I think that the main reason I dig shooting living creatures is that I like to convey a sense of personality with each shot. I'm not terribly keen on the "prom"-esque poses. You know, clasp hands unnaturally, shoulders in, heads tilted at an odd angle, cheesy, fake smiles...yeah, not quite me. I would much rather have people be who they are in a photo. I want people to look back on the picture in 50 years, and get a sense of who that person was. What kind of a family was it, what was the mood of the person on that day, what are the relationships like there? These questions should be answered by a good portrait. It always turns out that my favorite shots are ones in which the subject/subjects forget that there is a camera in the room and just be themselves. When I was running the studio here at the Academy, it was often a challenge to get some of the military folks to crack a smile during their shoots. Contrary to popular belief, it IS allowed to smile in an official military photo. It was always the most difficult to get the cops to smile during their photo sessions. They were the tough guys. They tried to convince me that they never smiled. Thankfully, I'm a big enough goofball to have proved them wrong, and I have a quick enough trigger finger to capture it. Ha! Now, just so you know, I always give them the choice of which image they want to keep- serious, moderately happy, or cheesy grinny. But I make them go through all of the expressions so they have something to pick from. And don't you know, most of them forgo the "ax murderer" serious shots and lean towards something a little happier. And THAT's why I am so strict about smiling for the photo. Because they actually do end up wanting it in the end.
For non-military shoots, I shoot at the standard times, but I like shooting when people aren't necessarily expecting it. A wife fixing her husbands collar, a family goofing around, a non-standard expression from a small child that completely captures their personality, these all give the photo personality. Personally, I don't know if I would want a generically plastic picture of my family versus them being their abnormal, quirky selves.
For example, the following image is when my folks and my little brother came to visit me in Colorado, and got to see my studio. This shot started with dad and Nick standing all proper and tall, then, at the last minute, they squenched down to sandwich mom's head. Now, technically, the three headed monster look isn't something that most photographers go for, but I absolutely love this. 
And I definitely think this one shows personality.
Air Force Photo/Rachel Boettcher
And this one certainly reminds me of my siblings, I don't know about you...
Anyway, I had better go and gets some work done. I wish I had more amazing things to say, but alas, I don't. Perhaps I'll start incorporating some of my favorite quotes with my blogs.... Ok today's quote is, "We rarely think people have good sense, unless they agree with us." -Francois de La Rochefoucauld.
Until next time!
