You’re pouting for dear life, squeezing in the cheekbones, squinting those eyes like Jon Kortajarena doing a sudoku and yet when your mate turns the camera around you’re confronted by an image of your constipated, bloated, and worryingly wired face. And that’s before you’ve clocked your old-man hand limping in the corner looking as awkward as a dithering turtle.

How do the cover-models do it then, a knock-out photo time and time again? Well, genetics help (duh!) but so does knowing how to pose for photos, tricks of the trade that can help turn you into the man you’ve always wanted to be (on Instagram anyway). So in order to prevent you cringing at yet another picture of yourself, we have collected these tips with the help of some experts so you can take a good photo from well before the camera clicks till your raking in those Instagram likes at the rate of street style maestro Garcon Jon.

Before The Photo

It’s the night before your big shoot, or you know a party where cameras are going to be in attendance, so you’re probably going to want to take it easy. No tricks here, just some simple R&R. “The best photos are moments,” says Sam Way, a model and singer-songwriter represented by Models1. “So, just be in them, and relax. Get a good night sleep, and don’t eat too late the night before either. You want to be as fresh as you can be. If I can I’ll do some yoga, or meditate the night before too.”

Just being told to relax like Frankie going to Hollywood is easier said than done, but if you’re at a party or a wedding, try and enjoy yourself and talk to as many people as possible. This will help you to become more present in the moment and in turn, make for a more relaxed, less forced photo.

Sam Way by Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Posture, Hair, Shave, Clothes

For Andy Barnham, a men’s style photographer who has shot the likes of David Gandy and Tinie Tempah, there are four main things to consider when preparing for your photograph to be taken: posture, hair, a shave and the clothes you wear. “No matter how you want to look be it smart or rugged, all of these things are easy to do, but they take thought and preparation before a shoot and are difficult to fix at the last minute.”