How to Avoid a Double Chin in Photos: Poses, Angles and Light

Person practising a portrait pose at home

You can avoid a double chin in photos with four things: push your forehead towards the camera, keep the camera at eye level or slightly above, stand further back from a longer lens, and use light that puts a soft shadow under your jaw. None of it needs weight loss, editing apps or a special face. It’s mostly about where your head is in relation to your neck, and where the photographer is in relation to you.

We photograph people for a living in London, and “I hate my double chin” is one of the most common things we hear in the first five minutes of a session. It’s also one of the easiest things to fix. Here’s how, in the order we’d do it on the day.

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Why a double chin shows up in photos (even when it doesn’t in the mirror)

A photo is a frozen frame from one angle, and the angle matters more than most people think. When your chin drops towards your chest, or you pull your head back into your shoulders, the skin under the jaw folds and bunches. When the camera sits below your chin and points up, it sees the underside of your jaw and the neck merging into one soft shape.

So a lot of what looks like a double chin in a picture is really posture, camera height and light. You might have none of it in real life and still see it in a snap taken from low down, with a flat flash, while you laugh and slump back into a sofa.

That’s good news, because posture, camera height and light are all things you can change in about thirty seconds.

The pose: forehead forward and slightly down

If you only remember one thing, make it this. Instead of lifting your chin, move your whole head forward, bringing the forehead towards the camera and tilting it down a touch. PictureCorrect recommends this forward-and-down head movement to tighten the skin around the chin, and for a side-on shot it suggests moving the ears towards the camera without dropping the back shoulder.

People call it “the turtle” or, less kindly, the world’s slowest headbutt. It feels ridiculous. It looks fine on camera, because the camera only sees a small shift.

Here’s how to do it step by step:

Stand or sit tall, with your weight a little forward. Don’t lean back.
Let your shoulders drop and sit slightly back, away from your ears.
Keep the chin roughly level, then slide your head forward from the neck, as if someone’s pulling a string from your forehead.
Tip the face down a tiny amount, so your eyes look at the lens through the top of your vision.
Relax your jaw. Teeth slightly apart, tongue resting on the roof of your mouth, helps some people stop clenching.

The most common mistake is tilting the chin up to stretch the neck. You end up with a shot up your nostrils and the crease is still there, because you stretched upwards instead of forward. Keep the movement small. An inch or so is plenty, and any more looks strained.

Don’t square up to the camera

A straight-on, squared-shoulders pose is the widest, flattest version of you. AARP’s advice on looking better in pictures is to turn your body partly sideways while bringing your head back round towards the camera, and to vary your pose between shots rather than holding one static, front-facing position.

Turning the body does two jobs. It narrows the shoulders and torso, and it makes the forehead-forward move easier, because your head naturally comes round to meet the lens. If you want more on this, our headshot posing guide walks through eight poses we’ve tested in the studio, and our portrait posture tips cover shoulders and spine in more detail.

Sitting or standing?

Both work. Sitting makes it easier to lean slightly forward from the hips, which brings the head forward naturally. Standing gives you a longer neck line but can make people lean back. We’ve compared the two in our standing vs sitting headshots test, so have a look if you’re not sure which suits you.

The camera: height, distance and lens

This is the part nobody tells you, and it’s why a pose that works in a mirror falls flat in a photo.

Camera height

Avoid low angles. Shoot from your eye level or a little above it. A camera below the chin points up into the jaw and neck, and that’s the angle that creates the fold. A few inches above eye level is enough. Go too high and your forehead takes over the frame, which has its own problems.

If you’re taking a photo yourself, put the phone on a stack of books or a tripod at about forehead height, not at chest height. Holding it out at arm’s length and a bit low is the classic double-chin selfie.

Distance and focal length

Closer isn’t kinder. A wide lens close to your face exaggerates whatever is nearest the camera: nose, cheeks, chin. Zoner Studio’s portrait framing guide suggests stepping back and using about 85mm or longer (full-frame equivalent) for head-and-shoulders portraits, rather than something like 30mm up close, which can enlarge the nose and cheeks and make the head look rounder.

PetaPixel makes the same point: getting in close with a wider lens introduces facial distortion, and it shouldn’t be overdone.

On a phone, this means using the 2x or portrait lens if you have one, and standing further back rather than pushing the camera into your face. It’s the single biggest upgrade to a phone headshot.

What you change	Likely result	Better option
Camera below chin	Jaw and neck merge	Eye level or slightly above
Wide lens up close	Rounder face, bigger nose	Step back, use 85mm or longer (or 2x on a phone)
Chin lifted	Nostrils, crease still there	Forehead forward, chin level
Head pulled back	Skin bunches under the jaw	Lean in from the hips
Flat frontal flash	No shadow under the jaw	Softer light from the side and above

The light: define the jaw, don’t flatten it

Light is the part where a professional setup really earns its keep. The basic idea is simple. You want a soft shadow under the jawline, because that shadow is what tells the eye “the face ends here and the neck starts there”. Light that comes from the front, at the same height as the lens, fills in that shadow and everything looks like one smooth shape. That’s what a phone flash or a ring light does.

What tends to work better:

Light from slightly above and to one side. It carves out the cheekbones and drops a gentle shadow under the chin.
Soft, not harsh. Big, diffused light (a large softbox, or a window) is kinder than a small hard source. Harsh overhead light, like a spotlight in a restaurant or office downlights, makes dark, ugly shadows under the chin, so move out from under it.
Not a ring light, not direct flash. Both flatten the jaw.

If you’re shooting at home, window light works well. Stand about a metre or two from a window with the light coming from the side, and face slightly towards it. We’ve written up exactly how to place yourself in our natural light headshots guide.

