Care to share your fav cheese substitutes?

[SteveM(PA)]

Any secret ways you have of eliciting that smile from your subject (assuming you might be after a smile)? A favorite word, anecdote, or bribe? I usually demand a RELAX! or ACT NATURAL D*MMIT! with varying success, always open to better suggestions...

 

[dmr]

Ok, what I will often do when taking a shot of a group of people in an informal setting like a bar or party is I will say "Ok, now, on 3 ..."

I'll then begin to count 1 - 2 and I'll fire long before I would get to 3. 🙂

I'll sometimes say "ok, so I lied" or something. 🙂

I seem to get more spontaneity that way. 🙂

 

[Pherdinand]

I've seen a south american movie where the word they used was "whisky" not "cheese". How about that for a substitute🙂

 

[bmattock]

I tell them to say "Neil Diamond". They look quizzical and I just shrug and say "Cheese Substitute." Then they groan and I take the picture.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

In Mexico (North America) they say, habitually, "Whiskey!"

I don't prompt my subjects to smile, I don't like fake smiles. But when I have prompted for a smile, I do go for "whiskey".

 

[ray_g]

"Sex" usually works.

 

[Pherdinand]

they had a very strange pronounciation on the "whiskey". It was an argentinian movie (the title was...whiskey!😀)
they've said it without pronouncing the "s". Is it the same, Gabriel?

 

[Pherdinand]

"Sex" usually works.

You mean you also grin while having sex?
😀

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

"Sex" usually works.

You haven't been to the midwest, have you, Ray? 😉

 

[sf]

I usually spend a couple hours with the model before shooting, in some social atmosphere that builds familiarity before shooting. If I don't have that luxury at my disposal, I suppose I just try to make the model or the subject forget the camera, and make the session an interaction between myself and them. That way, they aren't smiling at the lens, but at me or their self. I imagine that lewd or shocking behavior would do the trick when natural smiles aren't coming along. Better to inspire the smile from within than to pull it from outside.

But, as I said, mooning your subject will do the trick - assuming it's legal to do so.

 

[ray_g]

You haven't been to the midwest, have you, Ray? 😉

No, but I did see "Fargo" once 😉

 

[ray_g]

I wouldn't use that on a nude model, though.

Unless it's someone I knew.

 

[Stephan]

Say "free beer" 😀

 

[dcsang]

I prefer the phrase "Come to Butthead" even if it's copyrighted by Viacom 😀

Cheers
Dave

 

[bmattock]

But, as I said, mooning your subject will do the trick - assuming it's legal to do so.

http://www.amateurphotographer.com/news/Bailey_refutes_BBC_story_news_70103.html

[The late Lord] Lichfield – the Queen's second cousin – reportedly told the BBC: 'I've heard all his [Bailey's] jokes and they are very funny, but I was determined not to smile for him. I thought I'd got the better of him, but as he was taking the last picture I saw his trousers falling slowly down his legs.'
Lichfield, who is also a renowned photographer, added: 'David Bailey without his trousers is quite a funny sight. I couldn't keep a straight face and I just cracked up. He got his picture.'

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[bmattock]

No, but I did see "Fargo" once 😉

Not the same! That's the GWN. You need to see something about the cornfields of Illinois. Bible-belt, baby. They'd make a movie of it, but who'd watch it?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[hoot]

This (click) should work fine.

Pherdinand, I saw the movie "Whisky" too. It's very good.

Our school photographer always told us to say, "Goofy".

 

[JonB]

You need to see something about the cornfields of Illinois. Bible-belt, baby. They'd make a movie of it, but who'd watch it?

I dunno, corny comedies seem to have been popular as of late.

I'd say, try to find something funny to say given the circumstances. What might work at a bachelor party might not on the wedding day, eg, "who wants a prenup?" If you're going to strictly do a "cheese" thing, my understanding is that physically saying the word--it has nothing to do with what the word represents--is what makes for fake smiles ... so, it might just work to ask a little kid to count to "three," to their own satisfaction and that of the older folks, too.

 

[Skinny McGee]

I like Sex better than cheese

 

[Jocko]

I like Sex better than cheese

That is because you are a Romantic. What love could approach the complexity of Stilton, a smooth, stinging cheddar or the soft elan of Brie?

Corned Beef is good too.