THE REAL QUESTION ON BEING NERVOUS ABOUT BEING NERVOUS DURING A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOSHOOT
Hey everyone, its Laura Pearman, and this is another Laura Pearman Vlog. I have another great question on being nervous about a professional photoshoot, thank you very much for keeping them coming.
So let’s get going with this question. Today’s question is from Heather.
Heather runs Nelly Heather Designs
Heather asks:
“HOW DO I RELAX? I’M SO NERVOUS ABOUT HAVING MY HEADSHOT TAKEN.”
THE REAL ANSWER
I can think of a lot of funny jokes here Heather about sedatives and dutch courage and stuff like that, but it’s not really necessary I promise you, it’s not, it’s not.
Really this is not your problem because you would be the client when you’re in front of the camera this is 100% your photographers’ problem. So, if you still feel totally uncomfortable in front of the camera it is your photographer’s job to make you relax and make you feel calm. If you are nervous about a professional photoshoot, be sure to tell your photographer, hand it off to them.
It’s one of those things that you learn as a professional photographer over time. So you go to college and you train and you learn about how to operate a camera, how to control light all of that kind of stuff how you edit images and how you present them. Then you go into professional photography and that’s where you start to master what it’s like to work with real-life clients, and you either are really really good at this or some people are just really pants at this.
HOW PHOTOGRAPHERS LEARN PHOTOGRAPHER CRAIC
When I first set out in photography I worked in a family portraiture studio and this was really like a baptism of fire so I was working with families of all different ages and people with all different kinds of backgrounds and for me, that was a really really steep learning curve.
You either really get on with people or you just don’t so the people who don’t tend to become product photographers or and like sports nut photographers and the kind of people who don’t really need to deal with people and awful lot, but if you find that you’re going on professional photoshoots with photographers who are branding themselves as people related photographers and you’re still feeling really uncomfortable then I hate to say this but it’s your photographer’s fault.
HOW A GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER HANDLES THIS
You need to be build up a really strong relationship with your photographer in the lead-up to the shoot so that you feel like you can trust them so that they know what your particular worries and concerns are. If maybe you’ve had a bad experience with a previous professional photographer or if you’ve got an awful memory from a school photo or something like that or you just hated having your picture taken as a child.
You know, it’s important to develop that kind of a relationship with your photographer and then when it eventually comes round to the day of the photoshoot, they know all of this information so that they can help you pose and help you feel as comfortable as possible and help you and get used to being front of the camera and then the next thing that I always think is important is to allow enough time so you’re not going to feel completely at ease straight away when you know it’s light, cameras and action.
You’re not going to feel great straight off, so it’s important to ease into it a little bit and I have different services that allow for different amounts of time purely for this very reason.
TIME TO WOOOOOO-SAAAHHHHH
So sometimes people need time to chill and you know, sometimes that first half-hour you can almost kind of throw it away.
Sometimes you get the odd little magic Shot but sometimes you might do you know 10 minutes then have a coffee, change outfit and another 10 minutes, take a break.
Chill, and then over time you get used to it, like anything in life, you know practice makes perfect and eventually you kind of get into the rhythm of it.
My personal goal is to make sure that by the end of that photoshoot you go away feeling fabulous feeling fantastic.
Feeling way better about photography and photographers and the whole camera experience. Now then, in addition to this, there’s all of that other stuff that experts around confidence and calming nerves will be able to advise you on and if that’s necessary, I would go away as your professional photographer and seek their advice.
So I hope that’s helped you a little bit Heather, let me know if you have any further questions or if you’re somebody like Heather and you’ve come across this post and you want to talk about this a little bit further. I would be more than happy to help.
THE #LOVEYASELFIE CHALLENGE
I have a 5 Day Challenge that has been specifically developed to help people like Heather to work on overcoming their nervousness about photography by honing their posing and technical know-how on selfies. If the thought of being photographed by a professional like me just fills you with dread then this is a great way to take practical action on overcoming your hang-ups.
GET IN TOUCH
Why not see if we feel like a good fit before committing to any big scary shooting plans. Come and have a no-obligation chat with me in a Cyber Cocktail Appointment!