3 Tips to Help a Photography Client feel Comfortable

When Erin asked me about collaborating with her, I was instantly flattered and excited! Erin is such a sweet, talented and beautiful lady and I feel honored to be able to be featured on her blog! 🙂

My absolute favorite compliment to receive from clients is that I made them feel comfortable. Hands down. Sure, I’m flattered and feel amazing when they tell me my photos are beautiful or that I’m professional or have great technique. Those are all sweet compliments that anyone would love to hear, but, my favorite one is when they let me know they felt comfortable with me! It’s like music to my ears! When a client isn’t comfortable, you won’t be able to get the best photos out of them and they won’t be willing to give the best to you. Comfort helps people feel relaxed and confident. Comfort helps make the photography process natural. I would love to share a few tips that work for me to help make others feel comfortable during their photo shoot with you! 🙂

1. Get comfortable

I’m talking about YOU. YOU need to get comfortable and stay comfortable at every shoot. I remember once being with a group of friends, we were all sitting down having a great time except for one person. One person was standing and observing, instead of sitting and interacting. It drove my crazy. I felt them being uncomfortable and awkward and therefore, I couldn’t relax and feel comfortable myself. A client will feel much more comfortable around you, if YOU are comfortable around them. You if you are tense or awkward or stressed, your client will pick up on those feelings and begin to feel that way themselves. If you are relaxed, comfortable and calm, your client will sense your contentment and peace and they will feel free to get comfortable themselves. 

2. Be encouraging

Have you ever been in front of the camera instead of behind it? I haven’t had the opportunity to be in front of the camera in a professional photographer’s hands very often, but when I have been, I felt insecure. I thought the camera was only going to see and photograph all those little things that make me feel less than. I needed more confidence and I was given more confidence as soon as my photographer began to compliment me. My insecurities started to melt away as I kept hearing, “you look amazing” “wow, you are beautiful” “the camera loves you!” As corny as those phrases may sound, it helps. It helps them forget about their insecurities and embrace the confidence to know they are beautiful or handsome or photogenic. Consistently tell your clients how great they look and how awesome they’re doing, and when they start believing it, they will begin to feel more comfortable and confident. And when they feel comfortable and confident, that’s when the magic happens! 🙂

3. Laugh with them

Sometimes I get authentic laughs from my clients after I tell the occasional joke or sarcastic comment. Sometimes I get those authentic laughs when they whisper inside jokes or secrets to each other. Sometimes I get authentic laughs when I ask them to laugh… and then laugh with them. Let’s face it, some of our jokes and attempts to make clients laugh won’t work if they’re still not feeling comfortable. So, when I sense they’re still not comfortable and still feeling a bit insecure, I make myself look foolish. Yes, you read that right. When I’m able to show them that I’m willing to look like a fool to get a good photo or help them feel relaxed, they know that I care. And when they know that I care, they feel more confident. If the authentic laughs aren’t coming on their own, I say “let’s do a laughing photo and remember all those fun times you’ve had together.” They still might not laugh, so then I let them know that I will laugh with them, I then let out a loud and hearty laugh that can be heard from a mile away. When they see me willing to look silly for the sake of their photos, they begin to feel more comfortable with me and then… they laugh with me. And we laugh together. Those laughing photos are always some of my favorites! 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this blog and hear what I have to say! I hope you can take these tips and put them into practice on your shoots to help your clients feel more comfortable! Once they feel comfortable, you will be producing even more beautiful photos than you already are! 🙂