How to take the perfect body transformation photo

We all have body image issues.

Even the most ripped or buff or healthy of us all don't like something about our own bodies and we'd do just about anything to draw attention away from whatever it is we're paranoid about. Then, to make it worse, Facebook has replaced the proverbial beauty magazine when it comes to promoting low self-esteem. On a daily basis, men and women are showing off their new and improved physiques and it's putting pressure on the rest of us to stay in shape - if you really care that much. The new wave that has taken over from the classically perfect model we're used to seeing shoved in our faces is the before and after shots from your average Joe on social media. In a way, it's nearly more depressing seeing them because you're noticing these people who were once just like you but they're getting their acts together whilst you're elbow deep in a bag of chips. People are undergoing these six-week programmes with personal trainers and some of them are coming out in serious shape. Others, you're basically looking at the same photo except it's a better photo. There are any number of tricks any of us can do to enhance your 'After' shot. Deliberately ballsing up your 'Before' picture It's like when you're getting tested with your sports team at pre-season. Don't run up high scores, don't exert yourself too much - you want the improvement to look much greater than it actually is. Save yourself for the re-test. The main trick with this photo is the low camera angle looking up at the body. Very few would come out of that looking perfectly and the terrible lighting is working a treat. The only way is up and, with a few minor changes, you can make yourself look completely different using the same camera in the same location. Even the same body too. In the space of two days, there's some difference. Those changes aren't going to move mountains but they'd definitely earn you a few Instagram likes. Environment changes for the 'After' photo A few things make a big change:

• Better angle
• Better lighting
• Better colour of room
• Better bottom-wear
• Better stance
• Better pump

You can even look tanner in a different room. The side-on shot Probably the easiest to mess up beforehand. A couple of days later and it's easy to change this.

• Lighting
• Posture
• Tensing
• And holding your breath for as long as necessary

No-one questions why you have a different pose for your two different back pictures So don't be afraid to look as helpless and as scruffy as possible in the first one. With a special programme though, anything can happen. Even this mess above can transform. All you need is that special programme... and a few other, much easier things. If you have a pull-up bar to use while you're getting the photo taken, even better. Basically, show off the muscles you weren't showing originally - everyone is too polite to point out otherwise. Stand under a better light and get some definition in them if you're struggling, like me, to actually get some muscles to pop out. Working out helps. Diet helps. But so do clothes, so do camera angles, so does lighting, so does your head image, so does your demeanour, your stance and how much you can hold your breath to hang onto the tense for a bit longer. This isn't just a body transformation. It's a life transformation and, as long as you look happier and less helpless in the second photo, your programme will look like it has down the job. We rarely just get to compare the improvements side by side with an identically-taken shot. Social media isn't a place for our true selves after all. You can be whoever you want to be with the right trick. It's about your journey from a dark place to a light place - metaphorically and literally.