We talk about gear and how to take better shots or process your images all the time, but less often do we discuss the non-camera related side of photography, engaging with the subject, though it’s obviously of the utmost importance. This helpful video gives you five tips to produce better engagement with your talent.

Coming to you from Aputure, this video will give you five quick tips to ensure better engagement with your talent and thus, better results. While it is oriented toward fashion shoots with models, the tips it contains are certainly more broadly applicable and should help most anyone, whether shooting models or everyday subjects. For me, it seems like a lot of the tips center around making the shoot feel less like a shoot and thus, removing some of the inherent stiltedness that seems to creep into such atmospheres. Instead, it’s more an interaction and experimentation session at which a camera happens to be present. On the same token, this takes the ability to read and manage the energy of both the individuals on set and the overall environment.

And if you want to work more on perfecting your engagement and posing, check out “Peter Hurley: Perfecting the Headshot!”