This was among the last shots I took of this group comprising the student body and several teachers and staff of an elementary school. The lighting wasn't the best, as it was near mid-day with a bright, sunny sky. No matter what side of the building I photographed them, their little faces would be bright and squinty.
I was on the roof and shouted back and forth to the principal, who was on the ground with a bullhorn. The process went pretty smoothly. My main goal was to get them mostlly looking at me at one time and have the edges fairly even. Everyone was waving at me on this one, so a few kids (note the little on up front) got out of line. But that's no biggie.
Generations of adults have purported a huge disservice to photographers everywhere, and that would be instructing kids or anyone to say "cheese" while being photographed. The idea is to elicit what appears to be a smile, but few people are excited about "cheese." So the result is a really fake-looking grimace. Stop the madness!
With the photos of the students, though, "cheese" was actually helpful. I didn't tell them to say anything, but they automatically went into Cheese Zombie Picture Mode. That way I had an audible signal that I had at least the attention of most of them.
To sum up about cheese:
It's great on a pizza, not so good on a face.
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