photographing un-photographic people

hayley.price

hayley.price

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hayley
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i know thats probably a weird question but today i have my first solo shoot, it was with my boss and her family, and they just wanted a nice photo of them all together for there mum's Christmas present (so i cant show you the picture's yet as she doesn't want them online). although for my first solo shoot i think it went well and i got some nice shots i'm still disappointed for not being able to get this one person to smile, in every photo even if i had everyone else laughing or big smiles she would not smile the closest i got to a smile was a basically straight faced, in all the others she just looked depressed, like she didn't want to be there, to me in a family photo what makes the photo is that everyone looks happy is having fun and wanted to be there. so to me her depressed face in all the photo's kinda ruins them. what do you normal do in this kind of situation how do you normally go about getting people like this to smile??
 
Photoshop this > :) < smiley onto her face, then next time maybe they will make the effort.

In all seriousness though is there nothing you could do in photoshop to manipulate a smile? like use the warp tool to give her a sort of twithy smile like harrison fords
 
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am not great with photoshop at the moment only just got it so getting used to all the tools and everything so at this moment in time no
 
Was this the teenage daughter by any chance
 
ooo thanks jon i will have a look, and no phin this was a grown woman with her 2 kids there, the kids were really well behaved being 5 months and 2 years lasted alot longer then i thought they would behaving for photo's but the mum wasn't having any of it
 
P.S I don't know if it is the "done" thing to do what I suggested, hopefully a pro will let you know, just an option.
 
There's a point at which you have to admit you did everything within your powers (easier if you have loads of experience and you know you're doing the right thing)
 
Possibly this one person doesn't do smiling. It happens. Can you talk, in confidence, to anyone else involved in this and perhaps show them the shots? It could be that this person was having a bad day, in which case you may think about swallowing hard and saying a technical problem means doing a re-shoot. May be worth it if it means you end up with a good set for your first shoot of this nature.
 
Not everybody smiles. Not everybody looks at a photo and expects to see theme smiling. You may find that this is the happiest together that they have looked...

If you did your best, and have shown that then that is all you could do. If you haven't had a complaint then move on to your next shoot.

Your expectations as a photographer are not necessarily the same as theirs.
 
I have not got a happy face and never look particularly happy. If I try and look happy it just looks fake and forced. Anyone looking at any photos I am in would know this and not expect anything different.
 
meonshore said:
Not everybody smiles. Not everybody looks at a photo and expects to see theme smiling. You may find that this is the happiest together that they have looked...

If you did your best, and have shown that then that is all you could do. If you haven't had a complaint then move on to your next shoot.

Your expectations as a photographer are not necessarily the same as theirs.
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this


....and for goodness sake, please don't use any photochop trickery to make it look like she was smiling, she will know she wasn't and it really could be the road to failure before you have begun.

Somewhere round here [but it is currently defeating the search facility, so will try agin shortly] there is a thread from a while back where some asked about how you make the non-smilers crack a grin, there are loads of hints and tips. However, some days you just have to accept that some people will not smile whatever you do and move on.
 
if there's nothing you can do to make her smile, then leave it at that. When everyone else see's the shots they'll probably just say...'oh, there is she is again..old misery guts'.. if that's her character then you've caught it.. that's what portraits are all about aren't they?
 
There is a chance that the lady in question thinks she was looking quite cheerful at various times during the shoot and believes you have just managed to catch her at the wrong moments.

Dave
 
I very rarely smile in photos - I'm not a smiley person.

if you are forced to smile in photos is can look put on/fake
 
Tickling her sometimes does the trick... I mean get the kids to tickle her, not you!
 
ernesto said:
I have not got a happy face and never look particularly happy. If I try and look happy it just looks fake and forced. Anyone looking at any photos I am in would know this and not expect anything different.
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and

POAH said:
I very rarely smile in photos - I'm not a smiley person.

if you are forced to smile in photos is can look put on/fake
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Adding myself to these. I don't smile very often and especially not in photos if I can help it, I just look... wrong. :lol:

Maybe this lady is the same, not everyone actually likes or feels natural when smiling. If you did actually get her to force a smile maybe the recipent wouldn't like the picture as much. :shrug:
 
jon ryan said:
Possibly this one person doesn't do smiling. It happens. Can you talk, in confidence, to anyone else involved in this and perhaps show them the shots? It could be that this person was having a bad day, in which case you may think about swallowing hard and saying a technical problem means doing a re-shoot. May be worth it if it means you end up with a good set for your first shoot of this nature.
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i emailed my boss a couple and she just said not to worry as thats her normal face, but my boss did say she liked the photos and loved the background, so must of done something right.

My boss can easily afford a professional and even with this she asked me to do it as she wanted to help me get some practise and she must trust me to let me do so maybe i just need to trust in myself a bit more??




