It's always been something that puzzled me.  I've had 2 boyfriend who could be smiling and laughing and happy just seconds before the camera flashes but then as soon as they pause for a photo, it's complete deadpan.  I guess I can understand if you don't like how you look in photographs but...a smile really goes a long way of improving someone's look on film, ya know?

I gotta keep telling myself not to smile too much for photos, because I got chubby cheeks (among other chubby things) and when I smile, my eyes nearly disappear because my cheeks squinch my eyes up.  If that makes any sense.

Should I ask the person I'm posing with to smile before we get our photo taken, or is that being too bossy and hyper-critcial to tell them what to do?  I don't want to make someone uncomfortable.  Or do I not even both being in photos with people that don't smile?  ;D

I am one of those idiots that has their eyes closed in 80% of the photos that are taken of me.  I've found that if I don't smile, or only slightly smile, I'm somehow able to keep my eyes open.  I have no idea why, but I swear it's true!  I wonder if that could be a reason for other people too. 

P.S.  You have such an adorable smile, Patty.  I always get a lift when I see your pics, so please don't stop smiling in them!

Ah thanks Ash!  You look so sweet in your photos, I'd love to meet you some day if I ever get out west.

It's always been something that puzzled me.  I've had 2 boyfriend who could be smiling and laughing and happy just seconds before the camera flashes but then as soon as they pause for a photo, it's complete deadpan.  I guess I can understand if you don't like how you look in photographs but...a smile really goes a long way of improving someone's look on film, ya know?

I gotta keep telling myself not to smile too much for photos, because I got chubby cheeks (among other chubby things) and when I smile, my eyes nearly disappear because my cheeks squinch my eyes up.  If that makes any sense.

Should I ask the person I'm posing with to smile before we get our photo taken, or is that being too bossy and hyper-critcial to tell them what to do?  I don't want to make someone uncomfortable.  Or do I not even both being in photos with people that don't smile?  ;D


Is their name Chandler Bing?  :D ;D

I don't like posing for pictures - it seems so fake and unnatural. I smile a lot, and if a camera happens to catch that, then the pic usually turns out good. Going for pictures usually means long lines, cheesy backdrops, moron photographers, unnecessarily long posing and cash expenditures - nothing to smile about really.

As far as getting the person you're with to smile, make them forget there is a camera on them. Talk, tickling, joking, whatever you need. You might not have a "perfect" picture, but they will be smiling and it won't be a forced smile.

Ant

Take a candid photo of me in a casual setting and I'll smile. But if I'm getting a drivers license picture for example, i rarely, if ever smile. I hate getting photos.

I hate posed pictures. I can't fake smile.

Any picture of me captures my mood at the moment... which usually happens to be deadpan. :P

I never smile because I got a mouth almost like Shane McGowan, but not that bad LOL

Now that I am working, I'm getting myself some serious long overdue dental work, then a digital camera, so I can finally show you all a better picture of me

people are just different. My wife and daughter can smile on cue for photos, and they look natural and happy, while I have to work at it and practice smiling, that is unless I have a happy thought to think of, otherwise I look so phoney  http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pinklove.gif 

I remember reading this years ago:

New Passport Rule Has No Teeth
Smiles Are OK For Passport Photos, But No Toothy Grins

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 29, 2004

(AP) Imagine being denied a passport for, of all things, your teeth.

It could happen, but not because they're crooked.

Under new rules for visa photographs that began this summer, the State Department doesn't want to see them at all, according to a story published in Sunday's Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.

The new guidelines permit people to smile for passport and visa pictures but frown on toothy smiles, which apparently are classified as unusual or unnatural expressions.

"The subject's expression should be neutral (non-smiling) with both eyes open, and mouth closed. A smile with a closed jaw is allowed but is not preferred," according to the guidelines.

So why does the State Department frown on smiles?

Smiling "distorts other facial features, for example your eyes, so you're supposed to have a neutral expression. ... The most neutral face is the most desirable standard for any type of identification," said Angela Aggeler, spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which handles travel-document guidelines.

