My first experience with professional photography was back in 2004. Not as a photographer, but as a model. I was sitting in a restaurant with friends when a guy approached me and asked if I was a model because he would like to have my phone number and to invite me for his new hair catalog photoshoot. At first, I thought it was some kind of cheesey hook-up line and I started laughing.
At that time, like many young people, I had a poor self-image and would not dare to think about myself as a model. But he truly was a professional hairstylist and he was very serious with his proposal.
I gave him my phone number and next week we met in his hair salon for a photoshoot production. There was a professional photographer, make-up artist, hair stylists and about 12 other models, some of them professionals from an agency. The whole time, I was very nervous, and fearful that I was going to embarrass myself, because I didn’t know how to pose in front of the camera.
Each model had about 30 minutes of shoot time with the photographer. When it was my turn, I was asked to sit down on a chair and after ten minutes she said: “I think we're done, I already got great shots of you”. It was easy and quick, and the portraits exceeded my expectations. This experience changed my whole belief system about my appearance, and took away my fear of the camera.
I knew that the success of those portraits was thanks to professional make-up, hair and most importantly - the skillful direction of the photographer. I didn’t have to do anything except listen to her guidance: “Bring your chin up, a bit to the left… now look this way… bring your shoulder closer…”. In those 10 minutes, the photographer improved my confidence ever since. That is the power of a truly professional portrait photographer. It’s not only about having an expensive camera, knowledge of equipment and composition, it's about a flow of direction, like in filming movies.
Two years passed. I decided to learn and pursue my own career in the direction of portrait photography. I knew that, along with studying technical and composition rules, I needed to master direction skills, so the person in front of me, the subject of a photoshoot, doesn’t have to do anything, except just enjoy the photoshoot experience and be amazed by the results.
As a headshot photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area, I work with real people who usually don’t have modeling or acting skills. Typically, they are professionals or small business owners. Getting their headshot is for their marketing needs, and not necessarily a fun thing they are looking forward to doing. That is why my job as a professional photographer is to acknowledge their beliefs of being “unphotogenic” and not knowing how to pose. I explain to them that it is a photographer's job to guide you through the whole session process and make you look like you would look on the best day of your life.
