The Perfect Profile Picture

Taking the perfect profile picture takes years of practice, dedication, and failures...

Although it may seem that way, the only real thing you need is a good quality camera. Read on for tips on taking your next profile picture...

1. Lighting. It's key. When taking pictures in the day, always face away from the sun. Most of the time, if you face towards it, it will wash out your face and you'll look like a pair of floating eyes on a body, and who wants that? The best time to take pictures however is just before the sun sets. It gives a very romantic, vintage feel to any photo. Photos at night work best with flash, just don't get your face all up in the camera. A few feet away from your camera, and the picture should look great! Notice in the picture how the lighting is coming in from an angle. Play around with different angles of the camera and your body to find the best source of lighting.

2.Keep in mind the background. The picture above has great lighting, but your eyes quickly move away from the main focus of the picture to the distracting background of the houses. Whenever you're taking a picture, don't only focus on the main object, take a second to look at the background.

Isn't that better? Simple and it isn't distracting, yet it's better than a blank white background.

3.Use props. It gives an insight to a little bit about you, without stating "Hi, my name is Casey and I like to Pennyboard around town". If you like to play any sports, take a casual picture with an item you use to play that sport. Instead of going for the cheesy sport pictures you usually get when you're in a school sport, try something different. Hold the softball bat differently, try an action shot: throwing a basketball into the hoop, take the picture from the ground and get a cool shot of your shoes/cleats. Just think outside the box.

4.Candid shots look amazing. In my opinion, they're the best kinds of photos, but the only problem is that they're the hardest ones to capture. Unless you have someone following you around 24/7 taking pictures of you, getting candid shots of you laughing, smiling, or even just looking magazine ready is hard. That's why I suggest to have a friend who's good with photography come over for a day and be your mini "paparazzi". Just hang out with them for the day and whenever they make you laugh, they'll be there to get that perfect shot for you. That's how I got this candid shot, and it looks natural and effortless (that's something all of us girls want right?)

5.If all else fails, just get silly with it. Some of the most memorable pictures come from those you unexpectedly take. The ones when your makeup isn't perfect and you're just hanging out with friends. Because let's be honest,we don't have ten different people working on hair and makeup while on a photo shoot set. The silly/random/funny pictures we take... those are the pictures that make us who we are and approachable to other people as well. So if you just can't seem to get that "perfect shot", get some of your friends together and take as many pictures as you can with them and trust me, you'll find one to be an amazing profile picture.