How to Smile in Pictures Without Looking Awkward

7 min read · Glowmaxx

To smile in pictures without looking awkward, don't "make" a smile. Trigger a real one: think of something funny, breathe out gently through your mouth, rest your tongue behind your top teeth, and let the smile start in your eyes before your mouth. Then practice for five minutes a day in the mirror so your natural smile becomes easy to find on command. Awkward smiles are just smiles held too long with tense muscles; relaxed ones look like you.

Almost nobody is born knowing how to smile for photos. It's a skill, and it's learnable in about a week.

If you've been stuck wondering why your smile looks off in every photo but can't pin down whether it's your smile, your angle or the light, Glowmaxx scores one selfie a day on five levers, including posture and angle, so you can separate the smile from everything else. Start my glow-up

Why forced smiles look forced

There's a reason you can spot a fake smile instantly, even if you can't explain it.

A real smile uses more than your mouth. Your cheeks lift, the skin around your eyes crinkles and your eyes narrow slightly. A forced smile often only moves the mouth. The lips stretch, but the eyes stay the same, and the brain reads that as "not really happy."

Other signs of an awkward smile in photos:

• Held too long. After a few seconds of waiting for the shutter, your smile muscles tense and the smile freezes.
• Tight jaw and neck. Tension pulls your mouth wide and flat.
• Held breath. People hold their breath before photos, which stiffens the whole face.
• Too many teeth, too wide. Pulling the corners way back looks like a grimace.

So when someone asks "how do you smile in photos and not look like an uncomfortable weirdo?", the answer is: relax, trigger it fresh, and don't hold it.

Find your natural smile in the mirror

Your natural smile already exists. You use it with friends all the time. The goal is to see it and learn how it feels.

Step 1: Catch it for real

Sit in front of a mirror or your front camera. Think of something that genuinely makes you laugh: a funny video, an inside joke, a pet doing something dumb. Let yourself actually smile or laugh.

Step 2: Notice what moves

Look closely:

• How far do your lips open?
• Do your top teeth show? Bottom teeth?
• How much do your eyes narrow?
• Which way do you naturally tilt your head?

Step 3: Feel it

Close your eyes while holding that smile. Notice how your cheeks feel, where your tongue is, how your eyes feel. That physical memory is what you'll recreate in photos.

Step 4: Take a few selfies

Take three or four selfies mid-real-smile. Pick your favorite. That's your reference smile, the one you're learning to repeat.

The breathe-out trick

This is the simplest fix on the list and it works for almost everyone.

1. Right before the photo, take a small breath in through your nose.
2. As the photographer counts, breathe out gently through slightly parted lips, like a small sigh.
3. As you finish breathing out, let a smile form.
4. The photo gets taken right as you finish.

Breathing out relaxes your jaw, shoulders and face. It also stops you from holding your breath, which is what makes photo smiles look tight.

Bonus: the quiet laugh

Instead of a sigh, do a tiny, quiet "ha" through your nose. It kicks off a genuine smile better than saying "cheese" (which actually pulls your mouth into a wide, flat shape).

Tongue behind your teeth

This one sounds odd, but it's popular for a reason.

Place the tip of your tongue lightly against the back of your top front teeth, then smile. It does three things:

• Stops your smile from stretching too wide.
• Lifts slightly under your chin, which can make the jaw look more defined.
• Gives you something to focus on besides "am I smiling right?"

Keep it light. Pushing hard makes your mouth tense. Try it in the mirror first and compare with and without.

Smile with your eyes first

You may have heard this called "smizing." Here's how to actually do it:

1. Look at the camera lens, not the screen.
2. Narrow your eyes slightly, mostly by lifting your lower eyelids a tiny bit. Imagine you're squinting at someone you like across the room.
3. Let your cheeks lift as your eyes narrow.
4. Then let your mouth follow.

When your eyes lead, the smile reads as real even if your mouth is small. It's also the secret to looking good in pictures without smiling at all.

The hard part is judging your own smile. When you look at 20 selfies in a row, they all start to look weird, and it's tough to tell if you're actually getting better. Glowmaxx scores one selfie a day with a one-line note on each lever, keeps a streak for your daily routine and makes a day-one vs today card, so you can see your progress instead of relying on how you feel about your face that day. Start my glow-up

Practice drill: 5 minutes a day for a week

What helped most people learn how to smile for pictures and be more photogenic? Practice. Here's a simple one-week drill.

Tips for the week

• Do it at the same time and in the same light each day so you're comparing smiles, not lighting. A window is ideal; our ring light vs natural light guide explains why.
• Don't delete the bad ones yet. Seeing them next to the good ones teaches you what to avoid.
• Keep it light. Laughing at your weird practice faces is actually good practice.

How to smile for photos (for guys)

The same steps work. Many guys find a closed-mouth or small half smile with eyes leading feels more natural than a full teeth smile. Push your face slightly forward toward the camera to define your jaw, and keep your shoulders relaxed.

Teeth or no teeth?

Should you show teeth when smiling? There's no rule. Both can look great.

Teeth smile

• Feels happier and more open.
• Usually shows top teeth, not bottom.
• Works best with the breathe-out trick so it doesn't look stretched.

Closed-lip smile

• Softer and more relaxed.
• Great if you're self-conscious about braces or teeth.
• Needs the eyes to do more of the work.

How to choose

Try both in the week-long drill and pick the one that looks most like you when you're laughing with friends. Many people have a go-to for each mood: teeth for group photos, closed for selfies.

For more on the technical side, light has a big effect on smiles too. A smile under flash or harsh sun can look tense; see our guide to looking good in flash photos.

Start your smile practice with a score

Now you know how to smile in pictures without looking awkward: trigger a real smile, breathe out, tongue behind teeth, eyes first, and practice five minutes a day. Take today's practice selfie and Glowmaxx will give you a glow score out of 100, a note on each of the five levers and three moves for today. The daily routine keeps a streak so your week of practice actually sticks.

Start my glow-up

FAQ

How do I smile naturally in photos?

Think of something funny right before the shot, breathe out gently through your mouth and let the smile start in your eyes. Don't hold it; ask the photographer to count and shoot on three.

Why does my smile look fake in photos?

Usually because only your mouth is moving and your eyes aren't, or because you held the smile too long and your muscles tensed. Relaxing your jaw and letting your eyes narrow slightly makes it look real.

Should you show teeth when smiling in pictures?

Either works. A teeth smile looks open and happy; a closed-lip smile looks softer and relaxed. Practice both and use whichever looks most like your natural laugh.

How can I learn how to smile in pictures fast?

Practice five minutes a day for a week in front of a mirror or front camera, using the breathe-out trick and eyes-first smile. Compare your selfies each day in the same light so you can see what's changing.

How should I smile in pictures if I have braces?

A closed-lip smile with your eyes leading looks great, or a relaxed teeth smile if you're comfortable. Braces are really common, and a relaxed face matters much more than what your teeth look like.