Hey everyone,
Welcome back. So Part Two. Last week we encouraged you to begin the process of finding someone who has a camera to shoot some shots, and by the way, you may steal a shot in those practice sessions! You may get a shot that works, but odds are, you won’t, so treat it more as practice.
Now what are you going to practice? Most people are very uncomfortable with a camera stuck in their face, and it shows. We freeze, we get tight, it’s just a frozen smile. It’s not relaxed. And then you take a look at models. What do they do for a living? They’re in front of the camera.
Does that mean they’re just so much more talented than us? No. It’s just that they’re used to it. It’s a practice. It’s a skill set to make this camera comfortable.
So here’s a piece of advice. Don’t try and have your picture “taken” – that’s part of the problem. We try to get our picture “taken” like we’re trying to do something. You just need to be grounded. You just need to be present. Let the shooter, let the talent on that side of the camera, capture you.
You just show up relaxed and don’t try to have your picture “taken.” Just be present. So now, how does that work? How that works is getting so comfortable with looking right into the center of that lens. I’m talking BOOM!
You want to be able to pierce the center of that lens – to be able to be comfortable with looking right into the middle of that thing. And if you were to do that, if you were to consistently be able to do that, you are beginning the process of showing up.
So there’s really the first “actor getting a headshot” secret. Typically when we’re staring out at the person shooting the picture, we’re seeing them, we’re seeing the background. It’s this big circle of vision. Learn to shrink it down. Learn to really show up.
Because what do they all say? You listen to anybody talk about the important headshot, what do they say? It’s all in the eyes. It’s all in the eyes and of course something friendly going on. And how does that pop happen? How do they capture that?
Well I just said it. By literally having your focus be so laser, right there. So that’s what you want to do. You want to get comfortable with that. And you want to practice that, and that is a skill that you can practice and get good at.
So go to work on that. Go get somebody’s camera, have them shoot, and just keep showing up. And as soon as you start feeling like you’ve lost that focus, stop. Don’t just shoot 50 shots in a row. Slow down. Go again. Regroup. Refocus. Laser. Okay? Try that. And then we have more for you next week too.
 
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Alright, we’ll see you next week. We’ll see what we can advance for you. Thanks for joining us.