One… Two… Open!

Capture everyone in a group with open eyes

When taking group shots there is always one person who has their eyes closed. What a shame because it dulls the impact of the shot. Here is a technique to help overcome the problem.

Move everyone into position quickly. Speed prevents boredom. People blink more when they are bored. If you can, entertain the group while getting them ready. A chatty joke goes a long way to help people get into the mood.

When everyone is in place blink prevention is applied in four quick parts.

  1. Tell everyone what you are doing. Help them understand it’s about making them look good.
  2. Ask everyone to blink slowly three times.
  3. Tell everyone to shut their eyes until you tell them to open. Then count out loud One… Two… Open!
  4. You should count in your head a further long second. Then shoot!

Here is why this works. People follow you when they know they benefit. So keep everyone informed. When they blink three times they are moistening their eyes. This also massages the eye to lessen the tendency to blink. Next, while they have their eyes closed, they are resting the eyes ready for a long open.

On “OPEN!”… you need to keep counting on. The laggards will be caught with eyes shut if you shoot straight away. The others don’t blink because their eyes are rested and moist. So after one to two seconds the whole group have open eyes. SHOOT!

Comments are closed.