Yv said:
this


....and for goodness sake, please don't use any photochop trickery to make it look like she was smiling, she will know she wasn't and it really could be the road to failure before you have begun.

Somewhere round here [but it is currently defeating the search facility, so will try agin shortly] there is a thread from a while back where some asked about how you make the non-smilers crack a grin, there are loads of hints and tips. However, some days you just have to accept that some people will not smile whatever you do and move on.
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haha dont worry yv can't use photoshop for things like that to save my life so no trickery in the photo's

i like the photos and so does my boss, but i just feel like they could of been better if i could of got a smile out of her as everyone else looks happy and like they are enjoying the photos being taken but i guess as my first shoot i might have to get used to it because by the sound's of it shes not the only person to do that
 
I always tell people I took up photography to avoid having my photo taken - looks like I'm not the only one:lol:

shieldz said:
I don't like smiling on photo's. I have a crooked smile and I don't like it. There maybe a similar reason???
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gazfy said:
and
Adding myself to these. I don't smile very often and especially not in photos if I can help it, I just look... wrong. :lol:
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POAH said:
I very rarely smile in photos - I'm not a smiley person.
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ernesto said:
I have not got a happy face and never look particularly happy. If I try and look happy it just looks fake and forced. Anyone looking at any photos I am in would know this and not expect anything different.
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ernesto said:
I have not got a happy face and never look particularly happy. If I try and look happy it just looks fake and forced. Anyone looking at any photos I am in would know this and not expect anything different.
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Pretty much same as me. People I work with say to me smile, and I'm like I don't do smiling!
 
Phil V said:
I always tell people I took up photography to avoid having my photo taken - looks like I'm not the only one:lol:
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My exact line to my customers too. I HATE having my photo taken...that's why I am THIS SIDE of the camera!:D
 
POAH said:
I very rarely smile in photos - I'm not a smiley person.
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I'm really struggling to believe that :suspect:
 
I did some people shots in Manchester once as I set out to photograph people in hats! What a great day and the range of expressions throughout the day were excellent!
 
On the other thread about this daryl reccomended getting everyone to shout "wheres my pig" - which ive tried and usually works
 
Like many others I don't like to crack a smile, specially on demand, as I have a very crooked grin and I don't like it at all. Some people can always tell when I'm happy enough though, they say I smile with my eyes and that can't be faked. I'm glad you got the photos done that you needed and hope the people are happy enough with them.
 
hayley.price said:
i know thats probably a weird question but today i have my first solo shoot, it was with my boss and her family, and they just wanted a nice photo of them all together for there mum's Christmas present (so i cant show you the picture's yet as she doesn't want them online). although for my first solo shoot i think it went well and i got some nice shots i'm still disappointed for not being able to get this one person to smile, in every photo even if i had everyone else laughing or big smiles she would not smile the closest i got to a smile was a basically straight faced, in all the others she just looked depressed, like she didn't want to be there, to me in a family photo what makes the photo is that everyone looks happy is having fun and wanted to be there. so to me her depressed face in all the photo's kinda ruins them. what do you normal do in this kind of situation how do you normally go about getting people like this to smile??
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I thought from the title you mean un photographic people? Not people who don't want to smile?
You were shooting for the family, family should be equal and you should have picked up on this.
Not every portrait has to have EVERYONE smiling, and to force a smile looks un natural and fake, I've done plenty of it and when i see the result i cringe! I prefer my face at rest.
Is she genuinely looking depressed? Or is there perhaps an inner happiness you can't pick up on because everyone else is faking it?
How do you know she isn't genuinely depressed? Not entirely fair to say she's ruining the shot by not smiling! Perhaps it was as much as she could do just to be there?
Very inconsiderate.
 
Rather than cheese, as a family, when taking family or close friends' group shots we all say "Say lesbian!" - works a treat!
 
I don't like people to smile in photos unless their eyes are smiling too it looks fake when it's a 'say cheese' fake smile.
 
jacquiexyz said:
I don't like people to smile in photos unless their eyes are smiling too it looks fake when it's a 'say cheese' fake smile.
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:thumbs:

Which is why things like " wheres my pig" work - because the idea isnt the mouth shape like "cheese" but rather that the very act of shouting something ridiculous makes people laugh and grin producing happy expression in the shot taken imediately after the shout.
 
Nod said:
Rather than cheese, as a family, when taking family or close friends' group shots we all say "Say lesbian!" - works a treat!
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I told my son that one when he took photo's for a uni friends wedding, he got some great shots of people laughing and smiling. It usually works a treat :)

Oh and I can't smile in photo's either usually, I look like I'm about to have a panic attack if anyone tries to take my photo.
 
I remember long ago in days of yore or whatevz, I was having a school photo and the photographer said 'let's see your Mickey Mouse smile' and I just started laughing. For some reason I found it hilarious. I was about 14 too, not a wee toddler.

These days my happy face looks just like my avatar.
 
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