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10 Tips for Getting People to Naturally Smile When Being Photographed

How is it that the moment people are placed in front of a camera, a nervous air suddenly washes over them, making it incredibly difficult to capture a natural smiling shot. It can be quite a challenge to take great pictures of people when photo time makes them feel awkward and uncomfortable.

We all know the “say cheese” trick; however, it always seems to produce an ingenuine looking smile. It’s unbelievable how different a natural smile and a fake smile are, and people can tell. Fortunately, there are a few foolproof tricks that can help you to get people to feel natural and relaxed in front of the camera. Try these ten helpful tips for getting people to smile as naturally as possible when being photographed.

1. Create an emotionally safe environment

People tend to be highly attuned and reactive to other peoples’ emotional states, meaning that the overall “vibe” of the environment you are photographing may reflect on your subjects’ emotions, and their ability to produce a natural smile. To provide an extreme example, imagine trying to get an entire football team to smile for a group photo when they’re debriefing in the locker room after losing a match only moments before. The emotional state of the environment is simply not right for capturing a natural smiling shot, and you will likely be unable to get the image you want.

Although not always something that the photographer can control, you may be able to influence the emotional state of the environment by taking control of the situation, keeping everyone involved, and staying positive and patient.

2. Mirror the emotion you would like to capture

Ever wondered why smiling at a baby will often result in the baby smiling right back at you? There is some science at play behind this reaction. Specifically, something called ‘mirror neurons.’ Mirror neurons are described as “a special class of brain cells that fire not only when an individual performs an action, but also when the individual observes someone else make the same movement.” Mirror neurons allow us to simulate peoples’ actions and even the emotions behind those actions.

If you’re trying to get people to smile as naturally as possible when they are being photographed, simply smile yourself. Everyone will likely react to your warm, natural, smiley demeanour and start to smile naturally themselves.

3. Fake laugh

People need to be comfortable and relaxed to produce a natural smile. An excellent way to break down people’s feelings of discomfort is to try something silly like asking them to fake laugh. Set the challenge for your subjects to see who has the most outrageous phoney laugh. With a bit of luck, your subjects’ facial expressions after hearing the simultaneous roar of fake laughter should be of genuine happiness. Just make sure you’ve got your finger on that shutter button.

4. Compliment them!

Often the reason that people feel uncomfortable behind the camera is due to a lack of confidence. So, what a better way to make them feel more confident and relaxed than to offer them a genuine compliment. The options are endless when you compliment—for example, their hair, their outfit, or their jewellery. Better yet, if you can compliment them on their natural smile, then chances are that those natural smiles will just keep coming. Be sure that your compliments are genuine and don’t feel forced, as this may have the reverse effect.

5. “Say….”

As touched on earlier, we all know the “say cheese” line. We half expect to hear the photographer say it each time we pose for a photo. As a photographer, you can use the historical overuse of this term as a tactic for triggering some natural smiles. Throw your subjects a curveball, and they will likely crack a smile or even a giggle if you’re lucky. Instead of “say cheese,” use the line “say…” followed with a random word that you think might entertain your subjects. Take into account the age of your subjects, any jokes or funny situations that may have occurred earlier during the session, and use your discretion to pick an appropriate word.

6. Bemusement

People become quite bemused when they are posing for a photo, and the photographer asks them to simply “look at each other.” The vagueness of these instructions creates a sense of confusion among a group of people. It often will result in laughter or smiling natural reactions as people look around seeking validation from their peers as to what they are being asked to do. This technique is great for capturing candid shots and can be followed up by tip 7 below to get a more classical smiling picture.

7. “Look at me”

While your subjects are still smiling following the confusion caused by your earlier instructions to “look at each other,” follow up with the new directions, “everyone, look at me” to capture those natural smiles before they dissipate.

8. Trigger a special memory

This tip is most suitable when photographing couples or people you may know well. By asking your subjects to recall a particular moment in their relationship (e.g., their first date, first kiss, or engagement) or history, you’ll help them feel more relaxed and attuned to each other. This method is likely to result in those loving natural smiles you want.

