Watch the trailer and purchase the video here.

In May 2010, I was contacted by Patrick Hall and Lee Morris of Fstoppers.com and they asked me to share my knowledge of headshot photography in a behind the scenes format. The resulting Fstoppers original video was a huge hit and exposed my work to a large audience of photographers.
For the first time in my career, I allowed other photographers to view my workflow and see what goes into making the headshot images that have been the backbone of my career for the last 10 years. The response was unbelievable, and it soon became very clear to me that photographers wanted to know even more about how I created these images and all of the details behind running a successful headshot business.

In early 2011, production began on The Art Behind The Headshot. With the Fstoppers crew behind the cameras, we set out to make the most comprehensive tutorial ever created on headshot photography. This time around not only would I focus on my trademark high key white background and soft beauty lighting, but I would also share intimate details about what I consider my real photography secret: a keen understanding of the human face and the ability to coach people into interesting looks day in and day out.

During my past career as a model, I became well aware of the importance of conveying interesting facial expressions while being photographed. From the moment I picked up a camera I decided that this must be the crux of my work and I have been honing this craft of coaching my subjects to produce realistic and flattering facial expressions ever since.

In The Art Behind The Headshot I’ll not only teach you invaluable technical photographic knowhow, but also will delve into ways of noticing the subtleties of the human face that attract us to certain people and images. With this knowledge any photographer should be able to coach anyone in front of their camera to produce the best images their clients have ever experienced. Some of the topics covered in this 4 hour intensive tutorial include:

Starting Your Business From Scratch
Natural Light vs Studio Light
The Peter Hurley Signature Look
Shadowed Lighting For Men
Alternative Studio Lighting (Strobes)
Tethering
Camera Gear
Understanding The Human Face (Mouth, Eyes, Eyebrows, and Body Position)
Coaching and Facial Expression
Creating Different “Looks” During Each Session
Marketing
Retouching/Printing
Makeup/Hair
Clothing
Pricing

Watch the trailer and purchase the video here.

Here’s a video of my talk at B&H Photo on 11.17.11.

a lecture given by Peter Hurley

3pm on Nov 17th, 2011, click the link below to register ASAP!  It’s free, but we packed the room last time and many that wanted to attend couldn’t get in.

The event space, B&H Photo

a lecture given by Peter Hurley

3pm on Nov 17th, 2011, click the link below to register ASAP!  It’s free, but we packed the room last time and many that wanted to attend couldn’t get in.

The event space, B&H Photo

One of the shots from the session.   © Peter Hurley Photography

Thanks to Peter Kertz for putting together this amazing footage for me. Can’t wait for the next intensive!

Up to this point in my career my daily focus has been figuring out how to communicate with the person standing 3 feet in front of my camera so that a part of their personality enters my frame.  Staring down the barrel of the lens when it’s so close is daunting for many especially when it’s my Hasselblad 120mm macro.  When I’m shooting my goal is to not only give my client an amazing photograph, but to find something in them that they might not have realized was even there.  It could be finding an angle of their face that works perfectly or capturing an interesting expression that appeared for a nano second, these are truly the moments I cherish.  If they leave the session feeling a bit better about themselves and their appearance than they did prior to having ever stepped foot in my studio then I know I accomplished something.

I’ve found that everyone knows exactly what they don’t like about themselves and to me it’s generally unfounded.  I’m there to find the beauty in everyone and believe me, it’s always there.  I’ve had a few Ms. Universe’s in front of my camera and one told me she couldn’t stand her face.  I don’t think she truly believed that, but on some level that was triggered and it came out of her mouth.  Nonetheless, it gave me a great story to tell each client who goes on and on about the issues they have with themselves. Believe me, I hear it everyday and my response is always the same:  blame your parents.  Of course, those parents can blame their parents as well.  Seriously though, image is such a major part of society and when an individual is paying to get their photograph taken professionally the stakes are always high.  You’d want to look your best if you were on that side of the camera wouldn’t you?  I know I would.

You see in my photography there’s a big technical component and I need to make sure I’m using the technical stuff to the best of my ability before anyone even ventures near my frame.  Yes, you better believe I put my time in on developing a look and using the right equipment to back it up.  I feel that my main setup is sophisticated, but quite simple actually.  I’m confident that it will work for anyone who finds themself in front of my camera and this allows me to throw the technical aspect out the window and focus 100% on direction during my session.  This is my art and it’s what drives me everyday.

Up until now I haven’t divulged much about what I do or how I do it.  It’s the process that made me one of the most successful headshot photographers in the world today.  I’m constantly striving to up my game and move in different directions and recently I’ve gained a ton of satisfaction out of teaching photographers and taking them from what I’m calling 0 to 60 in f3.5.

My goal for the revamped PH2 Associate Photographer program is for it to be considered the source for finding the best headshot photographers in any market worldwide.  In order for me to build it up with credible, talented photographers I felt I needed to be hands on with them and with that realization, THE HEADSHOT INTENSIVE was born.  I’m looking for those photographers interested in upping their game and gaining referrals to their business by adding the PH2 Associate Photographer component to it.  So if you want to dig deep into headshot photography then this is the place to do it, I guarantee there is no other workshop in the world like this.  For more info check out the workshop link on my site and tell me if you are up for taking your headshot photography from 0 to 60 in f3.5!