To smile or not to smile? It is one of those awkward questions when we find ourselves in front of the camera and we think and now, what shall I do?
I believe that a beautiful, authentic smile makes any picture joyful and the subject radiant, however, unless you are a trained actor, it is almost impossible to look natural when someone tell us to “just smile”. Especially because we have nothing to think about or to do, and we dread looking silly or even worse, as awkward as we feel inside.

The good news is there are tricks to learn how to smile for pictures and look good. You can learn some tricks on how to smile for your wedding pictures, family events or even simple selfies for your Instagram that work every single time.

1. Think happy

The most important trick of all is that if you want to look genuinely happy, you have to think happy. The reason is that if you smile with your lips, but not with your eyes, your face will look weird and in some instances, even slightly demented.
Try now just to think of some funny situation, and check your immediate physical reaction. You see? It does work.
If you want to know how to smile for your pictures try and imagine the photographer being a person you really like, or if that does not work for you, maybe imagine of them wearing some funny outfits. This will produce a sweet, pleasant smile in the first example, and a really amused one in the second. In both cases, your smile will be genuine.

2. Push your tongue to the back of your from teeth

This technique gives you some control over possible heavy chin, but especially on the muscles on the side of your lips, making your smile even and camera ready.
Do not think too much when doing it, otherwise it is not going to look authentic or believable. And another thing, do not hold your smile there for 20 seconds, because nobody can do it without looking slightly demented.
Knowing that you are going to have a great smile will improve your confidence, and as we always say, confidence is all you need, even when you have to smile for pictures.

3. Show your teeth

Some people have some issues showing teeth when smiling for your pictures, however, it looks so much more natural and relaxed. In fact, a forced smile is often toothless, because it is much harder to fake a full smile than a lips-only smile. And do not forget to think happy. That is key.

4. Remember to breathe

Breathing is incredibly underestimated when in front of the camera, however, it is one of the most important tricks of all to look good when smiling for your pictures. It relaxes your features, takes the stress away and you will look so much more you.
Breathing deeply will help you focusing and be more present. Your eyes will have that sparkle of beautiful vitality that is the mirror of your soul.

Now, you just need to practice and mentally rehearse what you need to do when in front of a photographer. You want to smile and have a good result? Put all these 5 easy tricks together and you will have a great smile in your pictures.

Let us know what the result is by practicing these 5 points by sharing your experience below.