One honest note: lighting set-ups differ by face shape, collar and skin tone, and we adjust ours live in the studio while watching the screen. Treat the above as a starting point, then take a few test shots and look at the jaw.

What to wear and how to sit in your clothes

Clothing can help a little. An open collar or V-neck gives the neck some length and breaks up the space under the chin. A high, tight crew neck or a bulky scarf can push up against the jaw and add to the bunched-up look. A jacket that fits on the shoulders, rather than hanging off them, helps you hold your posture without trying.

This is not about hiding anything. It’s just about giving the camera clean lines to work with. Our executive portrait guide goes through outfits and preparation for corporate portraits.

Practise before the day

The turtle move feels weird the first time, and weird makes people tense up, which makes it worse. Do it in front of a mirror, or better, your phone’s front camera, for a couple of minutes a day for a week. AARP also recommends practising poses in a mirror beforehand, then keeping shoulders down, neck lifted and posture straight on the day.

A few things to try when you practise:

Do the forward-and-down move, then relax your face. Your eyes should still look warm, not startled.
Check your hands and shoulders. Shoulders creeping up to your ears undo the work. Our guide to posing hands in portraits helps with that bit.
Look at the photos with fresh eyes. Pick the two or three where the jaw looks clear and notice how you were standing.

If you freeze up the moment a lens appears, you’re not alone. Our camera shy headshots page has a breath reset and a few phrases that help. If you want a wider look at presenting yourself well online, this professional profile photo checklist covers posture and natural posing from an image consulting angle.

During a professional session: what a good photographer does

This is where having someone direct you makes the biggest difference. You can’t see your own jaw while you’re posing, and you shouldn’t have to. A good photographer will:

Set the camera height and lens before you even sit down.
Nudge you, in small words, to bring your forehead forward, drop your shoulders, turn a few degrees.
Change the pose between shots, so you aren’t stuck in one stiff position.
Show you the screen so you can see what’s working.

It should also be your call. No Film School stresses that the photographer should ask the subject what they’re comfortable with, and put the person’s comfort first. If you’d rather not talk about your chin at all, say so, and a good photographer will simply direct you towards the angle that works without making a thing of it. We cover what that looks like in practice in photo direction for headshots.

If you’re a bigger person and have been burnt by awkward shoots before, our plus size headshot poses page shows five poses built around the same forward-chin idea. And if you’re a man wondering what to do with the jaw and shoulders, headshot poses for men has eight go-to looks.

What about editing apps?

Yes, apps can make a double chin look smaller, mostly by smoothing tones, blurring the fold and reshaping the jaw. The catch is that it often shows. The Guardian reported in 2018 that heavy FaceTune editing can turn selfies into smooth, unreal faces, and bodies slimmed to impossible proportions. More recently, The Independent has covered concerns that apps such as Facetune, FaceApp and Meitu can change facial dimensions and may increase appearance pressure.

For a profile photo, the bigger risk is practical. If you look noticeably different on a video call or at a meeting from your LinkedIn picture, people notice. We’d much rather get the pose, angle and light right in the camera, then do honest retouching on top: tidy skin, remove a stray hair, fix a crease in a shirt. The face stays yours.

Our view: it’s almost never about your chin

We’ve done over 500 sessions, and here’s what we see again and again. The person who says “I have a terrible double chin” usually doesn’t have a chin problem at all. They have a mix of three small things: they pull their head back when they’re nervous, they’ve only ever been photographed from below, and they’ve only ever seen photos lit by a flash or an overhead light.

Three factors that affect the jaw in photos

When we fix those, the photos change in a few minutes, and so does how people feel about them. Nobody has to starve, contort or buy a gadget. What helps most is a bit of calm direction and a screen to look at together, so you can see for yourself that the jaw is fine.

One more thing we’d say to anyone dreading their shoot. Don’t spend your energy hiding something. Spend it on looking like the version of you your clients, casting directors or colleagues will meet. A warm, relaxed expression beats a perfect jawline every time, and the two usually come together anyway.

— Emmet

Book a session with directed posing

If you’d like someone to handle the angles, lens and light for you, that’s what our sessions are built around. Our headshot sessions start with the Single at £99, and the Professional is £165. On-location sessions are also available around London, and we’ll tell you the price for that on request. Actors can look at our actor headshots, where Essential is £75 and Casting is £135. For a whole team, our team headshots are £50 to £80 per person.

If you’re after a wider personal branding set, the Refresh is £120 and the Executive is £450 on our personal branding photography page. Single sessions usually need a few weeks’ notice, so check our booking lead times before you pick a date.

A quick checklist for the day

Camera at eye level or slightly above, lens at about 85mm equivalent or longer.
Light from the side and a little above, soft, no flat flash.
Shoulders down, spine tall, body turned a few degrees.
Forehead forward and slightly down, chin level.
Relaxed jaw, real expression.
Change the pose between frames, and look at the screen.

FAQ

How do I stop getting a double chin in photos?

Push your forehead towards the camera and tilt it slightly down, rather than lifting your chin. Keep the camera at eye level or just above, and stand further back from the lens. Light from the side and a little above helps too.

Why do I have a double chin in photos but not in real life?

Usually it’s the angle. A camera held low, a head pulled back and flat frontal light all merge the jaw and neck into one shape. Change those three things and the effect often disappears without any change to your face.

Can a photo editing app fix a double chin?

Yes, apps can soften and reshape the area, but heavy edits can look unnatural and may not match how you look in person. It’s better to get the pose, angle and light right first, then keep retouching light.

What lens is best for avoiding a double chin?

For head-and-shoulders portraits, an 85mm or longer lens (full-frame equivalent) is the usual advice, shot from further back. Wide lenses used close up can round out the face. On a phone, use the portrait or 2x lens and step back.

Sources

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