Smile and Look at the Camera
This is something most experienced portrait photographers avoid telling their subjects. Even if it is not one of the first things they learn in their training, they quickly figure it out. A sitting I did earlier this week illustrates this well.
In April, I (and any photographer working for me) do a lot of preschool graduation or Cap & Gown pictures. Put a five year old in a cap & gown and stick a diploma in their hands. It is the cutest thing on earth if it is done well.
This is an easy age to photograph and in the preschools we have done for a while it goes very fast. With a new preschool it frequently takes a little longer. One reason it can take longer in a new school is it is more likely that someone will tell a child to “smile”. This almost never gets the best results and sometimes can produce very poor results. I know of no experienced portrait photographer that just tells a subject to smile. The staff at preschools and child care centers we have done frequently know it, too.
At one preschool, a mother brought in her younger infant to be photographed with his older brother, the preschool graduate, in street clothes. Setting up the first pose went well but it took a little while to engage the infant and get expressions from him. Mom told the older child to smile. He did his best and it looked OK, not great or even particularly good, but OK. There was no going back. He was trying so hard.
This also limited the time I had to work with the infant. I took a few shots of the first pose, tried another pose to see if I could get the older child to forget about smiling and we were done.
The pictures will be fine. Mom will probably be happy with them. But she may wonder about one thing. The pictures of her older son in his Cap & Gown are absolutely great! And, it took less time to do them.
What was the difference?
Half an hour later he was completely relaxed for the Cap & Gown pictures. He came in with a few of his friends. I put them in the Caps & Gowns. We talked about a few things, the origin of diplomas, why I don’t use actual sheepskin, you know, real people stuff. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying the moment.
Yes, I posed them, had them hold the diploma just so and tried to keep their cap and tassel hanging just right. But, it was all a part of the larger experience. At no time did anyone get the idea that they had to perform in a certain way. Nobody was trying too hard. Everybody was relaxed and it all just happened.
You should expect slightly awkward smiles when someone is told to smile. It can get even worse. They can end up looking goofy from their efforts or not wanting to have their pictures taken, now or in the future.
One of the worst things is they may go through the next few sittings (or the rest of their life) thinking they should make a conscious effort to smile really big for a portrait sitting. A few weeks ago I did a family sitting with two older teen or young adult daughters. The parents were responding well and had great expressions. Then I noticed the daughters both had the biggest, cheesiest expressions. When someone is this committed it may take several sessions to get them back to “normal”.
I don’t know if some cousin with a camera or another “pro” gave them the idea that staring into the lens with a big cheesy grin was a good idea. But it looked weird and there was little I could do about it without risking making things worse.
I chose the images that accompany this post as examples of natural expressions. All of the subjects also seem to be looking at the camera. I am certain* I did not tell them to look at the camera. I directed their attention toward the camera without telling them to look at the camera.
*I avoid telling someone to look at the camera. Like telling someone to smile, it can get bad results and awakens memories of awkward experiences in some subjects. It can effectively destroy a sitting.