Revisiting the Canterbury Photographic Society
Back for More
Natalie and I were delighted to be invited back to the Canterbury Photographic Society last week to give an updated presentation on how I take portraits and headshots. The Canterbury Photographic Society is renowned for its commitment to fostering a community of passionate photographers, and so visiting the Canterbury Photographic Society was a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow enthusiasts and learn from seasoned professionals.
Last year, we went over and presented to the members a sort of ‘headshots 101’ - the ‘squinch,’ camera settings, how to tether and the benefits of doing so, and quintessential lighting setups. We had a great time, although we were both of the opinion that it was perhaps to didactic and we stood in the way of too many of the members having a practical go; there were some lovely photos that came out of the evening, but next time could be better.
Fortunately, Lyn asked us back to present again this year, and we agreed that the session could be much more practical than the last. Although the society did have a number of new members, we could structure a presentation that catered for both new members who hadn't seen the previous presentation and those who had.
Developing as a Photographer
So, the plan was to present how I have developed my work over the last year and then give the members a much larger amount of time to practice themselves.
In addition, Lyn and I decided that, whilst Natalie was the obvious choice of model with which the members could practice their skills developed, I would also pose for the members. Having both of us in front of cameras would be beneficial in a number of ways, not least in that I have no modeling experience whatsoever; I’m happy directing models myself, but not knowing what I look like whilst I’m posing meant that I was reliant on the photographers themselves directing me. Very much a challenge for them!
So, with that as the evening’s (apparent) zenith, I began by showing the members what has changed since last year. Most significantly, I’ve moved away from the Peter Hurley system of headshots, i.e. bathing clients in light and forcing a sort of ‘messing with the camera’ attitude with established poses. Instead, I’ve joined the dark side: I adore the dark, resonant shadows adopted by the early Italian renaissance portrait artists, so I usually shoot with only one or two lights (if necessary). In addition, clients now sit and are encouraged to move around freely as we explore what their interests are - before capturing them on camera.
I have also moved away from the Adobe suite and, instead, have enthusiastically adopted Capture One as a Lightroom replacement and Evoto AI for all my retouching. Every now and again I’ll pop into Photoshop to fix something (usually stray hairs), but Evoto has sped up my retouching to such an extent that I don’t feel its worth doing anything by hand any more.
Interaction and Role-Play
From my history working in higher education, I’m no stranger to the advantages of interactive learning in educational settings. Fortunately, (mostly) gone are the educators who refuse all question asking until the end, and so I always encourage as many/much questioning as participants in my photography instruction and sessions would like.
This time, however, Natalie and I decided to have some fun: in order to show members how I have changed my approach to clients over the year, we had a role playing session for a few minutes to literally show them! Natalie played the part of an actress coming into the studio, needing headshots. I had asked her to imagine three different characters that she might have in mind to play, which I would then encourage her to develop on camera. In doing so, I could then elicit out of her the real emotions and depth that an actress would otherwise bring out in my studio for me to capture. Little did I know, she also then brought along three different outfits, matching these roles, for the members to photograph.
I think this worked wonderfully, and the role-play allowed me to show how much photography has almost nothing to do with technology being used, but about how the cameraman works with the client/model and the light upon them. I even heard afterwards that some of the members didn’t realise Natalie was acting, but that she actually was being engaged in her future plans - hats off to Natalie for her acting skills!
Amongst Our Own Kind
Canterbury Photography Society, and other photographic societies like it, are invaluable networking opportunities for photographers of all kinds. Although working with people is at the heart of client photography, photography can nevertheless be quite a lonely past time, with the vast majority of time spent as a professional photographer in front of a computer, rather than with people. It is fantastic therefore to be invited to be amongst passionate photographers at both the amateur and professional level, where everyone learns from each other and shares their passion for the art.
I'll be posting this blog article to this society’s Facebook page and I hope to see some of the fantastic images they captured as comments here.
Thank you very much!
Thanks to Lyne and all of the society’s members for having us along; we look forward to seeing you all again soon!
I love visiting groups and teaching other passionate photographers how I work with my camera, lights and, most importantly, my clients. If you’d like me to come and speak to either a group, or schedule a set of classes yourself, I’d love to hear from you.