Courage for the Camera Shy (and Have Your Portrait Taken)

You'd rather go to the dentist than have your portrait taken. You freeze when a camera is pointed at you, but you NEED a good photo portrait of yourself representing who you really are? This is your class.

Some of the things you'll do, learn and practice in this introductory class:

Commit to gaining courage and showing up in front of a camera;
Get some insight into the drivers of your camera shyness;
Get physical;
Prepare yourself for a portrait session, mentally as well as physically;
Some really weird exercises;
Dynamic posing and taking charge of your photo session instead of feeling like prey to the photographer;
Have your portrait taken;
Start looking at photos of yourself with kindness.

Courage = feeling shyness or fear and doing it anyway;
Learning happens best when we are relaxed and enjoying ourselves;
Get into action and practice (it is not enough to watch the videos);
Don't force it; take your time.

No experience with being photographed professionally is needed to enter this class. You may not even experience real camera-shyness and still benefit from growing your confidence and familiarity with the camera.

It is my belief that the best learning and personal growth results happen when we enjoy ourselves. I try to make the lessons playful and light, even though we'll do some comfort zone stretching and inner digging. 

This is not a technical photography class and you will be invited to do some personal inquiry. You will be in charge of how deep you'll allow yourself to go, however: some of the lessons may evoke strong emotions and memories. If so, go slowly and be kind to yourself. If necessary: ask the help of a trained therapist to support your process.

Tom Beek for composing and playing all the great and fun music.
Bas Brader for being my willing and playful guinea pig.