My friend Shanyaa (Pronounced like Shania) @sterburks

No, I'm not a weirdo with bad social skills (ok fine, I'm a bit of a weirdo...)

BUT shooting portraits and people has never been my strong-suit in photography. I'm used to animating inanimate objects, whether it be the interiors of hotel rooms, the exterior designs of million-dollar listings, or landscapes at 5am. Specifically with landscapes, I love when the air is crisp, lakes are still, and the sunlight is golden. Nature just does Her thing and I'm there to simply capture Her beauty. Sure, I need to find my compositions and figure out which angles best compliment a lake, or determine where the sun will cast its first beams of light across mountain faces, but overall theres very little input as a photographer to determine how the overall scene will present itself.

And that's where portraiture makes itself different. See, when I shoot landscapes and architecture, I am capturing a scene. I'm capturing the trees, sky, foreground, and sometimes other points of interest. But with portraiture, I throw all of that out the window. When I'm shooting with people I'm capturing emotions, expressions, and thoughts. It's a completely different situation.

I actually used to be super uncomfortable taking pictures of other people. I always felt like maybe I was trying to take something from them, as though I had to be sneaky when capturing their photos. I really put myself off from portraiture and missed out on some opportunities due to my awkwardness around people and cameras.

But as I began experimenting more with friends and family, I started to figure out a couple things that I'd keep reminding myself of:

"Don't think of this as a photoshoot. We are just hanging out like normal and I just happen to have my camera on me."

This was HUGE for me. Once I figured out how to be relaxed, all of the stress and pressure to get great photos disappeared. And you now what, I began to get REALLY great photos! Me and whomever I shot with could have a fun time, pressure-free. Who cares if we didn't get amazing photos, we still had a super fun time enjoying each other's company. And this lack of pressure allowed me to get extremely genuine and authentic shots, because we were having an genuine and authentic time. Seriously, when I go on "shoots" now I'm just there to have fun and live in the moment while capturing some shots here and there.

"Don't try and pose your models, get them to do natural movements and talk to them as your shooting."

C'mon man, don't just stand there and be awkward! Crack some jokes, tell crazy stories, share your life experiences. I find that this opens myself up to who I'm shooting with, and builds that friendly/fun relationship, which in-turn changes the social dynamic from that of a "photoshoot" to just two friends having fun. I'll get her to turn around and look at me so that their hair spins with the motion. I'll ask her to put on/take off her hat. "Can you fix your hair" (even though there's nothing wrong with it) seems to work like a charm every time. While you're getting these movements, fire away, crack jokes, and get those facial expressions for some mad fire shots, yo.

Obviously I'm not a super-amazing people photographer, but I still really enjoy the genre and I'm looking forward to growing my skills and friendships through portraits. Anyways, hopefully this can offer some insight to other photographers out there who may have difficulty getting bangin' photos, or even maybe remind experienced shooters of their less-amazing days.

Oh, and I'd just like to stress how much I believe in sharing happiness. Seriously, next time you think of going for a walk in the park, or visiting your favourite beach, bring a friend or two! Because happiness only exists when it is shared. :)

Thanks so much for reading!

Thanks so much for your time reading this post. It genuinely means a lot to me when you give up your most valuable asset, time, to read these blogs. I am still new to blogging and I write about the truths in my life so I hope others can take value from my own experiences to apply to their own lives.

If you enjoyed this blog post, please click that little heart at the bottom of this page. Those hearts mean a lot and they let me know if people are enjoying these posts or if I am just talking to myself (which is totally cool too 😅). If you're on Vancouver Island and ever want to shoot, go on an adventure, or find some secret swimholes, I really encourage you to shoot me an email. I am open to adventures 7-days a week (assuming my schedule agrees, of course).

Getting Comfortable with People

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