Smile Like You Mean It

Many aspiring and accomplished photographers avoid smiles like the plague. Consider Annie Leibovitz, one of the greatest portrait photographers of our time. She never asks her subject to smile. For Leibovitz and others if a smile is done half-heartedly, the expression is trite, shallow, and dull. Like Douglas Coupland once said, “A bland smile is like a green light at an intersection. It feels good when you get one, but you forget it the moment you’re past it.” A fake smile is even worse—its impact lingers and leaves the viewer not feeling right.

Just because fake smiles fall short, it isn’t a reason give up. Many of Leibovitz’s pictures are full of pearly teeth and authentic smiles. The point is to admit that creating a good smiling people picture is one of the hardest things to do. And if you are going to do it, you might as well go for great smiles that speak of something that is real.