A photograph of a person's face is considered the international standard for a "biometric" or physical identifier by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that sets international aviation safety standards. Last year, the organization announced standards for machine-readable passports which would include physical characteristics that computers could use to confirm people's identities.

"To allow for best possible comparison, if you smile or blink your eyes or turn your head, there would be fewer comparison points. So when you go to the counter, you will look at the camera in neutral face to offer the best comparison to the matching points on the picture in the passport," said Denis Chagnon, a spokesman for the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal.

Some photo shops and even immigration attorneys say they were blindsided by the prohibition against flashing pearly whites.

Mark Knapp, an immigration attorney with Reed Smith in Pittsburgh, said he knew about some of the other new guidelines for photographs but not the no-teeth rule. Knapp said he learned about the new guidelines from a colleague whose client's photo was rejected because of a toothy smile.

"You can't make this stuff up, honestly," Knapp said.

"What is interesting is the idea that you can't smile anymore and that they're rejecting photos. The idea that you can't smile is what most immigration lawyers find absurd," Knapp said.

Janet Stewart, who works at a downtown Pittsburgh photo shop, said she learned about the guideline the first day it went into effect because she had a photograph rejected.

"I'm the only photographer that says, 'Don't smile,'" she said.

so the photographers don't ask you to "Say Cheese"

so the photographers don't ask you to "Say Cheese"


I see a theme to these posts lately.

My hubby and I get into these theme conversations on occasion, and he was teasing me about my cheese addiction...and somehow (don't ask how) we got to talking about what my dancer name would be if I suddenly decided to become a stripper.  My pick?  Cheddar.

*In a strip-club dj voice*  Welcome ladies and gentleman, put your hands together tonight for the lovely...Cheddar.  (It has a nice ring to it, me thinks.)  ;)

I see a theme to these posts lately.

My hubby and I get into these theme conversations on occasion, and he was teasing me about my cheese addiction...and somehow (don't ask how) we got to talking about what my dancer name would be if I suddenly decided to become a stripper.  My pick?  Cheddar.

*In a strip-club dj voice*  Welcome ladies and gentleman, put your hands together tonight for the lovely...Cheddar.  (It has a nice ring to it, me thinks.)  ;)



hahahaaha...that's really funny! ;D :D

I think some people don't smile because they don't like their teeth, or how their face looks when they smile. I always smile when I get my picture taken...but I hate getting my picture taken...I'd rather be the one taking the picture. :)

My nephew doesn't like to smile for pics. I don't think we have 1 pic of him smile (unless he was caught off guard). I think it has to do with the "image" he is trying to have-"a very serious dude."  As for me, I hate to show my teeth in pics because they are badly stained from tea. The day after I go to the dentist to get them clean, I will smile away for the camera.  ;D ;D ;D



Cat

Should I ask the person I'm posing with to smile before we get our photo taken, or is that being too bossy and hyper-critcial to tell them what to do?  I don't want to make someone uncomfortable.  Or do I not even both being in photos with people that don't smile?   ;D


I would say don't worry about other people not smiling.  I also prefer to just give a light smile in pics at most because I don't like how my face looks when I smile big (especially if it's a fake smile just "put-on" for the camera).  I do like Red Ant's suggestion though----->


As far as getting the person you're with to smile, make them forget there is a camera on them. Talk, tickling, joking, whatever you need. You might not have a "perfect" picture, but they will be smiling and it won't be a forced smile.

I always try not to smile in pics and always fail miserably,i don't know what it is but when i look at the camera no matter what my mood is i always feel like i'm a kid again,goofy smile and loving the attention :D

I don't smile for posed pictures. My Dad pointed it out to me a few years ago, when I smile for the camera, it's this horrible dead eyes smile, like the lights are on but there's nobody home... I like to think of it as testament to my evilness, but really it's just because I hate pictures so my mind is somewhere else.

But if it's a picture that I don't know is being taken, I'm sometimes smiling, but not much.. I'm not much of a smiler.

