Being Photographed Made Me a Better Photographer

As photographers, we want to create strong images and this requires us to help our subjects appear engaged and natural. Studio photography has its own obstacles compared to shooting on location; standing in a bare room with very little to work off. It was in this situation that I had my photograph taken. I wanted to look good but at that moment, with the lens pointed at me, I didn’t know how...

My legs stiffened, my arms felt like they just got in the way and my movements felt awkward. When I thought I was pulling a cool, steely face I realised, in reality, I just looked grumpy and bored. Due to the lack of context in the studio, I felt lost and out of place.

1: Visualise Your Surroundings

What helped was giving myself a scenario to operate from. I visualised what I was looking at and how I was responding to it. This created more comfortable and interesting expressions. Thinking about what I was trying to communicate allowed me to convey more natural movements and poses. As a photographer, directing someone this way has yielded some wonderful and surprising results. My subjects have come up with striking and memorable expressions that I would never have been able to describe to them.

Giving instructions in terms of story or scenes, like imagining yourself in a fight, or accepting an award, allows the person to naturally discover their own poses, where their body and face work together.

2: Set the Mood

Creating my own mood wasn’t always easy, so playing music was also useful during my photo session. Just hearing the camera click was really distracting and it took me out of the moment. Killing that silence and having my favourite music play, enjoying the beat, encouraged me to move. Along with a few well placed jokes, working with music also made the shoot feel less serious and more fun, helping again in being more natural and expressive.

Music alone doesn't always offer ideas for poses. Creating a mood board, a collection of inspirational images, helps the subject see and understand what looks and “moods” you as the photographer are trying to create.

3: Communicate Constantly

As the subject, I needed feedback. It was really useful to be told what was working and, in a nice way, what wasn’t. Posing tips gave me confidence in what I could offer as the subject. These tips could be something as simple as relaxing your jaw, turning your head or shifting your feet. I couldn’t see myself so hearing these things guided me and made me more confident and willing to try more interesting poses. It also made me feel like I was being captured in a more flattering way.

Many models I’ve worked with have told me that they have appreciated my guidance during their shoot, the most awkward shoots they've been part of are where the photographer offers no feedback. They were met with silence and had to resort to hoping they were doing the right thing. So it’s worth remembering that our lack of communication, even though we think things are working well, can cause your subject to doubt themselves and become timid. Take every opportunity to say positive things, laugh with them and be engaged with what your subjects are doing.

As a good photographer, you have to do more than just press the shutter button. Not all the people we photograph will be professional models who spend their days striking poses. Most people we photograph will start off feeling nervous or lost during a shoot, but guaranteed, they all want their photos to look great.

Being photographed is not a natural experience, so the more we guide our subjects, encourage and assist them, the better the result will be for everyone.