About the smile

IF the camera was turned back on you what would it capture?

Most photographers think and worry about if their subject is smiling (or looking like they are stoned if they are shooting models) but they rarely think about what their own face is doing. I recently shot with a product photographer who has been working full time as a photographer for the last 27 years. He is a great guy and I have learned a lot from him. In fact I was watching him to learn more when I saw the face he made every time he took a picture. It was quite funny so I teased him about it. After 27 years he wasn't aware of the face that his face would changed. As a product photographer this isn't too big of a deal because things without souls don't care how you look at them but people do. Although I shoot other things I am primarily a wedding photographer. Though I really enjoy shooting weddings for the first few months after I started shooting professionally I didn't realize what my face was doing. I would get so focused that my face would look quite serious and hard. The problem was the couple would be looking back at me and see that their photographer would take a picture and look down at the back of the camera and frown. This does not relax the couple or bring out their best looks. My wonderful wife and I were at a wedding together that I was not shooting and I was watching the photographer to pickup any tricks. The guy seemed over the top the way he was talking and laughing with the couple. I made a comment to my wife and she said yea but it's working. I went back to watching and even though the photographer was very over the top I could see how the couple was reacting positively to him. I started thinking about some of the weddings I had just shot and how I had affected the couples. One of the things I sometimes do while driving home from a wedding is ask myself what could I do better next time. I got a piece of paper and wrote smile in big block print and put it in my camera bag so that next time I would be reminded to smile. The next wedding I shot I was reminded to smile when I went through my bag to make sure I was set. I smiled and laughed and I could tell it was working. I started getting better looks and better pictures. People know that I have shot a lot of people at a lot of different events and worry how their event and their looks stack up. When I would look at the back of my camera and frown I was not helping their worries. I enjoy what I do and there is no reason not to let my face show it. I makes for happier people and better pictures so why wouldn't you? You might not if you, like me, have never thought about it. Be conscious of your own face at your next event and see if it works for you. The picture on the left was taken at the end of a second long day of shooting. I was up in wine country shooting web shots for a horse ranch. It was warm and I followed a couple who was riding a pair of horses around the ranch taking pictures and when I got back the owner of the ranch was kind enough to get me a glass of water. One of my cameras was turned on me after the couple I was shooting asked to borrow it. I wish I could say that I always was still this up beat at the end of a shoot but that's the goal.
So about the smile. Turns out the most important one is yours.