I finished this set of head shots and the entire shoot the client kept telling me that she does not like having her photos taking and doesn’t smile well. And through all of my coaching or attempt at it. All of the shots seem either too forced or on the other end almost stoic. What are techniques that have worked or i can add to aliviate clients from creating self fulfilling prophecies???
Hi, this is from my experience and from the techniques and experiences of other photographers that have helped me a lot for my sessions.
First know your client, what he or she likes, what are the hobbies and that kind of thing, then you have to make the client feel comfortable, talk, make compliments, and even say some jokes.
The idea is to create a favorable environment for him or her, good vibes, not feel the pressure that is a job, the most important thing is to enjoy the session and have fun. And I think you will not take a natural smile to your clients, but a hundred during the session.
there are many photographers that I think are excellent for me, but for me Peter Hurley has a technique and a spectacular way to get the best smiles and expressions of people.
I hope it can be useful for your future sessions.
Weird, but works...
If the person is a friend of you stick your tongue out. You can take then two pictures.
One of a surprised face and second of a smiling face... :-)
Hi Nathan.
A couple of things come to mind.
First...Fremy touched on a massive point. Peter Hurley works very hard to get the technicalities of the shoot in his back pocket. This allows him to focus on the sitter. With lots of banter and fun he 'gets them in the groove'. When they are, he says 'then you shoot like a madman'. Similarly, Dylan Patrick does the same in his Cinematic Headshot tutorial. Very relaxed, knows where he's going.....shows you how to get there.
Secondly.... I have found that whatever apprehensions I have about the shoot seem to translate themselves into the shoot. My sitters invariably pickup on this and then react to it. When I'm calm, confident and visibly enjoying their company, they in turn relax.
To help build this strength, I've hired a really self concious model to sit for me over a few saturday mornings. This guy is a paraplegic, paranoid of his chair being in a photo, convinced he's not a pretty picture and as stiff as a board in front of the camera. Don't know who grew more...him or me! We now get a great kick out of our sessions and he can't wait for the next shoot.
My 'headgame and manner' are immeasurably better for it.
Work hard and smart. Regards, Greg
I have found that there are two kinds of “non-smilers”; those who simply don’t want to (and won’t!) smile and those who don’t have a problem but look bad doing it.
For the second bunch, I coach them before the shoot on how to chuckle with their mouth open. It’s hard to chuckle with a frown on!
More times than not, we get a good smile from the exercise 😊
I prefer to talk to my subjects; talking about happy times, pleasant memories, future plans, etc. One subject I touch on is "What would you do if you won big in the lottery". Once they start moving into a more genial mood, it becomes so much easier to at least get a pleasant look on their face.
Discussing what the subject expects and what their fears and concerns are can't be stressed enough. Know what they want and then work with them to get there.
I usually will also explain what I'm doing. So when I move to the side, I ask them to keep looking at something with the same expression, just so I can see them from a different angle. When I move a reflector or ask them to lift their chin, I let them know I want to remove some shadow from their neck or other trick. When they feel they are part of the process, they are less defensive and cold.
I found this helps me. It may not work for everyone or with every subject.
Thank you all so much for the support and ideas and your experiences humble and grateful.
You're welcome
First quick answer, get them talking about their favorite foods. But with such client (as with children), I find the most success by putting the camera on a tripod, using a wireless shutter release, and getting my face out from behind it.
I'll set the subject in place, focus, then move away from the camera. I'll get into the discussion, let them relax without me fussing with the camera, take a few throwaway shots (or maybe they won't be throwaway--they may turn out to be darned good portrait shots).
But then I'll move back to the camera and put my eyes very close to, slightly above the lens so that I still have eye contact. I'll take more shots, having them look at me. Then I'll ask them to look at the camera lens for a few. They should be ready about then.