In America it's "Say CHEESE!" When you want the subject(s) of your picture to smile you make them say "Cheese". And usually it ends up coming out more like "Cheeeeeee-takethegoddamnedpicturealready-se".
Other cultures and languages have their own version of this age-old trick of course, and in Sweden it's, "Säja OMELETT!" And when you pronounce it correctly it comes out like "Oh-mell-ette", producing a very large smile right on cue. It's a mathematical certainty that when you say omelette in Swedish smiles doth abound.
It's wonderful things to watch my friends, acquaintances, waiter at a restaurant, or anyone else I spend any kind of time with blossom in front of the camera. It only takes time, but this too is a mathematical certainty. And when you get right down to it, this is where all the fun and great shots are. Take for instance a few nights ago, downtown Minneapolis, me and Steve snapping away photos throughout the evening of this, that, and the other thing as drunkenly and happily as possible. Prutha was there too, and it has been revealed that her elapsed time of blossomage is about 5.5 hours. That's when it happened.
Here's Steve, holding up his Holga to take her portrait, when in a sudden jerk of the hands she swoops up her hair and gives the camera a sultry pose. A second later after the flash went off she exclaimed, "Oh my god... I don't know why I just did that." We then proceeded to clap and giggle. And order another round of drinks.
I can't wait to see that picture.
Just like a sleep number, everyone has their blossomography number. Mine is 2 hours. Le Serial Cynica's is 15 minutes and a pitcher of martinis.
What does it take to get you to open up in front of a camera?