Being in front of the camera is scary!!

Being in front of the camera.

Now I am one of those kind of people who hate being in front of the camera.  I feel uncomfortable, weird and shy (unless I’ve got a couple of drinks inside me of course!).

However, I am a very good friend and for one of my best mates birthday’s she wanted a photo shoot with me and our other partner in crime Mel.  So never let it be said ‘I’m a rubbish friend’ – we dolled ourselves up and headed to my friends studio (E Collins Photography www.ecollins.co.uk).

I was having nightmares about this before we went, and my stomach was feeling all peculiar and to top it off I woke up on a ‘fat’ day.  However, I’m a glass is always half full kind of person so I decided to look upon this experience as a great insight into how people similar to me deal with being in front of the camera. 

So all 3 of us are there and my mind just froze, what were we meant to do!!  It’s easy to be the other side of the camera.  You can see the big picture and overall what everyone looks like, what’s working and what isn’t, but being the subject matter of the photo is actually really hard.  You have no idea what other people are doing, and you are totally reliant on the photographer to tell you what to do.  I never realised that this was the case.  I mean, I do direct my models and clients but it’s made me realise that I need to do it more and to give encouragement more.

When in front of the camera I seemed to be stuck in a couple of very rigid poses, but as the shoot went on things got a bit loser, which I generally find when shooting portraits myself.  It really did help to have my mates there with me as well.  If you are thinking about having a photo shoot done and are a bit camera shy, I highly recommend you try a group session first with you bestest buddies.

We had a couple of change of clothes, and then came the bit Lynsey really wanted – some pictures of us in our pyjamas (A little odd but hey that’s our Lynsey! ;))  We had a pillow fight and pretended to sing into hair brushes, luckily this was the last part of the shoot because I have very curly hair and by the time I had been whacked around the head with a pillow a few times – I resembled something that had been dragged through a hedge backwards! Lol!

Overall it was a very interesting experience for me and has given me not only a new appreciation of photographers and how to be a better photographer, but also what it’s like on the other side of the camera.

All the best

Claire

xx

If your thinking of having a photo shoot here are a few recommendations;

·         Try a group shoot first

·         At least speak with the photographer on the phone or have an initial meeting with them so that you get to know what sort of person they are, and then you feel a little more comfortable.

·         Take some props – there’s nothing like having something to hide behind or under until you get a bit more comfortable with posing

·         If your going for a solo shoot, think about taking a good friend with you, having someone there to make you smile or laugh, or feel a little more comfortable is well worth it.

·         If you have any ideas on poses etc talk to the photographer before hand so they know what sort of shots your looking for and they will probably come up with some great ideas to go along with them as well.