Is their name Chandler Bing?  :D ;D


I am making the EXACT SAME face as him on my Costco card picture.  We actually call it my Chandler Bing picture.  I wish I could scan it and show it to you guys, but it's too grainy.  :( 

Is their name Chandler Bing?  :D ;D


;D  That's too funny.  It never occured to me to click on the name, I thought it was just underlined for emphasis.  I'm such a ditz.

The way I see it, if you're having a good time, you're smililng. If you're not, you're not smiling!

... Photographs are there to remember things how they were. If you're smiling and it was a bad time, then the picture doesn't reflect the true experience.

The way I see it, if you're having a good time, you're smililng. If you're not, you're not smiling!

... Photographs are there to remember things how they were. If you're smiling and it was a bad time, then the picture doesn't reflect the true experience.



I have realized that I am more serious in pictures that I take of myself. Sometimes I don't like my chipmunk cheeks when I smile...so when I have a serious face...it looks...I dunno..better. :D ;D

I have realized that I am more serious in pictures that I take of myself. Sometimes I don't like my chipmunk cheeks when I smile...so when I have a serious face...it looks...I dunno..better. :D ;D


:P I don't really care how I look in my pictures, as long as my expression shows my emotions!

:P I don't really care how I look in my pictures, as long as my expression shows my emotions!



way to be yourself, Doms! ;)

I don't like to smile in pictures, when it's forced I don't look natural, this was one of the issues I had with the last pics taken of me(My mom told me to smile, it ruined them). I hated how they turned out, got depressed from it and decided to not load into my image account.

The only way to get a better smiling pic of me is to get me to laugh.

I'm hoping that next roll I get developed turns out much better.

I hate having my picture taken too and I ALWAYS blink with the flash so most of the time I look asleep or drunk, which isn't always the case.  ;D

I hate my teeth. One of the front ones overlaps the other, and it's anoying. My smile just sucks.

I hate my teeth. One of the front ones overlaps the other, and it's anoying. My smile just sucks.


Your teeth are perfect, aside from that one!

And that one just makes it look natural. Teeth that are too perfect is annoying. *Shudder*

Your teeth are perfect, aside from that one!

And that one just makes it look natural. Teeth that are too perfect is annoying. *Shudder*



I want your teeth.. ='(.



GIMMIE 'EM..!!1 >:-}D

I want your teeth.. ='(.



GIMMIE 'EM..!!1 >:-}D


After you mail me your hair! >=O

After you mail me your hair! >=O



RLY? PRMS?

RLY? PRMS?


YA.

I know you can't smile in passport pictures.

I hate my teeth. One of the front ones overlaps the other, and it's anoying. My smile just sucks.



awww...I like your teeth...they give you character! :)

I'll smile for photos, but I'm usually never pleased with the results - I either look like I have a huge set of horse teeth or I have three chins below my original chin.

^ Yeah, sometimes I'm the same way too. Either that or, if it's a self-taken shot, a big smile can kinda come off looking forced. I always thought it's better (in any situation) to look as natural as possible.

I'll smile for photos, but I'm usually never pleased with the results - I either look like I have a huge set of horse teeth or I have three chins below my original chin.


You have a pretty smile, from what I remember...

You have a pretty smile, from what I remember...


Ahhh, thanks  :)



^ Yeah, sometimes I'm the same way too. Either that or, if it's a self-taken shot, a big smile can kinda come off looking forced. I always thought it's better (in any situation) to look as natural as possible.


Yeah, I was telling my mom that yesterday, I seem to get anxiety when it's time to take a picture. Usually, if I can take the picture myself, it takes LOTS of pictures before a good one (or few) come out of the bunch. I just need to get in a certain comfort zone and for some people, that's very easy for them to do  :)

I hate having my picture taken too and I ALWAYS blink with the flash so most of the time I look asleep or drunk, which isn't always the case.  ;D
Right after I posted this I watched the episode of My Name is Earl where he is trying to have his passport photo taken and keeps blinking so his eyes are shut in the picture.  ;D Maybe I should do what Randy did and glue some cutout paper eyes onto my eyelids.