How to take a nice photo of myself?

I do not understand the problem. The camera SEES you and records an image. The camera literally freezes an instant in time. What it SEES is what you GET. If you are NOT happy with the results, it is NOT the fault of the machine, but YOU for not looking your best as you think you should. The lens does NOT lie. OK, so what to do, you ask? First, use a "soft focus" where you focus the lens a bit off to slightly blur the edges. Next, dimmer lighting, from the sides only, NOT face on. You need to reduce the shadows to nothing and reduce any glare from shiny places. Use a half body, waist up shot as any portrait is in real life. The half body shot de-emphasizes your FACE in favor of the whole you even though only half of you is actually IN the picture. Use the services of a friend to snap the pictures. If you are forced to do this by yourself, then use the self timer feature and a tripod to hold the camera in place and take the picture for you. If your camera does not have a self timer, then you need to use TWO mirrors. Each mirror reverses left and right, so you need two to make the picture appear as if someone was standing in front of you. With one mirror, the image would be a mirror image of you, and people who have never seen you will not recognize you from a mirror image photo! Still, your BEST bet is to employ the services of a friend to actually snap the pictures. Not only can you use the two hands to do what you can not, you have an input that can guide you in how you appear. In my experience, MOST amateurs use lighting that is TOO HARSH. You need soft light, diffused light, with a hint of red or orange to give you "warmer" coloring in the light to enhance your skin coloring. The darker your skin color the MORE red you need to appear "healthy". Many black people do NOT take a good picture because their skin color tends to add purple the darker the skin tone! The darker your skin as with people who border on purple, the more yellow you need to counter the purple tones added by the pigment IN the skin of your subject. This is NOT a RACE thing, but a light refractive film color thing. So, bottom line: get a friend to actually take the pictures of you while you pose. If you have a digital camera, then you can see the results immediately and make any corrections you need to make to improve the image until it gets to be to your liking as an image to publish. Watch the reality TV series "America's Top Model" and see what a photo shoot with a model actually LOOKS like and then emulate it. Professionals do NOT take pictures that are star quality without practice, LOTS of practice! YOU need that same level of practice for YOUR pictures to get the same level of attention by other peers who take professional pictures. Use a friend. You get the best of both worlds, a friend who WANTS to make you look good and a 2nd pair of hands so you do NOT have to "do it yourself". DIY is always tacky...You will get more information in here about Foto Bello.