Solemn seems to be my Song

You may or may not know this but one of the tricks of getting faces that are not smiling but are more pleasant looking, is to teach them to pop the corners of their mouth. Not in the insipid Mona Lisa way but much more subtle. You need to practice in a mirror yourself before you can teach it. It's simply very very slightly smiling with your mouth closed. Just so the corners of your mouth go up a bit very slightly. Everybody's face is different and not all react the same, and for some it may not work but for most it will. The other thing it does is makes the eyes alive and sparkly because the muscles all the way up from the mouth to the eyes are working. When you start the shoot, you get them to face you and do it and practice for a minute to get the exact place you like. Then when you begin to shoot as you give them direction, tell the "corners up" and they will make it work for you. Obviously not in every shot but you will see the pictures will have more life and more energy.

Stone, I really like this one. Want to trade for any of mine?Don

Well I like the solemn look, and your (her) pose is quite elegant. Also like the print on the wall in the top left corner.

Thanks blansky, I'll give it a try and see how I like it if I can understand you correctly, you should become a subscriber so I can see some examples in your gallery Don, I jokingly posted on one of your images... can you guess what paper it's printed on? *snicker*Tony, thanks, and yes I left that image in the corner on purpose, it's drawn by the subject, she's quite talented, sadly I fear her talent will go to waste, she's one of those troubled girls with no good influences... but only time will tell...

I like the pose and the really nice lightness, but is that her bra on the fireplace...?!

Excellent work an a wonderfull lady.Cheers Armin