“Everybody get together for a picture” is the battle cry we all secretly hate to hear in group settings. Awkwardly, we all line up, muddle together and suck in our stomachs, forcibly smiling for posterity.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the next direction is always my favorite. “Could you on the ends move in tighter?” This is most often followed by a lot of leaning, contorting, bending and positioning so that no matter how great the photographer is, the group will be forever recorded as a deconstructed pretzel.
Here’s my advice.
Don’t lean. Don’t bend. Stand or sit up straight and if you’re on the end, force the photog to move back.
If you’re tall, don’t slump. If you’re short, grab a place in the front. If you’re fat, do the peak out…you know what I’m talking about. And don’t blink. Pictures always seem to be taken while someone is blinking. Don’t let it be you.
And finally, no matter how bad you think you look or how much you don’t want to be in the photo, BE IN THE PHOTO.
You don't want to look back on your life and not be in it.