Veena J wrote:
I'm actually pretty self-conscious of my smile...in regular pictures with friends and family, I never hesitate to flash a toothy grin. But when modeling, I've found it hard to smile a not-so-toothy-smile without it coming off as fake/forced.

But it's something I know I need to work on! There are way too many serious images in my portfolio! 

ALL smiles are beautiful !!!!! :-),,except mine LOL

Robin Hansberry wrote:
And your really shouldn't be Veena, I know you have a beautiful smile!  SHOW THOSE PEARLY WHITES!!!

Hmmm, "pearly whites?" I need some crest whitestrips to work on that... 

Adrienne Aurora wrote:
I don't like it unless it's genuine.

I agree. I've tried smiling during shoots and the results always look forced and fake. I would love to have a good smiling picture...I just need to find a photographer who will actually make me laugh.

Scott Evans wrote:
Why is it that so many models, male and female alike do not smile in their images?  Are you not enjoying what you are going?  Not every shoot is the brooding serious thing, right?

Maybe they aren't having fun?

I believe that a major part of the photographer's art is to inspire the appropriate context for his/her images, and that includes the expression on the model's face.  If you want a model to laugh, you need to be funny.  If you want the model to look angry, you've got to help them -- p!ss them off a little.  You get the idea.

Adrienne Aurora wrote:
I don't like it unless it's genuine.

Corena wrote:
I agree. I've tried smiling during shoots and the results always look forced and fake. I would love to have a good smiling picture...I just need to find a photographer who will actually make me laugh.

I agree also.  I love smiling, but unless you are actually laughing, it can look fake.

kate f wrote:

Adrienne Aurora wrote:
I don't like it unless it's genuine.

I agree also.  I love smiling, but unless you are actually laughing, it can look fake.

I would rather no smile than a fake smile.....I love making models laugh,,smile are great!

Scott Evans wrote:
I would rather no smile than a fake smile.....I love making models laugh,,smile are great!

I guess there are a lot of models who need to work with you or someone like you then.

...Stacy wrote:
Smiling isn't always appropriate.  It's not like we're being shot for our yearbooks here.  I love to smile, but sometimes my stupid grin ruins the picture. 

Morbid indifference can also ruin a photo.


Expression is determined by the composition.  Sometimes smiling is inappropriate.  Other times the composition is ruined by lacktherof.  Look at any Tommy Hilfiger ad and tell me if you get the same feeling if they had the all too common "I'm trying hard to look sexy but I actually appear alternately bored or constipated" that you see around here.  Would Von Dutch ads have the same raw attitude if the models projected exhaustive lethargy?

No, you aren't shooting for a yearbook.  But there are countless variations on the smile.  Does the carefree bohemian smile the same way as the attorney who aiming to nail you in the courtroom?  Does the bedroom vixen on the verge of ecstacy smile the same as the theif who's just evaded the authorities?  Does the insane ex-girlfriend smile in her madness the same as the smile of a woman trying to save face?  Did any of those "women" (merely characters to be played in front of the camera) use those same smiles for yearbook pictures?

The problem stems from the fact that most people in general equate smiling with the say-cheese effect.  That's a shame.  For every situation, there's a smile that'll project an idea.  Much like there are other expressions for those same situations.  Unfortunately, very few models are capable of showing the range...

becky j wrote:
1, 2, 3 laugh! haha mike

Hahah no my secret technique!!!

Scott Evans wrote:
Why is it that so many models, male and female alike do not smile in their images?  Are you not enjoying what you are going?  Not every shoot is the brooding serious thing, right?

Finally a question that I also have pondered. Thank god for my "Crest smile" as it has been called numerous times by photographers. It always gives me an upperhand at castings.

David Birdsong wrote:
The best smiles were actually more of a laughter type smile, and were more candid in nature, which really worked well.

Of course..they call it that "ha ha" model laugh that you have to do when asked to give a smile. I've mastered it down to such an art that I don't even feel silly doing it anymore.   

WG Rowland wrote:
I want so much more than smiles..

Show me a model who can smile, look sexy... And then..

Show me a model who can cry..  A model who can be angry..  A model who can scream at nothing, show rage..  Show me a model who has a RANGE of emotion..

Show me that in a model, and you'll have a model I can't afford...

LOL