Can a Private Person be Expressive on Camera?

Is this you? Given the right conditions you might actually enjoy yourself.

Who really WANTS to be in front of a camera?  There are certainly people who do, but what about you? 

This is Ian Triplett, owner of 3 Cap Farms.  He grows top-notch culinary mushrooms.  And he’s always hated the idea being publicly visible.  Originally this was about as much as he’d wanted to reveal:

Ian working substrate, used to grow fungal deliciousness

Whether you think he’s a good-looking guy or not (and I do), that is not the point.  At all. 

The point is, he didn’t wanna play.  Nope.  Not interested in being photographed, even though he knew that an owner’s visibility (branding) really helps businesses. A lot. People want to connect to the owner. He knew as much, knew it could make a difference. So the business value was not an objection.

But still, what could we do about making images to tell his story when anonymity is his preferred identity? How to address his concerns?

I did what I always do with my subjects.  I spent some time to get to know him before we ever got started.  I learned that Ian was a proud Marine, seeing live action during his deployments.   He also spent some time in the world of finance.  He was skilled at that, but hated it.  Mushroom farming began with getting a kit and growing in his kitchen.  He’d always been curious about building a business in agriculture.  And even though he had very little capital for land, etc., he didn’t let that stop him; he launched in late 2020. 

Now the business is expanding.  He’s built a new Grow House, expanded his capacity, and is selling into new markets.  He exceeded his 2023 sales projections by August, and is taking additional steps to further expand capacity as we speak.

Learning all this, I offered a few things when we were making a deal

First, if he didn’t like my work he could walk away, no commitments, guaranteed.  Even if the images were good he had no obligation to use them.  That addressed the biggest concern, because he hadn’t fully warmed up to the idea of “coming out” with visual imagery.

It also addressed a second concern, that the value may not match the price.  Pro tip:  Make sure the value always exceeds the price, every single time! 

Next, while I had ideas that we discussed, if anything didn’t feel comfortable during the shoot he could opt out.  That’s a third concern, comfort during the actual shoot.

Finally, I asked him if he had any ideas of his own.  He would not merely be told what to do.  Not all clients have specific ideas, but they all like to be asked. And sometimes the best work is generated by my clients’ ideas.  You never know unless you ask.

All concerns addressed, we set up a time.

Then: We made some images together

Ian is proud of his products and what he’s built so far.   And he’s proud of his Marine background.  I had to represent both.

For the former, I set up a single strobe and shot him inside his Grow House.  Simple, but there’s a lot to see. 

The mushrooms share the lead with Ian, and we need the pop of color to show them off (see my last post on color vs. black and white).  Viewers need to appreciate how special the mushrooms are.

For the Marine shot Ian introduced a constraint that I’d not known about.  Now that he’s no longer in active duty, he should not wear any part of his uniform.  That limited the ways in which I could depict his heritage. 

OK, no worries.

Unexpected constraints are to be expected.

I could have just taken shots of his gear, created a display of sorts.  Maybe without Ian, or with him next to the display. 

But instead I took him outside and had him pose while holding the hat. 

To make the image work visually while bringing together his past and his present I created an undrawn triangle with the pose, with the points connecting his face, the hat, and the mushrooms. Here I do NOT want the mushrooms to steal the day, I want balance, I want the elements to be on equal footing. The color image looks just fine, but it doesn’t achieve the goal.

Ian says this is a perfect example of a smiling Marine

He’s extremely pleased with the results, which was the objective all along.   And for “fun with promotions,” we also made this:

Remember the guy who didn’t want to be seen on camera?

Fun, yes?  I’ll show you how this image was made in a subsequent post.

The Big Takeaway:

If you know somebody who is uncomfortable being a subject, and/or who dreads the process, please let them know that it doesn’t have to be that way.  Send them this article if you think it’ll help.  I don’t have to be the photographer.  Your friend just needs somebody who will work with them to create joy along the way, and to create value with the results.

You might have to let the idea cook for a little bit, but It can be done.

No pressure!