Okay, so I dumped my old crappy web host, and it looks like I’ve got everything finally transferred over to my new one. You live and you learn. Now that I’ve lost about a week’s worth of work time, it’s time to forget about this blog for a while and get back to culling, editing, and keywording stock photos

Sorry about the downtime, in case you guys clicked any bad, non-working links in the last day.

.

“Oh my gosh, check out that look on your face!”, says your friend on the comments section of your newest facebook photo (you know the one where you didn’t realize was being taken while you were acting dorky).  I’m sure you’ve seen something similar to this before, if not directly.  It’s true, though; a simple facial expression can MAKE or BREAK a photo.  It can convey the RIGHT message, or possibly even the WRONG message.

Oh yeah, she definitely looks like she did it.

Check out little miss right here in this funny “motivational” style poster.  Usually these are pretty hilarious, and get passed all around on the internet.  Was this shot intentional?  Maybe the little girl was just trying to smile for her mommy or daddy while they took a snapshot of the neighborhood house fire.  But no – she has that evil, devious look on her face.  Almost a sort of a smirk like she’s thinking, “See?  I told you not to mess with me…”

Okay so now that we’ve all had a little chuckle, what is my point?  It’s that facial expressions are important!  I’ll admit – when I’m shooting portraits, sometimes I’ll catch someone at the wrong moment, or maybe it was their fault altogether.  Some people just smile weird, or in their own unique sort of way.  Later when I’m culling and editing, sometimes I can make an image work that I might have initially thought was a total mistake.  Here are some examples.

The infamous blink shot, converted to an “I’m dreaming of a Caribbean vacation!” concept:

Or the “model blinked by accident but it looks just like shes laughing really hard” shot:

We all have a few like this in our portfolios.  You just really need to make sure that you can make it work.  Obviously it would be foolish to take an image of a guy smiling and say he’s sad or depressed.  I’ve had models try and pretend to be sad (who really just couldn’t nail the acting) and instead it come out like they were giggling.  Maybe it was me making them feel uncomfortable, or acting goofy like I normally do during shoots.  Hey, I like to have fun.

…and don’t forget about those Girl Scouts slinging those cookie boxes…they remember who doesn’t buy!

It’s probably happened on a highway or city street near you.  First, the shock and astonishment of what just occurred. 

You might even gnash your teeth in sheer anger and hatred!

Why would someone do such a thing to you, someone that was totally just trying to drive safely, minding your own business!?

Ah the frustration.  I think I’ve probably seen the worst drivers of my life in Connecticut and New Jersey.  Worse than New York!  New York will cut you off, but at least they’re professional about it.  They expect each other to drive like that. If you don’t, they will even get road rage towards you! 

The best thing to do in this situation is to try and not let these other drivers rattle your cage.  You have to just let it go, and try and maintain your composure. If someone however is road raging against you for something you didn’t even do, you might want to dial 911 on your cell phone.  There are a lot of crazies out there, and I’ve heard some stories about people getting out of their cars at red lights, walking over to other cars, and trying to pull the other person out.  I’ve even seen people get out of their cars and go at each other, and it’s definitely a scary thing to witness.  Take a chill pill, people!  You don’t know what kind of day the other guy has had. Cut them some slack!  You have to be understanding, and try and maintain the peace.  Your heart and blood pressure will thank you, and you might just live a longer and happier life.

You can find all of the road rage stock photos for purchase here:
http://arenacreative.clustershot.com/search?keywords=road+rage