It all started when I saw this video.

Peter Hurley seems like the easiest photographer to work with. He is refreshingly candid, honest and fun! And I did not know that he was at GPP a week ago! If I had seen the video sooner, I would have not hesitated signing up for one of his sessions. If he ever decides to come back to GPP, I am signing up as soon as spots open up.

Anyway, the video is long, but it is worth watching from start to finish because Peter gives you a lot of little tips which if you put into practice would make a big difference in how you take photos of people, esp headshots.

I took it out for a test drive at the park last Saturday and signed up, unwillingly at first, my family to help me illustrate the point. So this is not exactly a Peter Hurley set-up because it was natural light, no flash, just my humble 60D and my 70mm Sigma lens but I think they look okay enough.

So the photo on the left is when I got each of my models to pose naturally if someone, say me, was taking their photograph. Pretty okay, but then the chin sort of blends into the neck and they look like they’re leaning backwards, which instinctively is what most people do when you thrust a camera in front of their face.

Then I asked them to push their foreheads forward toward the camera keeping their shoulders in place. And, as Peter likes to say, “Shabang!” – the transformation is amazing, if I do say so myself. Here, I’ll let the photographs speak for themselves.

These are nothing compared to the amazing headshots that Peter Hurley does obviously, but I am just happy to learn about this simple trick because it will make a big difference in how I shoot photos of family and friends.

Thanks, Peter!