As a photographer one of the things that drives me crazy is when someone pulls out a camera and tells the person they are photographing to say “Cheeeeeese!” Why? Because it almost always gives what I call a “Visa Debit” smile, a plastic smile. This is why saying “Cheese!” is a no-no for me.

Most of the people I photograph are not models, they are everyday people like you and me. Not every one of them can smile on command.

So what do I do to get them to give me a natural-looking smile? Well, I whip out my book of jokes … Just kidding. I use three magic numbers for a natural-looking smile. The three numbers are “3-6-9”, it’s also what I call the technique and I use it mostly when persons are having difficulty loosening up in front of the camera.

In 2016 I was photographing Mark Scott, of Mark Anthony Designs, and he counted from 1 to 10 and asked me to snap on 3, 6 and 9. These were the three magic numbers that gave me the most natural-looking smiles (granted I had to work on my timing). Since then I’ve been using this technique, tweaking it with each person.

The way the “3-6-9” technique is executed varies with each session. In most cases, I ask clients to think of a happy thought and count to 9 slowly or I ask them to envision winning something like the lottery with the last 3 numbers being 3-6-9 (who doesn’t want to win something – a raffle, tickets to a game, an upgraded plane ticket etc… You get the idea). The key is to link the counting to a positive emotion.

This technique works great for any portrait, especially headshots.

Now, I can’t guarantee that this technique will get rid of crows feet but it will give you a more natural-looking smile in your photos. Give it a try and let me know how your photos turn out.