Why Rapport with a Photographer is Vital!
A few months ago, I had my professional headshots done with John at a gorgeous venue in Charing Cross. Our team got prepped, dressed with a full set of hair and make up ready to go.
The shoot took roughly 90 minutes and trust me when I say – I hate having my photo taken! I come up with every excuse under the sun not to have professional photographs and my social media pictures at the time were just quirky pictures (see pic) of myself that did not really give the professional impression that I wanted ; however they did me justice from a vanity point of view.
So when getting behind the camera with John, I had the same issues as I hear people say constantly – “I’m so unphotogenic“, “How do I get rid of my double chins?” and “Can you please airbrush every aspect of my face“. It wasn’t until after the shots, and I am highly critical, that I was happy with them and thanked John for how easy he was to work with and how he managed to capture me in so many different lights (and trust me my eyes do not smile at the camera – I look like a rabbit in headlights.
So after some great looking headshots, I really did not appreciate the effort put in. Until last week.
Last week I had to attend a photo shoot with work and got involved with some of the photo’s for some humour but also so I could have some shots within the subject that we were shooting. It was this experience that made me realise how vital your rapport with a photographer proves to be. Knowing this, I would now be having a conversation and seeing how well you build a rapport before booking a shoot. I sat there (with my rabbit in headlights look at it’s best) and how did the photographer make me relax…? She didn’t. She didn’t make any conversation with me at all.
Don’t get me wrong, her practical side of the photography with the lighting and direction was fantastic. Had I been a model that could naturally pose within a full time gorgeous career, then I wouldn’t have had an issue. But I’m not!
It taught me a big lesson. It taught me that you need to have so much rapport with a photographer to get the best out of your shots. The rapport helps build natural emotion and makes your eyes smile. You need somebody making you laugh, making you pull faces and that is where I have a new found love for John Cassidy and his work.
