrified and naturally widened your eyes in fear. Historically, and in our human evolution, this is showing that you mean no harm and that you’ll back down without any further scuffle.

In the photos below that were taken of Match Artist clients, take a look at their eyes. Do you notice anything similar with all of them?

If you noticed that each person's bottom eyelids are a bit raised, you're right. This conveys confidence to the viewer. If you were to search 'model' or 'celebrity' on the internet, you would find this sort of eye action everywhere. This is because most celebrities have been taught by photographers to look better in front of the camera, even if they’re bombarded by paparazzi on the street as they walk out of the grocery store.

This is something you should practice in the mirror. You're not bringing your top lids down, but only bringing the bottom lids up. If you can't get it, try a full squint, like you're looking into the sun, then raise your eyebrows to bring your upper eyelids higher. Some are very fast to learn this, and it takes more time for others, but I'm attempting to give you a head start before we actually get shooting so you can have more quality photos. Some are a bit more serious, while others are a bit more sneaky, seductive, or mischievous.

Eyebrows

Some have extremely impressionable eyebrows. I’m convinced that beyond the eyes, a nice set of eyebrows doing the right thing, especially for males, seems to make the difference for why people find celebrities attractive. It’s very subtle, and most wouldn’t say, “Oh, he’s so attractive because of his eyebrows,” but take a look at some of your favorite male celebs—most have pretty intense eyebrows. Either just thicker (you can’t really change this), or very moveable. A single raised eyebrow can take away from an otherwise intense look and make it a bit more approachable or goofy—which is ideal for some people. See what you can do with your eyebrows. Take your phone with you and go look in the mirror while pretending what you see is a final image. Raising one eyebrow can give a sense of intrigue for some, and look creepy for others—so try it out.

Mouth

Your movement here will really depend on what's most natural for you. Along with the eye tricks above, you can either flash a toothy smile (if you have nice teeth), a closed lip smile, a smirk, or a slightly open-lipped mouth.

The ideal smile I try to bring out in most clients is the smirk. Essentially, one side of your smile raised higher than the other. A complete smile can look kind or happy, but a subtle smirk is often best because it doesn’t give everything away. In the split second someone sees your profile, creating a subconscious sense of desire/intrigue is key. The smirk can convey that you’re a bit mysterious, sneaky, or suave. But remember, it’s all connected to the eyes. When smirks look dorky, it’s because they lack a connection to the eyes.

The more subtle the smirk, the more seductive. A full on smirk can seem a fun sort of goofy, so make sure you're practicing both. You're essentially tightening the cheek muscles adjacent to your nose to scrunch it up and pull the mouth to be slightly uneven. Think of it like a half smile.

Some are able to do it while showing teeth. Others find this more difficult. Experiment with both! Neither is right or wrong. We'll obviously work on more of a smile during the session, but a smirk shows a bit of your personality plus some mystery you want for your online presence.

Again, it's most important to connect the smirk to the raised lower eyelids or it will look strange. Take a look at some past client examples below. There are differing degrees of the smirk, and you can see most of them here.

Neck + Jawline

The one thing we’re always saying to clients is “bring your head toward the camera,” because people forget. Pushing your head out toward the camera doesn’t feel natural, but it slims you down quite a bit and makes your jawline pop. You're going to essentially stretch your neck out like a turtle straight forward toward the camera. Your shoulders or chest shouldn’t move with it. It’s usually just going to be a subtle jutting out of the head. When you’re looking in the mirror, pull your head back like you’d normally stand, then push your head out forward. Notice how your neck shrinks and more depth is created under your jaw. It also helps get rid of any double chin.

In the photo below, our client looks completely natural. He’s actually pulling his head out a bit, but you can’t tell. It just looks natural and his jawline pops.

Head Tilt

Three Degrees of Tilt

Our head is on a beautiful swivel, allowing for unlimited positioning—but there are three main ways to make your jawline pop by tilting the head. Every jawline is a bit different, so each person has to find the ways in which their jaw will be most defined.

1. Up vs. down: Very self explanatory. Your head is forward, but either tilting up or down can make your jaw sharper. I’ve noticed with boxier jaws that tilting upward can make it look defined, but sometimes a bit too pretentious or cocky. Looking down a bit can possibly look too creepy, but it depends on the person entirely. See what looks good for you.

2. Side to side: Looking one direction or the other shows off the side profile. Generally, we try to capture both eyes in the photo, so we don’t recommend turning the head too far. But there are some exceptions. You nose also plays into how far your head should turn. Turning too far can emphasize a larger nose in an unflattering way. The goal here is to make the jawline pop.

3. Puppy Dog: This is where you can tilt your head to the side like a dog would if it’s interested in what you’re doing. It brings a bit of playfulness and mystery into the photo. Mixing the first two with the last one can have a cool effect.

Intense vs. Kind Components of the Face

Alright, so we have a bunch of facial components that come together to form an expression. We’re going for the fully-formed expressions of sneaky, suave, confident, fun, mysterious, classy, seductive etc., but each facial muscle has the capability of conveying either pure intensity or kindness. Raising the bottoms of your eyes and the emphasizing the jawline convey a more intense confidence. The eyebrows and the smirk contribute to a more kind expression. We don’t want you to be either too happy or too serious, so combining all these micro expressions in the right way is important. It’s a balance.

Homework

Find a mirror and practice controlling your face. Try to raise your bottom eyelids. Notice how your eyebrows move when you apply different muscles. Try to find the ideal position to show off your jawline. And work on that smirk. The key thing here is becoming aware of how slight movements in your facial muscles can change how you look.

After you’ve stared in the mirror for a bit, grab your phone and start snapping some photos. Which ones do you like the best? How did you control your face? We’ll go more in-depth on facial expressions when we begin shooting, but having an awareness of how to use your facial expressions will dramatically increase your picture quality!