How Not To Hate Being Photographed

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Most people hate being photographed because the one thing your eyes can't see is your face. Huh? What I mean is we can see what is in front of our face but we can't see our own face unless we have a mirror. I have been in front of and behind the camera enough to not be concerned anymore because I understand that not every moment is going to look perfect. In fact I will be the first person to admit when I look horrible in a photo and I am not afraid to show it. If you don't believe me check out my before and after photoshop post. Yep that is me.

Luckily there are 3 ways to minimize the self inflicted pain of having your picture taken so you can finally enjoy those moments and say to yourself I don't hate being photographed. 

Practice Facial Expressions
If you want your biceps to look big you have to lift weights. If you want your photographic moment to look unique and truthful you have to practice facial expressions. That is why I have a photographic exercise I make my clients do during their session which totally throws them off their game. I call it the Funny Angry Cute/Calm Excited and Sad exercise or FACES for short. That is right I have them make a funny face, angry face, cute or calm face, excited face and sad face. Why? Because once a client sits in my chair they automatically think they should start to smile... Survey says WRONG! in fact I could care less if you smile or not because whenever you tell someone to smile both sides of the lip muscle rises up into an awkward arc shape that resemble constipation. So, in order to keep my clients from being constipated (so to speak) I make them go through the F.A.C.E.S exercise first so that they get out of their head and stop thinking so I can take a great shot of them. Here are my F.A.C.E.S

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Take Self Portraits
Do you have an ipad, iphone, blackberry, or even a camera phone? If you don't then just pull out your digital camera and take a lot of photos of yourself especially right before a photo taking season like the holidays. Don't worry you can delete them when you are done analyzing them and if you are worried that someone will hack your device and post those horrible unwanted photos on the web... think again, you just aren't famous enough yet :). Taking self portraits in different situations helps you learn to fix the things you don't like seeing in the photo. Wether it's the angle you position your face or the curve in the angle of your nose that bothers you, taking a lot of self portraits throughout the year will make it a lot easier to set up your shot when someone in the crowd turns and says, "hey get together I want to take a picture of everyone."  

Self Portrait Of My Wife And Me

Just Say F**k It 
Have you seen your license and passport photo lately? Were you the deer in the headlights during the holiday family photo? If you think those are bad take a look at your high school graduation photo. Trust me both you and I hope to God those hairstyles don't come back. However the truth is that nobody really cares. Life moves forward wether you look great in the photo or not and sometimes, if you are brave enough, you can use it for a conversation piece. I one time asked a girl out on a date by showing her my horrid license photo and using a cheesy made up oneliner. This is what I said. 

Me
Excuse me. Have you seen this criminal? He is wanted for ugly photo taking. If you happen to see him please try your best not to look at him. 

Her
Is that really you?

Me
Unfortunately It is but please don't turn me in until after our first date. 

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