You don’t need a professional camera. Your phone and good lighting are enough.
• Find a well-lit place with natural light (near a window is great).
• Use a plain or neutral background.
• Clean your phone camera lens.
• Set your phone on a tripod or stable surface (or ask someone to take photos for you).
• Use the back camera if possible (better quality), but the front one is OK too.
• Turn off portrait mode (photo should be without artificial blur).
• Use a 4:3 aspect ratio.
• Make sure your face is in focus and well-lit.
• When taking photos, hold your smartphone slightly above your chest.
• Take at least 30–40 photos in total.
• Try different angles: face straight, slight side tilt, look up/down.
• Don’t be afraid to exaggerate facial expressions — it works better on thumbnails.
• Use burst mode.
Take 3–5 versions of each emotion. Look directly at the camera. When pointing at something, you can look left/right.