Start Shooting
Julia is an awesome actress, TV presenter, and model who recently had to relocate back to Australia due to the pandemic and while she has not been too happy about the move, Peter has been really looking forward to working with her again.
In this tutorial, throgh talking about memories and feelings, they disucss and show you the very subtle changes in a face that feeling a certain emotion can create, and how posing from the inside out can take your photos to that next level of depth.
16 comments on “Start Shooting”
Really enjoyed this tutorial Peter, Bec, and Julia. A lot of what you covered reminded me of NLP (neurolinguistic programming). I agree that it’s the feeling that changes the face, not the thought. But you also need to give your communication skills credit also you need to be able to communicate in a manner the other individual understands before you can get them to feel. Case in point, the longing/soulful look Julia morphed into when discussing her flight back showed just how powerful “feeling” the situation can be. For a moment, I was able to share how she was feeling during that event.
In the last video, I really enjoyed the Sony “video” section as you can really see the changes with Julia’s face, but the best part for me was the closeup “B roll” videos you had in the last photoshoot session; they were fantastic. It felt like I was looking through the viewfinder of my camera (or rather I was longing to be looking through my viewfinder). There were several “now” moments where I noticed my index finger triggering the shutter release on a camera I wasn’t even holding.
I really appreciate all the time and effort that you’re putting into the tutorials. Thanks again Peter, Bec, and Julia.
Thank you for the awesome feedback Eric, so glad you enjoyed the tutorial and were able to see the incredible shifts in Julia’s face. Loved that you were even going through the motions of wanting to take a photo yourself 😀 so cool. Thanks for watching
Thank you all for this great video. So much to take in.
I really enjoyed watching this tutorial, it is great to see Peter’s thought process.
As well as photographer I am also a hypnotist and what was being said resonates totally with my own way of thinking.
I hate taking photos of a model (or anyone) without talking to them first as that is where I learn what invokes the expressions and body language I want in the picture. It is where I often use words that cause the model to internalise rather than analyse what I want.
If you try to analyse something, you are using the logical part of your brain, if you feel something you are using the emotional part of your brain. Anything that causes someone to internalise will create a an emotional responce.
“Just imagine…..” is a great opening because to imagine something you have to go inside yourself e.g
Bec, ‘just imagine being in your favourite place with your beautiful ball of fluff, stroking your fingers through her hair and just feeling her total love for you’ …. even I feel good just imagining what you are feeling .
Peter I do think you missed out on one vital addition to your great tutorial, the photographer also has to be in the right headspace. What he (or she) is thinking projects onto the model, in tone of voice, body language and expression. If the photographer is in the wrong headspace, the model will always feel uncomfortable and disconnected resulting in a bad shoot.
I believe, what makes you such an amazing photographer of people is the rapport you create with your model,. I imagine if you hadn’t become a photographer you could have been an amazing hypnotist.
If you are interested, next time you are in the Uk we can meet up and i can teach you how to hypnotise someone in less than a hour in a bar over a nice glass of southern comfort
Thank you so much Richard, I really appreciate the great feedback, especially from someone like yourself. I totally agree with you that the photographer also needs to be in a good headspace, there has definitely been shoots where I wasn’t in a good mood myself and its reflected in the photos.
Hopefully we can get back to the UK sooner rather than later
And I thought all I needed to learn how to do to get an awesome shot is learn how to work my camera, and some lights…..silly me….lol.
That was amazing to watch all of the emotions that Julia went through.
Thanks to Julia for letting herself go all of those places so we can see what we need to strive for before we ever even push the shutter button down.
Thanks as always Peter and Bec for showing us the way! 🙂
Absolutely amazing, Peter and Bec. I’d rather see this kind of stuff over gear talk any day of the week.
I agree with your thoughts 100 percent. For me, the goal is to stay out of the model’s head as a photographer, but encourage them to get into their own head, as it were. It’s difficult for me to quantify, but I know it and can recognize it when I see it. When this internal “switch” goes off inside of the model, I can see it right away and it changes everything.
This honest projection of internalized thought/emotions/feelings–whatever we call it–is absolutely key to getting unique shots of a person; the shots that the model looks at and says, “I’ve never seen myself look this way” and those photos set themselves apart.
Again, great stuff, guys.
Hope all is well.
Awesome, thanks heaps Daniel. I agree, I always try to capture faces the model only shows a select few people in their life that shows their soul, and not what they give every other photographer. Hope all is well with you too
Peter- Thanks for this a great example with Julia “that posing comes from the inside out”. If i have shot a model where she looked away, i am always left thinking it would have been stronger if I had the same shot, as she looked into the camera, it would be much stronger to see what she was thinking with her eyes, and with more connection to the camera the emotion of what she was thinking would be revealed. As you say, there is a confidence that comes from seeing ‘eye to eye’ and it’s a more powerful way to show what she’s thinking. thanks for this. Bob
Thanks heaps Bob, glad you enjoyed it. I agree, eye to eye is always more powerful.
Peter,
The video was a success and I really enjoyed the tutorial with Julia. I will use it every time before a shoot and study it until I have mastered it. Having good communication with your model is always a win win.
Awesome, thank you so much
Another awesome video. So much to learn from the way you communicate and change the mood with conversation.
I always feel inspired to try something different when I watch your stuff.
I showed your insta to a model today and her first comment was ‘Wow, his work is amazing’
That’s also how I feel when I see your work . Hopefully I’ll get close some day 😉
Wow thanks so much
Such a fabulous series. Great ideas and inside into the process you use. Cudo to Julia, such a natural beauty and killer smile – but to move and react and create such beauty – very inspiring!
Thank you