Tip of the Week: Just Relax! How to Help Your Portrait Clients Be More at Ease
- If you’re in a studio, have some music playing. Just make it upbeat – no sad orchestral music from the movies! Better yet, ask your client to play some of their favorite songs on their phone. The better they know the song, the more likely they are to relax and have fun.
- Try demonstrating poses before asking the client to do so. Sometimes just seeing what you want them to do helps prevent the panic of doing it wrong and looking silly.
- Speaking of silly, try a few jokes. Everyone from children to the elderly appreciates a good joke!
- As mentioned above, ask your clients questions. There’s no need to get super deep – just ask about favorite movies, what they do for fun, where they grew up, and other small talk types of things.
- A fun way to really break the ice is to show your clients some funny or awkward portraits. Nothing relaxes people like a good laugh!
- Help relax your portrait clients by breaking the ice like you would on a date. Ask lots of questions about them. Be polite. Tell a few jokes. The more you invest in getting to know them as people, the more they will relax!
- Keep your portrait clients relaxed by starting off with a few test shots. Doing so will get them used to the process of shutters clicking and flashes firing and will help them to be more natural in front of the camera.
- Help take your client’s mind off of himself or herself by talking about the surroundings. Comment on the beautiful scenery, or, if you’re in a studio, add a prop for them to engage with. The less they are thinking about it, the more they will be able to relax and be themselves.
Portrait photography has its challenges, from uncooperative weather to screaming kids to ugly wardrobes clients select for their photos. But a much bigger issue to overcome is getting your clients to take it easy and relax in front of the camera.
Today’s lesson explores a few straightforward solutions to this problem.
Act Like It’s a Date
Supercharge your photography skills. 600+ Premium lessons waiting for you HERE.
When you’re on a first date, you’re hopefully on your game. You’re polite. You’re interesting. You make a concerted effort to learn more about the other person. You ask questions, crack jokes, and make a lot of eye contact.
These tricks work for making your portrait sessions more relaxing too! The more you make yourself a regular human, rather than one with a camera, the more relaxed your clients will be. You might include a short questionnaire with the contract materials, so you’re armed with some information ahead of time. Or, you might rattle off a few questions as you’re setting the mood for the shot.
Not sure how to break the ice? Here are a few suggestions for getting the ball rolling:
Really, this is all about taking a genuine interest in who your client is. The more you get to know them, the more relaxed they will be, and the better their portraits will be because of it.
Help Them Get Acquainted With the Process
The chances are that most of your portrait clients aren’t the types to have cameras in their face on a daily basis. So, when you start clicking away, most people feel like they have to “perform,” and put on a good show. Unfortunately, this can translate into a subject that looks uptight and in pain.
A great way to get around this is to tell your client you need to check your camera settings, and then fire off a handful of test shots. This serves a number of purposes. First, you can legitimately work on getting the settings you need for a good shot. Second, some practice shots gives your client a few exposures to get used to the sights and sounds of being photographed, thus making them more relaxed.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, taking test shots demonstrates that not every single picture you take needs to be perfect. In fact, use this to your advantage by explaining that there will be some shots that won’t make it to the final group. Understanding that it’s a process and that it will take some time to get “the shot” usually helps clients rest easy and relax in front of the camera.
Talk Up the Environment
A perfect way to help clients relax is to help them understand that they are just one piece of the puzzle. If, for example, you took them to a park for some nice outdoor portraits and did nothing but talk about them and what they’re supposed to be doing, they would have little chance to let loose and be more relaxed. However, if you talk about the surroundings, suddenly the photo becomes about much more than just your client.
If you’re on an outdoor shoot, comment about the setting, the lighting, and so on. If you’re in a studio, introduce a prop of some kind to make the setting more about interacting with something rather than just standing there in an uncomfortable pose. Basically, just be excited about where you are, and your client will be too. That excitement will translate into a portrait that looks much more relaxed because your client will be thinking less about themselves and more about being themselves in that particular time and place.
Want more premium photography lessons? Click HERE.
Conclusion
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of all the things you can do to help your portrait clients relax, it’s certainly a good place to start! Help bridge the gap between you and your client by being yourself, being personable, including your client in the process, and getting excited about the environment in which you’re shooting. You’d be surprised at how far a few questions and a genuine smile will go in making your clients more comfortable in front of the lens.