Blank stares and awkward smiles can make anyone—including models—look look awful in pictures. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these photo pitfalls. Look 10 pounds lighter or make you hair look like you just had a blowout with these quick and easy tricks:

1. Avoid Bar Lighting
While these are great places for fun times with friends, they are not very ideal for photo ops. Overhead and uneven lighting can create shadows on the face, which may add up to appearance of uneven skin and dark under-eye circle. For better photos, point your face towards the light. Better yet, head outside where there’s stable and bright enough lighting.

2. Get Your Posture Right
For a no-fail pose that will make you look slender, twist your torso, turn a shoulder away from the camera and the other towards it. If you face the photographer head on, you tend to look wider—and therefore heavier. Also make sure to arch your back, stomach in, buttocks tight and shoulder back. The right posture, along with this trick, will definitely make you look 10 pounds lighter than you actually are.

3. Flip Your Hair Upside Down
Give your hair that extra volume by quickly flipping it upside down, shaking it in the roots with your fingers and then flipping it back in pace. You will be left with perfectly tousled look that will look gorgeously volumized in photos. For more texture, pull your hair up in a messy bun in the few minutes leading up to photo taking. Take it down and give it a couple of spritz of dry shampoo.

4. Know Your Angles
If taking your picture in a seated position, have your photographer take your picture slightly from above. When you tilt your face towards the camera, your jawline will appear more defined, eliminating the dreaded double-chin look. For a photo taken in standing position, ask your photographer to take it from a lower angle. This makes you look leaner and taller.

5. Style Appropriately
If you’re going to an event where there’ll be a lot of picture-takings, pick an outfit with long lines and clichéd waist—think of A-line dresses and belted outfits. For an added height, stick to heels instead of wedges for sexier looking legs and feet. If all else fails, throw on a blazer and a pair of stilettos—it never fails to make you look chic and polished.

Improve the quality of your next photos by looking closely at some of your past snaps and incorporating these tricks to your next photo opportunities.