I avoid coffee and cigs. I also rarely drink. (My head spins after 1 cup of vodka ribena LOL)
I think I just have an irrational fear of the camera.
When I was doing my THEATER course...my final performance was good, and I got praised by my teacher and fellow students enjoyed it. Because I know theres no camera in front of me. I'm not afraid of performing in front of people.
But when I was doing SCREEN acting course in another school (Before my Theater course), I froze when I know I had to had a camera zoom into my face during my monologue. I didnt do very well, was very conscious of how I looked, and indeed I looked weird. I looked puffy and fat for some reason on television. And my skin colour didn't look like how it's supposed to be.
However, another monologue performance done WITHOUT camera drew praise from the teacher and casting agent of the school. She even asked "Have you taken acting course before?" and that was actually my first time taking class.
I really don't know where this irrational fear came from.
I thought my pics as a kid look good/alright. I think it's when I entered secondary school where I was fat and got bullied cuz of how nerdy I looked when I was in secondary school (Thick Specs + Never Comb Hair + Fat). I managed to lose weight when I went to JC but have always became conscious from then on.
I remember my year book pic for JC 1, where I was standing beside my good friend and just let out a happy smile/laugh during the pic. It looked so bad, everyone in my class just started laughing. It doesn't help that almost all my current friends are big fans of cameras. They love taking cameras and snipe people at the most unglam moment and tag me on facebook, like
1) Me with chilli sauce all over my mouth during a BBQ/Steamboat
2) During KTV belting out a high note and you know how your face bunches up when you try to hit a high note, there's ALWAYS someone who will suddenly walk over with a camera and snap directly at my face.
These are just some examples.
My friend's aren't mean or anything don't get me wrong. They just love their cameras and sniping people at the wrong time.
I actually skipped CNY this year because I was so tired of getting sniped and tagged on facebook with me putting a pineapple tart inside my mouth. Or someone suddenly calling out my name and I'd turn to that person and..."SNAP" and I'd look all blurry and weird. And...I get tagged on Facebook.
Also, may I know how to show more "Strength" behind the eyes? I'm naturally quite an expressive person but whenever in pictures, theres no "Strength" behind the eyes. Like when you watch ANTM, Tyra would always critic the models without "Strength" behind the eyes. (Sidenote, Australia's Next Top Model is a gazillion times better than ANTM, watch it if you haven't)
By the way, I have read the link on 11 steps to be photogenic and that was tremendously helpful.