Photographers: How do you determine your better side?

Sort of a follow up to the comments Patken made in his post.

How do you determine your best side?

I was told that if you hold a pencil in your mouth, the shorter side of your face is probably your better side. Is this true?

I did not think this question was for me, therfore I apologize for the delay in responding. to be honest with you I have never heard of the pencil thing and it couldn't be less acurrate. A better side is detemined by lots of things , but three remain prominent. #1 ones eyes, if one eye is smaller than the other this is obviously something you would not want to see. As I said early most photographers will shoot both sides of a subjects face, it is very unnesscary and will lead to only confusion of the subject when looking at the photos. It is easily corrected by the angle of the face towards the camera.
#2 Look for a bump in the nose, again this is another distraction that can be easily be avoided by placement of light and again angle of face to the camera.
#3 finally a part in ones hair can also be a determing factor.
I hope this helps
Doug
By the way I thought I had the right to explain my position, especially if someone was stating incorrect information

The answer to your question can really be subjective.

Some people think that 'better' means reducing the affect of 'imperfections' but what is an 'imperfection' and what is 'perfect?' I wouldn't want to be the arbiter of what people want improve in the look of their pictures. I've seen photographers work to reduce the affect of what is actually part of what contributes to the character of what a person looks like.

I've found that people look best when they are simply comfortable in front of the camera and not pretending to be someone else by presenting a false 'camera face.' Often the side that looks best coordinates with which side they are most comfortable standing next to their partner on.

Usually a client will know if there is something they don't like about their face. They usually have seen photos of themselves many times over and will remark that they don't like their profile, nose, etc. Sometimes, I don't even see what it is that they don't like, other times it may be more obvious. Alot can be done with posing and lighting as mentioned above. But I have never heard about holding a pencil in your mouth. I have had people who told me that they read that actors and actresses put their tongue on the roof of their mouth to make their neck or chin appear smaller, but, to tell you the truth it seems ridiculous and I always discourage this kind of behavior because it looks fake and it would be extremely uncomfortable to be doing this for hours on end, say for a wedding. Again, the best things to do is relax, that is what makes for the best photos, real life