Lights, Camera, Action!

We are all doing a lot of video conferencing these days, and those little webcams can make you look terrible. As someone who does a fair amount of video recording, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips on how to make yourself look better on screen.

1. Lighting!
The two photos in this post were taken a minute apart. I didn't change my make-up and I'm not using a filter in either picture. Shutting a curtain that was letting in a lot of light behind me, and turning on my desk lamp made a world of difference.

2. Elevate the camera.
Raising the camera up so it is a little bit higher than your eyes helps you looked more poised (and skinnier!).

3. Clean up the background.
I prefer the background in the before shot here because there is less stuff in it. To make the "after" picture look better, I tidied up the room behind me since I knew more of it was showing.

4. Double check your appearance.
I'm wearing a solid blue shirt in these photos for a reason. Blue tends to look really good on camera, while patterns do not.

I also changed my hair between shots. It looked kind of wild in the first picture, and I wouldn't want people to fixate on that instead of what I have to say.

I hope these tips help you feel more confident and look better in your next video chat!