Some people are naturally relaxed for a camera, but most feel at least a little intimidated. This depends largely on past experiences. Women especially tend to be more self-conscious, which can cause forced smiles and tense expressions. As a portrait photographer, there are many things you can do when photographing women, to help your client relax so you capture her true essence and personality.
Be prepared ahead of time
One of the most important things is to arrive prepared: if you are uncomfortable, this will transfer to your client. Know your equipment! If you’re a beginning photographer, save learning studio lighting or off-camera flash for unimportant shoots. Ask family and good friends to model while you learn. When you are doing a live shoot, don’t try something new or unfamiliar. If you are working outside your own comfort zone, you can easily throw your client into discomfort. When you exhibit confidence, you will instill a sense of confidence in your client or subject. This builds a natural trust. She will automatically relax, at least a little, from this alone.
Arrange to spend some time with your model before her session. Depending on the type and duration of the session, this consultation could be either a very brief chat immediately before the photo shoot, or you could schedule a half-hour meeting a week or more in advance.
The reason to have a consultation is to learn several things. First of all, learn something personal about her as you chat with her. This will be valuable during the session. Secondly, you will find out what she expects from the session, and whether or not you can deliver. Finally, you might discover that you are not the right photographer for her. Some people simply don’t mesh. If this is the case, it is acceptable to politely decline a job and perhaps refer her to someone else. There are many reasons one would choose to decline a job, although it doesn’t happen often. It is far better to decline ahead of time, than to end up in the middle of a session that goes badly for both of you.
If you’re doing a location shoot versus one in a permanent studio, make sure to have a gear list of everything you need to take with you. Check it ahead of time. Make sure you have extra batteries for your camera, as well as any lighting equipment. Take extra memory cards, an extra camera body if you have one, and every possible lens you think you might need. It is also important to arrive at the location well in advance to have time to set up, check things out, and even find cool shots like this one:
During the session
Breathe! You have done everything right. You’re both prepared for a successful shoot.
First explain your routine: that you frequently check your LCD, histogram, and often retake shots for your own purposes, not because she’s done something wrong. If you’re a hands-on person, it’s important that you get explicit permission to touch a woman, whether you’re male or female. It’s also important to make sure things such as necklace clasps, bra straps and all other unsightly items are moved to their respective places during the shoot, so touching is almost necessary. This is all part of your job as a photographer, and it’s much easier to do during the shoot, than fix it in Photoshop later. That will almost always mean touching, so don’t be shy, be proactive in getting permission up front.
Explain things as you go, so she doesn’t worry that she’s done something wrong when you have to retake a photo. Women can be self-conscious. If you simply retake, she may think she isn’t smiling right. Even if you didn’t like her smile, tell her you want something different.
Communicate with your subject or model
Then talk to her as you go. This is very important. Long silences create awkward discomfort. Focus her attention away from the camera and onto pleasant conversation. This is why it’s good to learn personal things about her ahead of time. Did you learn whether or not she has children or pets? Is there a significant other in her life? Can you make good use of what you learned by asking question that cause her to laugh?
If she starts to make forced smiles, ask her to simply close her lips in a relaxed way and not think about the camera, then just talk to her. This is also why it’s important that you know your equipment, so you can focus on her and not be worried about whether your lighting is right. I even talk while holding my camera!
Now that you’ve gotten her to laugh by asking her about something personal, her smiles will be more natural.
Be ready to shoot any second, even when she isn’t.
Posing
By this point, she is as relaxed as you could hope, because you’ve done a professional job as a portrait photographer. If you’re a boudoir photographer, do research on posing. If you’re unfamiliar with posing, delve into several websites or get some training. Bad posing can be very unflattering, but good posing can enhance any woman’s appearance.
When posing your clients, most people can mirror your body movements more easily than they can follow verbal instructions. In other words, if you want your client to turn their head to the right, if you use your index finger to turn your own head to the left (the mirror direction), almost all people will follow your unspoken direction. They also won’t overcompensate. On the other hand, if you say, “Turn your head” many people will turn too far. Correcting people automatically causes them to tense. This is because of operant conditioning. Mirroring, however, will not cause tensing. It doesn’t work with everyone, but it is overwhelmingly effective. Try it! You can use it for head turning, tilting, chin lifting or tucking, body swivelling, and many other subtle movements. Try it with friends and family first to get the hang of it first before trying it with clients.
The photos in this article are from one of the most difficult types of shoots: a location boudoir shoot in a hotel room using one speed light, one reflector, no assistant.
Do you have any other tips on photographing women and how to help them relax in front of your camera? Please share them in the comments below.
The post Tips for Photographing Women to Help Them be Relaxed and Comfortable by Pam Boling appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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