Smile!

Jake, SIU Edwardsville
Photograph by Tom Atwood

When I take portraits, I usually ask people not to smile for all the pictures, so they'll have some options to choose from. For some it's difficult. People have been trained whenever they see a camera to smile. I remember a photo session with Jamie Brown, a beauty pageant contestant. When I asked her not to smile, Jamie struggled so much that she finally used her fingers to literally force her face and mouth out of its almost frozen pageant smile. However, with Jake, seen here smiling as he romps through the snowy Gardens at SIUE, I don't even try. When Jake is running in the snow, there is nothing he can do but dog smile. Besides, he doesn't have fingers. Shutter: 1/500; Aperture: f/7.1; ISO: 400; Focal length: 200 mm