For wedding groups of my favorites is “on the count of three look at your favorite person” and without skipping a beat immediately count off. It’s usually cute and everyone looks at the bride or groom or whatever but then after that they all look at each other and are happy.

But if that’s not enough… then say “now on the count of three look at your least favorite person,” again immediately count down without giving much time to think. It is always in good fun and everyone laughs so much.

Get them talking. Keep it light if you want smiles or whatever matches the expression you’re after. The digital age is wonderful for being able to take loads of photos and cull without the expense of negatives.

Talking to them throughout the session and keeping them comfortable is probably the most important part I’d imagine

I try to take a photo the second they’re in position, well before they’re expecting it. That one often turns out well.

For kids, tell them, “Say ‘cheetah’,” drawing out the ah. Take the photo while they’re saying the ah. Between the fun/novelty and the position of their mouths, it will look like they’re all laughing.

I don’t mess with portrait photography but when it comes to drawing at least, we have something called static poses and dynamic poses. I’m not entirely sure, but it kinda sounds like you like dynamic poses. If I were doing portraits, and wanted dynamic poses, I’d treat the subject(s) more like actors, and instruct them to do something. “Take a bite of this apple”, “walk across this crosswalk while talking on the phone”, “dance to this music”, “throw a punch at me” etc. Depending on what you are going for might require you to be more dynamic too rather than standing in a fixed place with a tripod. You might have to work more akin to a cameraman filming a movie. Burst shots could be beneficial.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/blog.daisie.com/dramatic-pose-reference-a-comprehensive-guide-for-artists/amp/

I don’t do this with everyone, but particularly if it’s someone I know (and trust haha) I sometimes give them the camera and I go and stand in the spot I want them to model in. I’ll tell them to look me through the camera and consider things like how much posture looks, how much shadows or harsh light there is on my face, how different I look when squinting or frowning etc. That tends to get them very comfortable and they understand what I’m looking for when I am directing them in the shoot.

If it’s someone I wouldn’t trust with my camera, I can still do the same just asking them to stand there and put themselves in my shoes to get them thinking about the shoot.

One last caveat: for one or two people, they were so nervous and overthought everything, I didn’t take this approach because it would just confuse them too much. This is easy to gauge when chatting with them leading up to the shoot.

I’d like to know too

Two things I use that have worked fairly well for me:

-Get the group all together, and just before you start shooting say, “OK now pretend like you all like each other.” Usually gets a fairly genuine laugh/smile from everyone.

-Have two people stand next to each other, tell them to make a serious face while looking directly at each other. Then all you gotta do is repeat, “OK now whatever you do, don’t laugh. DO NOT LAUGH.” That combination is almost always guaranteed to make them smile and/or laugh genuinely.

I like to get my subject set, light set, and camera set, also camera on a tripod. Then I come out from behind the camera and sit next to it and talk with the subject. Talk about things they like. And when I see the look I’m going for I fire the camera. People are generally camera shy and hiding behind it hides who we are and can sometimes make it really hard for a shy subject to open up like we want. Hope this helps

This isn’t a trick for getting a more natural shot but is a good trick for when you have people who are uncomfortable being photographed, or state they dislike pictures of themselves. Reverse the image before you show it to them and majority of the time they are way happier with the shot. We’re used to seeing ourselves in reverse as in our mirror reflection.

We did this on a recent shoot for company head shots and the usual candidates who took ages to get a shot they liked were happy first or second time.

Talk to them. Get more time than you need for just shooting. Continue shooting and talking, until either the person will get used to camera or you run out of time. This is for portraits.

For street photo, use 90mm or 135mm lens on APS-C and m43 and 135mm or 200mm lens on full frame.

I also like making them look backwards or as far around as possible without hurting their neck. Shoot as they turn forward. Either just head and shoulders or whole body. It makes for really natural movement and expressions

Yesterday I had a shoot like this. Client only wanted a couple headshots for her linkedin and resume, but she was shy and didn’t know how to pose.

I started to talk to her, told her anecdotes, told her about the stuff i have in my shelves, asked about why she decided to migrate, blahblahblah. As we were talking, i kept on shooting.

It’s all about making them forget there’s a camera.

If I’m shooting an event, I sometimes shoot once, then give a warm thank you, and when that warmth is reflected back I take another shot to catch it. During photoshoots, I gain trust by showing the results on each refinement

There are a bunch of guides on YouTube. I will say on my recent family shoot that it’s good to feel a connection and like yourself with the least amount of tension as possible. Get what you can with guidance and personality. Your client definitely feels you and you want to make a day out of it in a sense. Even if it’s only a half hour. Interact but be personable.

Edit: Sorry I sound so cut and dry. This idea has done wonders for me though in tricky situations.