How do you put your clients at ease? How do you put your clients at ease? How do you put your clients at ease?
My answer:
So much of what I do and say — before and during our photo session — is geared towards making you feel at ease. Because once we have that ease, that flow, and trust, everything else falls into place.
Before the photo session, we talk about what’s making you feel nervous (eg, feeling stupid, people watching us when we are shooting outdoors, maybe drawing attention to parts of you that are usually hidden).
We discuss and dissect all of that, come up with practical solutions and we reframe those nerves into excitement.
On the day of the shoot, the first thing we are going to do before we start your session is to take time to relax, chat, and BREATHE. Even when the session begins, I do not expect any great works of art to be created within the first part of our session; we will be taking the time to settle in, test the lighting, relax & make friends with the camera and each other.
It’s not a natural situation to be in, so we will ease you into this. You’ll let me know beforehand what’s the best way to do this – for some it will be a great music playlist, for some it could be chatting about their company and what they do, others may enjoy a game of ice breaker, some prefer red wine…
I aim to have you look as natural as possible and any posing that I may ask you to do will really be the bare minimum. I am careful during our session to factor in time for taking a break.
I am pretty darn good at judging when you need a break – it’s one of my secret powers. Well, it was. Cat is out of the bag now.
What makes you nervous about having a photo session? Any of the examples I listed above, or something else?