I hate asking people to pose.
I will do it for the sake of providing them the photo they think they want. But a famous tenant of visuals I learned in film school destroyed everything I had learned up until that point.
The iconic Hollywood Editor Walter Murch has a famous “rule of six.” Essentially a list of factors that layer upon each other and construct effective visual art. But, in truth, his first rule is the only one that matters: “Emotion"
This is why the candid face is the shot I always hope to capture. It is pure, unadulterated emotion that is not being manipulated by the presence of the camera.
It’s just an absolute moment of sublime existence that brings us to a feeling that, hopefully we can experience too.