Ever get self-conscious in front of the camera?

If you’re a coach, consultant, entrepreneur, or transformational leader you know you need compelling brand photos to presence yourself online. But step in front of the camera and . . . CLUNK. You feel awkward, stiff, self-conscious, adrift. And, yeah, the images often reflect your discomfort.

I get it. Being photographed is a weird, artificial situation for anyone. And self-consciousness is a natural response.

Several years ago I took improvisational comedy classes at Second City here in Chicago, the launchpad of such actors as John Belushi, Alan Alda, Steve Carrell, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. My class was full of aspiring actors and comedians aiming to be brilliant and hilarious and stars. Me, I wanted people to like me at cocktail parties.

Our first instructor, MIchael, was absolutely brilliant. After each scene he gave us in-depth, insightful analyses of what worked and mostly what didn’t and why. We all learned sooo much.

And we all got paralyzed by overthinking and self-consciousness.

When we got on stage to do the next scene, we’d get all up in our heads trying to live up to all that brilliant analysis. And, clunk. Just dull, flat, painful scenes that tried too hard to be funny. And no laughs. Ouch!

Several weeks into this analysis paralysis, right before I got up to do a scene, Michael said to me, “Have fun. You’re only as good as you are. Go, be that.”

It’s hard to explain, but I found that tremendously freeing. I began to stop focusing on me, and be present for my scene partners. I started to let go of my self-consciousness.

The next term I had another instructor, Mick, with a different teaching philosophy. He’d have us get up to do a scene for just 30 seconds. (That taught us to jump in fast, not procrastinate initiating action!) He’d stop the scene, give us a quick note or two, then start us on a 20 second scene. Stop. Quick note or two. Start a 15 second scene. And so on.

It was a brilliant strategy to get us out of our analysis paralysis and self-consciousness. We weren’t given enough time to overthink. Boom! Initiate and respond.

We left each class feeling like thoroughbred racehorses, ready to bolt out of the gates at breakneck speed, trusting ourselves to generate whatever the next moment needed. A further step in learning to play in new ways.

This experience has deeply inflected the way I practice photography.

Most photographers are trained in “posing the subject”. (I am too.) It’s all about capturing the pose (arranging body parts to make an attractive composition in the camera frame). How the “subject” (you!) is experiencing the moment is, unfortunately, secondary.

Improv, on the other hand, is all about staying in flow, focus on what’s going on outside you, being fully present, and letting moments emerge. Most of all, it’s about not getting attached and trying to freeze time.

Last year I photographed the joyous, expressive Darrick, a Unitarian minister, sometime actor, and improviser. I wanted to showcase Darrick’s joy communicating with others, so we made up an improv game on the spot. I called it “Talking with Your Hands”, and it was just that. I asked him to describe an exquisite Fabrage egg and talk with his hands. Success! Joyous expressiveness without a trace of self-consciousness.

We captured moments, rather than poses.

My job is to set the stage, then create an emotional space for play, fun, flow, celebration. And capture the magic of the moment. A great photo session is a fun improv game, not a police lineup!

Ready to come out and play? Let’s see what badassity we uncover . . .

Schedule a possibility conversation today.