Last week I had a nice way to start my photography year with a relaxed headshots photography session with a very nervous client. Quite a lot of people don’t like having their photo taken, me included if I’m honest…. I’d had an email from a lovely lady that needed some headshots for her work & online CV. She was particularly camera shy & uncomfortable about feeling too posed… “photos that are just don’t feel the real me!”
Relaxed…
Making it chilled & having fun can go a long way to getting the results you’re looking for. First thing I do is box out a nice big slot of time in the diary so we wouldn’t feel rushed. When I arrived at the house, I only brought my camera bag in with me, all the other kit stays in the car. My client was already nervous, the last thing she would need was half of Pinewood Studios being set up in her lounge!!
We then relaxed into a cup of coffee & had a natter…. chatted about all kinds of stuff. Got an idea of type of photos she liked. We looked at a few examples of headshot portraits together so we both knew the feel & style she had in mind. There was a lovely big window in her kitchen, so I decided natural light was a good place to start.
The kitchen cupboard doors were a nice neutral mushroom grey, so I used those as a background. As we tried different shots, I always flip the camera round to show my client the images as I take them. Slowly slowly they start to relax into the idea of a camera pointing at them… Nina was just the same. Time to introduce a pop-up backdrop…
Natural…
The backdrop allowed me to move Nina a little closer to the window light & add in a reflector on the other side to gently bounce a little light back in the shadows. What was important was to keep everything feeling light & natural for Nina, nothing too directed or posed.
We played around with different colour of backdrop & jumpers so Nina had a variety of images to chose from. What was interesting was the difference in the favourites she selected from the idea of what she had in mind before we started.
Most Importantly… Have Fun!!
“…I love my photos. Thank you for everything, it’s been great fun! If I need good, professional images I’ll be sure to contact you again 🙂 ” Portrait photography isn’t scary, if you think a relaxed headshots photography session could help you…give me a call!
