The Best Smile Comes From Within

When I smile, my eyes tend to scrunch up more than the average person’s, to the point that if the rest of my face is completely covered, you can tell I’m smiling just by the scrunched eyes. I quite like this feature of mine, but as a child, it made getting family photos a nightmare. Why would something as simple as a smile turn a photo session into torture, you ask? Well, this conversation happened every time we tried to get photos for holiday cards, vacations, portraits, or anything else.

Mom: “Remember to smile!”

I smile a bright, genuine smile.

Mom: “Don’t close your eyes so much! We want to see them!”

I try to maintain the smile while widening my eyes.

Mom: “A real smile, not a fake smile!”

Every. Single. Time. It made me dread getting pictures taken or being on camera in general. The first photo session I ever truly enjoyed was for my high school senior photos, when my mother was forbidden from coming anywhere near me or the photographer, who happened to be my aunt. She didn’t say a word about it and I used my natural smile in those photos instead of trying to deliberately arrange my features into my mother’s ideal. The photos were fantastic.