Nervous in front of the camera? Try being curious instead

A tip for anyone who gets nervous having their photo taken: be curious.

Who is the person with the camera standing in front of you and what's their story?

How is their week going?

What do they love most about their job?

What would their dream job be?

I know this sounds counter-intuitive - a photoshoot should be all about the person in front of the camera, not behind it, surely?! And of course it is.

But turning your attention to what/who is in front of you will really help you be less self-conscious, I promise.

It'll also help create that all-important connection which will shine out like a beacon compared to more posed portraits.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing Vicki Hodges, creativity coach and leader of a wellbeing choir in Sutton called Sing Out Sutton.

I was using all my usual tricks to help her relax: asking her to think about her favourite place in the world, her loved ones, her favourite cocktail etc...

It was going fine... but then she started asking me about my life, and my work.

I was so disarmed we ended up having quite a deep and personal conversation in the middle of our photo session.

This photo was taken right in the middle of our conversation.

(Photo taken for the Sutton Storyteller newspaper, a sister paper to the multi award-winning Peckham Peculiar).