9. Try not to laugh

Here’s one for when you’re photographing groups of children. Have you ever challenged a group of children to try not to laugh, and the exact opposite happens? The longer the children stare each other down, trying not to laugh, the more their lips quiver, and all of a sudden, they’re all bursting into fits of laughter. This idea is an incredibly simple but almost foolproof way to get natural smiles out of children.

10. Tongues out

To finish off the list, here is one more simple tip for getting natural smiles out of children. Sometimes, sticking your tongue out at children is all you need to get some giggles out of them. Hopefully, you’ll be able to catch some natural smiling shots before they stick their tongues back out at you.

With these tips, you’ll be in good stead to go out there and get those natural, smiling, photographs that you’re seeking. Just remember to stay positive, be patient, and adjust your techniques appropriately.

How To Capture Awesome Environmental Portraits

Photographing people is one of the most vital types of travel photos to cover off on any given trip. Often these are the types of photos that can really bring a destination to life and offer a unique view of the world. But there are different types of “people photos”. In this short guide, we will discuss the differences between traditional head and shoulder portraits and environmental portraits as well as some tips on how to capture great environmental portraits.

Portraits or environmental portraits

As mentioned above, there’s a difference between portraits and environmental portraits. Portraits usually consist of head and shoulder shots with the focus being on the person’s eyes. Environmental portraits on the other hand not only focus on the person but also the wider context of what they are doing. In other words, we see their surroundings. So the first element of an environmental portrait is to ensure you capture the wider context of the scene.

Use a wide-angle lens

Just because you are capturing a wider scene doesn’t mean you should stand across the road and zoom in with a long lens. You will usually find that if you get closer to your subject it will help build that connection that will become apparent in the image. So get close to your subject and use a wide-angle lens to give you a wider angle of view. The other benefit of getting closer is that you will find it less difficult to take a photo without people stepping into your composition.

Think about your depth of field

Your depth of field (controlled by your aperture) is incredibly important in environmental portraits. In traditional head and shoulder portraits, you can afford to select a wide aperture as you are only really concerned with the person’s face. So as long as you focus correctly on the eyes and they are sharp, the background can be blurred. In fact in these types of portraits, the blur helps the subject stand out against the background and so it is usually preferred.

For an environmental portrait, you do need to also capture some of the surroundings. So you may have to select a slightly smaller aperture to increase your depth of field. This can be tricky in places like markets where you are likely to face low light conditions. Without using artificial lighting, the only solution will be to increase your ISO.

Know your shutter speed limit

The other important setting when it comes to any type of photography is your shutter speed. For environmental portraits, you may not have the luxury of the person remaining perfectly still (like they would for a head and shoulder portrait). For example, they might be making something or moving their head as they are interacting with someone. This means that your shutter speed will need to be faster than when taking a portrait of someone. How fast will depend on various factors such as your camera’s image stabilization and your own ability to hold a camera steady.

Some people may find that they can hold a camera steady at 1/60th sec whereas someone else has a limit of 1/100th sec before they start seeing blurred photos through camera shake.

Compose your shot carefully

Environmental portraits can be tricky to compose and it becomes tempting to place your subject in the centre of your composition. While sometimes that might be the best scenario, there are also times when you can place your subject to one side to show more of the scene. This also has the added benefit of allowing photos to be used as double-page spreads in magazines when your subject needs to avoid being in the centre of the page (which is known as the gutter). So try to play around with your composition and take multiple shots with different setups involving your subject. Not only will this ensure you have different crops in case a client needs it, but you can also select the best composition in post-production.

You can also use other compositional techniques like “leading lines” to compose your shot.

Don’t be shy, but don’t get in the way

As a photographer, it’s important to be confident in your ability and also in managing the shoot. This doesn’t only refer to a professional setup with models and lighting, but also simply photographing a market vendor. Before you approach the person to take photos try to envision the shot in your mind and get your settings correct. Once you begin taking photos, be confident but also always be aware not to get in the way. This is especially important if you are photographing someone who is working, as the last thing you want is for them to miss out on a sale because of you.

Environmental portraits can be very rewarding and give you some incredible and unique photos. Use the tips above and you will be well on your well to capturing great environmental photos.

