Over the course of my career as a photographer, I've had experiences with clients that are uncomfortable about taking photos of themselves, even if they wanted it. My recent experience was with Uloma.
Few days ago, she reached out to me seeking to book a photo session for her birthday. We went over pricing and creative direction for the shoot. She wanted something causal and good. Everything was set and good until the day of the session.
She arrived the studio and I had my lights and everything setup. It was time to shoot and she felt so tensed. Not tensed in a bad way though. She said she didn't know what way to pose for the pictures. Posing problems? "It should be an easy thing to fix". My thoughts were wrong though. The issue wasn't just about posing. I found out she just needed to be feel comfortable.
To make her feel comfortable, I employed an old trick from my trick bag. "Make them laugh". Over time, I realized that humour was a way to get through some clients to make them comfortable and get the best out of them. And it always works. After a couple of jokes and laugh sessions, she was ready to go, and we created these;
Well, from the results, I guess we can say being a comedian paid off. I created the photos with a 3 light setup. I shot with a Nikon D750 and a 50mm prime lens.