7 tips to ace that yearbook photo

Let’s be honest, no one had Georgina Wilson’s voluminous and tousled hair in high school. Not even Georgina Wilson.

Here’s the ugly truth: I hated my high school yearbook photo so much that I didn’t even bother getting one in college.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t so bad. But it was definitely not good. While we were scrambling to finish our final exams and plotting to skip graduation practice, I had little time to think about how I would look in my yearbook. I didn’t think there was much planning to be done — in my grade school yearbook photo, I just had to brush my hair and I looked super cute.

On photo day, I went to the home economics room and sat in front of the photographer with a ready smile and my chosen angle. I got this, I thought to myself. I was already thinking of making copies to casually leave around my would-be college in the coming school year.

But then the photographer asked me to adjust my head, tilt, and turn it until I was no longer in a position I was comfortable with. Naturally, I wasn’t happy with the roster of pictures I had to choose from, so I just picked the one that I looked the least constipated in. I didn’t even bother getting smaller copies anymore, because duh, why give the world proof?

But looking back, I wish I knew what I know now, and maybe then I wouldn’t be so bitter about it. So I’ve come up with a few tips and tricks to help you with your own yearbook photo. Perhaps then you can not only have a yearbook photo that you would give copies of, but even one you’d pay to get pasted on a billboard.

Practice in the mirror. Do you prefer one where you’re grinning, or one that makes you look like a mysterious international spy? Remember, even Tyra Banks didn’t learn how to smize overnight.

Get enough sleep the night before. But if you really have to cram for that physics exam, you can put cold spoons (put them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes) over your eyes to get rid of the puffiness.

Choose your hair and makeup wisely. The trick is to look nice, but look like yourself. It’s a yearbook photo, so you’ll want to be remembered for what you actually look like. Let’s be honest, approximately no one had Georgina Wilson’s voluminous and tousled hair in high school. Not even Georgina Wilson.

Know your best angle and stick with it. Don’t be like me, giving into the whims of the photographer. They don’t know your face like you do, so stick with what you’re comfortable with.

Choose the creative shot you’re happy with. While the key to an awesome Halloween costume is being fun and recognizable, I say stick to your guns when planning your creative shot. So what if no one can tell that you’re a Roman goddess, not a tablecloth from Italianni’s?

Pump yourself up with some music. The right music will always put you in the right mood. It helps lessen the nervousness you might feel when posing in front of other people. Mine, for example, was Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Crazy in Love. (Yes, I’m that old.)

Relax, homie. If you do all that and it still looks bad, don’t worry. Everyone else’s probably did, too.