Say cheese!”

The words may take you back to picture day in grade school, but one local photographer has his own methods for bringing out the best in you.

Dale Sargeant, owner of Take One Studio, 226 East Lincoln Highway, said that he likes to get the character of the person being photographed.

“You don’t need a big smile,” he said. “All you really need is your personality and the photographer to bring it out.”

Sargeant began photographing people in 1968, when his aunt sent him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Bullet.

“I went to develop them in the closet and was amazed,” he said.

Sargeant went on to study photography in high school and at the College of DuPage.

Since graduating from school, Sargeant has worn many hats. He has photographed for other studios, an advertising agency, a wedding studio, traveled for a company showing slides and currently works as a lab technician for the Media Services/Imaging color lab.

“Basically, imaging is what I do,” Sargeant said.

Sargeant tries to make each photo session enjoyable for his customers, even if they don’t like to be photographed. He typically photographs models, actors and dancers. He’s photographed a couple of celebrities, too, such as Bob Dole and Colin Powell.

Sargeant opened Take One Studio two and a half years ago in the old Birch Jeweler building. The sign for the jeweler still hangs above the studio but the glass door bears the studio’s name in glittery silver letters. Sargeant said that he has run his business by word-of-mouth so far and is a little leery about placing ads in the paper.

“I don’t want to grow so fast that I can’t handle it. I don’t want people to wait too long for pictures,” he said.

Sargeant said that he differs from other photo studios in the lighting he uses and his creativity.

“How can you make a creative photograph all the same? There’s no soft focus, no creative lighting,” Sargeant said. “I try to do things that they can’t get at your average portrait studio.”

One of those things is to suggest make-up tips for his models. If a woman doesn’t usually wear make-up, he’ll suggest that she put on a little for her picture. If a model does wear make-up, Sargeant will suggest darker shades for a more dramatic effect. As his customers do their hair and make-up, and select their outfits, Sargeant looks at the person’s features. He then sets up the lighting that will flatter his model the most.

“When you’re ready for the set, the set is ready for you,” he said.

Sargeant is particular about where he shoots his pictures. The studio may be the best location for an individual photograph, but a family picture will be best taken on location.

A favorite technique of Sargeant’s is to use fans to suggest movement. Fans help to make hair and dresses blow in the wind.

“When you freeze motion, you take the life out of it, so you have to add to the picture,” Sargeant said.

He uses standard and digital cameras to send pictures to a monitor. The images are then downloaded to a computer for retouching and print-outs on an Ink-Jet printer or CDs.

He constantly rotates his wardrobe for customers to ensure variety and offers boxes of jewelry, shoes, umbrellas, scarves, and chairs for shoots.

“I’m not shooting the same people over and over in the same outfits,” Sargeant said. Customers are welcome to bring their own clothes.

Sargeant’s coloring techniques are unique. White on white contrast, or “high-key,” is when a model wears white against a white background. The effect is a soft, faded effect. Sargeant places special lighting behind the model to outline her figure in soft white light.

“I’m quite happy with the work he’s done for me,” said Natalie Anderson, a sophomore accounting major and model. “He focuses on the person and the aspect of their personality.”

The only time Sargeant conforms to standards is with head shots for modeling agencies. This is so agents can quickly flip through the head shots and focus only on the model’s face, not on the way they are posed, which affects the way they appear in the photograph.

“(Agents) want to know absolutely what that person looks like. It has to be a clear representation of that person.”

Sargeant will, however, retouch photos to remove blemishes.

“Things that are not permanent on their face should not be there,” he said.

Sargeant will sometimes develop his pictures in his studio, but he usually has his photographs developed at a professional lab where the color of the film can be monitored.

Occasionally, Sargeant will stop people on the street and give them coupons if he thinks they are photogenic. He added that he would rather hire a redhead on campus than hire a professional model.

“I just believe that every girl should have a beautiful picture of her while her beauty exist,” he said. “It is an important thing to have.”