M
minty
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This guide isn't about actual frauding techniques you see on here, but simply about how to adjust your face for photos to give you a higher perceived rating.
The entire population does this in one way or another. Subconsciously when they look in the mirror or when they're about to have a photo taken they'll pull a face. If you concentrate the next time somebody poses for a photo you'll often be able to see them furrowing their brows, or squinting a little, maybe tensing their jaw, and most of them do it without realising. Further proof of this is shown with candid photos - if a photo of somebody is taken unexpectedly they'll start to feel a little uncomfortable, and maybe ask you to delete it.
If you missed out on developing this crucial skill then hopefully this guide will help you.
Canthal Tilt:
Your perceived canthal tilt becomes higher when you're looking slightly down in photos. This is because when you look down, the lateral canthus appears higher up, due to it being further away from the centre of your face.
Facial Thirds:
Your facial thirds change depending on the lens and the positioning of the camera.
If the photo is took from a lower perspective, the facial thirds look more masculinised, with a taller lower third and a shorter upper third.
If the photo is took from a higher perspective, the facial thirds look more feminised, with a shorter lower third and a taller upper third.
If the photo is taken closer to your skull, your middle third will seem larger
If the photo is taken further from your skull, your middle third will seem smaller
Changing the angle of the photo also changes the angle of the jaw, nostril show, lip commissure tilt, perceived cheekbone height, and a few other things.
Lips:
By pursing your lips, you're actually doing multiple things.
Exaggerated morphed example of tension in the cheeks. Despite the cheekbones being in the exact same spot, the cheekbones appear far more projected with the buccal hollowing on the right. If you look in the mirror and purse your lips right now, you'll be able to see the difference too (if you're lean enough already)
You should not squint in photos often. Squinting almost always looks forced and uncanny, and especially with the rise in popularity of the looksmaxxing subculture, you're also going to look like you're purposely trying to 'mog'. If your palpebral fissure length/height is really that bad where squinting ascends you tenfold, you should pair the squint with a slight smile.
Humans squint when they smile naturally, so it doesn't look forced or uncanny.
Take someone like Cillian Murphy, who has rounded infraorbitals and who's PFL/PFH is too round. He could benefit from narrower eyes, but if I morphed a photo of him with those changes, he'd look uncanny.
However, if we find photos of him smirking, you can see his eyes naturally narrow and it doesn't look uncanny.
Cheekbiting:
If you're going to cheekbite, at least learn how to correctly.
Most people bite the bottom of their cheeks, and it looks terrible. Because the contour of the hollowing is so low down, it gives the illusion of low set cheekbones.
This kid is being ironic of course, and doesn't actually bite his cheeks like this. I took the image from a thread on this website. However, it demonstrates exactly what I mean. When most people bite their cheeks, they do so in a way that
A: looks obvious
and B: is far too low down.
If you want to successfully cheekbite in photos, you need to bite the back of your cheeks, bite them further up your mouth, and do so subtly.
Lighting:
Lighting is very important for frauding in photos.
If you take a photo in the wrong lighting it can cause your miscellaneous features to look worse.
Here are two photos of Jeremy Meeks. In one photo the source of light is in front of him, and in the other the source of light is behind him.
There is a very clear difference in perceived brow density.
Here's a simplified chart to see which lighting you should use depending on your halos/failos
Other methods (unorganised):
This shit may be water to most people, but there's genuine value in it to dwellers on here who don't have experience with this. If you never learn how to take photos properly you're fucked when it comes to making connections online.
If you haven't looked in the mirror for hours a day practising this shit it's unironically over for you
The entire population does this in one way or another. Subconsciously when they look in the mirror or when they're about to have a photo taken they'll pull a face. If you concentrate the next time somebody poses for a photo you'll often be able to see them furrowing their brows, or squinting a little, maybe tensing their jaw, and most of them do it without realising. Further proof of this is shown with candid photos - if a photo of somebody is taken unexpectedly they'll start to feel a little uncomfortable, and maybe ask you to delete it.