6 Ideas To Give Your People Photos More Variety

Photographing people is a wonderful genre of photography. It can often lead to fantastic photos that connect the viewer to a world that they may not ever get to see. But like any form of photography, it is important to ensure that your images of people have variety. Not only will this keep you more interested rather than repeating the same things over and over again, but also ensure that your portfolio is not repetitive. If you are struggling to think of different ways of photographing people, here are 6 ideas to help you get started.

Head and shoulder portraits

These are the standard people photos that most photographers think about when you talk about people photography. They can range from functional corporate type of headshots to dramatic lighting and interesting faces. The key with any head and shoulder portraits are the eyes. They need to be 100% sharp and in focus. If the eyes are not sharp the whole photo will look soft and won’t work.

For portraits such as these, you will need a shallow depth of field as ideally, you should try to isolate your subject against the background. So by using a shallow depth of field, you can blur the background so that your subject stands out. This should mean that your shutter speed should be fast enough so that you don’t have to worry about camera shake. If you do find that your shutter speed is too slow, raise your ISO slightly.

Environmental portraits

The next step from the traditional head and shoulder portraits is environmental portraits. For these types of photos, you need to try and capture some of the surrounding areas around your subject. This will give the photo more context about what the person is doing which in turn will give it more context.

Environmental portraits can be a little more tricky at times because you are potentially having to extend your depth of field. In addition to this, you may also sometimes be faced with low light conditions (i.e. if you are photographing a market for example). This might mean that your shutter speed will begin to be too slow for handheld photography. The only way to get around this issue is to raise your ISO so that you can take the picture at the desired depth of field and shutter speed. The key to good environmental photos is the composition. So rather than rushing in, spend a bit of time thinking about it and the story that you want to tell.

Festivals or religious gatherings

Nothing conveys the spirit of humanity more so than festivals, religious events or gatherings. Some of these gatherings can be the most spectacular and colourful scenarios to photograph. People just lose themselves in the moment and that makes it a wonderful scenario to photograph. But capturing these events can be difficult. Not only is each one different with its own unique set of challenges, but often they are all incredibly busy and full of other photographers. The key is to do your research so that you know exactly where to be and when because you may only get one chance to capture the photo you want.

A point of interest

It’s easy to always think that the person in your photo has to be central, but sometimes they can simply be a point of interest. For example, if you are capturing a landscape shot, a person can help give a sense of scale or even tell more of a story about a scene. You will, of course, need to compose your shot so that the person works as part of the whole image and doesn’t look like they are placed there deliberately.

The great thing about these sort of scenarios is that as you are photographing outdoors, you shouldn’t have too many issues with your settings. Even when using a greater depth of field you will usually find that you can handhold the camera (unless photographing in low light conditions). But if you find that you need to use slower shutter speeds, than make sure you use a tripod.

Movement or action

Another great way to capture photographs of people is when they are in action. Anything from sport to dance or even just people going about their everyday life will look fantastic and give variety to your portfolio. But capturing people in action is probably the hardest of all people photography to master. Not only will you have to ensure that you are focusing on a moving subject, but you will also have to ensure that you use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action (if that is what you want to achieve). These two combinations are often something that amateur photographers struggle with. Really the only way to improve and be able to “nail that shot” is through practice.

Using continuous focus will help you be able to focus easier as the camera can track your subject and keep focusing (as long as you are holding down your focus button). But in terms of shutter speed, it will really come down to how fast the movement of what you are photographing is. For example, someone running will require a faster shutter speed than someone walking. Keep practising and you will get better at photographing movement.

Moments

One of the great things about photography is that a photo can capture a moment that might otherwise be lost. These unique moments can be incredibly photogenic. It might be someone just looking deep in thought. Or enjoying an amazing view in front of them. It might be someone laughing, crying, being scared or even talking. Sometimes these will be fleeting moments that will disappear and at other times you will have more time. The key to capturing these moments is to be ready but more importantly to keep your eyes open. Because you never know, around every corner might be one of these unique moments.

Capturing great pictures of people can offer some of the most stunning and unique photographs. Whether it is in a studio, or in far away land photographing the locals, people can bring to life a destination or stories that cannot be told otherwise. For most amateur photographers, once they overcome their fear of shyness, they will end up with a set of images that they can be proud of. The only danger is that your images will look repetitive, but use these 6 ideas and you’ll end up with a diverse collection of people photos.