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Step one: choose and place your light
Start with the light source, because it shapes everything else. Face a window so soft daylight lands evenly across both cheeks, and avoid standing with the window behind you, which turns your face dark. Overcast days are forgiving, while direct midday sun creates harsh shadows under the eyes. Worked example: a freelance designer sits facing a large window at mid-morning, a hand-width from the glass, and notices the shadow beneath the nose disappear. If one side still looks darker, a white sheet of paper or a pale wall held on that side can bounce light back gently.
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Step two: set distance, height and angle
Next, decide where the camera sits. Hold or prop the phone at eye level, or slightly above, and keep it about an arm's length away so features are not stretched by a close lens. Rear cameras generally give a more natural result than front ones, so use a timer or a friend if possible. In the designer's example, a stack of books raises the phone to eye height, and a slight turn of the shoulders with the chin lowered a little gives a relaxed, confident line. Take several frames rather than one, changing only a single variable each time.
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Step three: pick, crop and check small sizes
Finally, choose the frame that looks like you on a normal day. Check the background for clutter, then crop so the face fills most of a square, leaving a little space above the head. Profile pictures are usually seen as tiny circles, so preview the crop at thumbnail size before uploading. The designer compares four shots at that small scale and picks the one where the eyes are sharp and the expression reads clearly. Apply only light edits, such as brightness, so the photo still matches the person who turns up to the meeting.