If you missed out on developing this crucial skill then hopefully this guide will help you.
Canthal Tilt:
Your perceived canthal tilt becomes higher when you're looking slightly down in photos. This is because when you look down, the lateral canthus appears higher up, due to it being further away from the centre of your face.
Facial Thirds:
Your facial thirds change depending on the lens and the positioning of the camera.
If the photo is took from a lower perspective, the facial thirds look more masculinised, with a taller lower third and a shorter upper third.
If the photo is took from a higher perspective, the facial thirds look more feminised, with a shorter lower third and a taller upper third.
If the photo is taken closer to your skull, your middle third will seem larger
If the photo is taken further from your skull, your middle third will seem smaller
Changing the angle of the photo also changes the angle of the jaw, nostril show, lip commissure tilt, perceived cheekbone height, and a few other things.
Lips:
By pursing your lips, you're actually doing multiple things.
- You're creating tension in your cheeks. As you can see in the gif, the puckering of the lips causes the muscles in the cheeks to stretch. This muscle is known as the buccinator muscle, which you've probably seen somewhere on the forum before. When they stretch, they become thinner and tighter, and this gives the illusion of inframaxillary hollowing, and a stronger ogee curve from the 3/4 view.
Exaggerated morphed example of tension in the cheeks. Despite the cheekbones being in the exact same spot, the cheekbones appear far more projected with the buccal hollowing on the right. If you look in the mirror and purse your lips right now, you'll be able to see the difference too (if you're lean enough already)
- You're also creating more volume in your lips. Puckering your lips increases their vertical height, and this gives the illusion that your lips are fuller. Fuller lips give the impression of ideal dental forward growth, and makes you more attractive to most people.
- Bloating in your cheek region
- Wider than ideal lips
- Thin lips
- Thinner than ideal nose
- Underprojected cheekbones
- Long philtrum
- Downwards sloping lip commissures / marionette lines
You should not squint in photos often. Squinting almost always looks forced and uncanny, and especially with the rise in popularity of the looksmaxxing subculture, you're also going to look like you're purposely trying to 'mog'. If your palpebral fissure length/height is really that bad where squinting ascends you tenfold, you should pair the squint with a slight smile.
Humans squint when they smile naturally, so it doesn't look forced or uncanny.
Take someone like Cillian Murphy, who has rounded infraorbitals and who's PFL/PFH is too round. He could benefit from narrower eyes, but if I morphed a photo of him with those changes, he'd look uncanny.
However, if we find photos of him smirking, you can see his eyes naturally narrow and it doesn't look uncanny.
Cheekbiting:
If you're going to cheekbite, at least learn how to correctly.
Most people bite the bottom of their cheeks, and it looks terrible. Because the contour of the hollowing is so low down, it gives the illusion of low set cheekbones.
This kid is being ironic of course, and doesn't actually bite his cheeks like this. I took the image from a thread on this website. However, it demonstrates exactly what I mean. When most people bite their cheeks, they do so in a way that
A: looks obvious
and B: is far too low down.
If you want to successfully cheekbite in photos, you need to bite the back of your cheeks, bite them further up your mouth, and do so subtly.
Lighting:
Lighting is very important for frauding in photos.
If you take a photo in the wrong lighting it can cause your miscellaneous features to look worse.
Here are two photos of Jeremy Meeks. In one photo the source of light is in front of him, and in the other the source of light is behind him.
There is a very clear difference in perceived brow density.
Here's a simplified chart to see which lighting you should use depending on your halos/failos
Other methods (unorganised):
- Open your mouth slightly in photos if your lower third is too small / if your face is too narrow.
- Stand closer to the camera if you have a small skull
- Look down with your eyes in photos if your IPD is too wide, and up it it's too narrow.
- Tense your jaw if it's too narrow
This shit may be water to most people, but there's genuine value in it to dwellers on here who don't have experience with this. If you never learn how to take photos properly you're fucked when it comes to making connections online.
If you haven't looked in the mirror for hours a day practising this shit it's unironically over for you
