OpenCourser
Learn skills that shape your future
Visit OpenCourser.com
Are you done with forced smiles and poses in your portrait photography? In this class you’ll learn to look and go beyond the surface of your subjects (and yourself. ) and portray who they really are.
You’ll learn to build rapport and capture their inner beauty in authentic portraits. I’ll teach you several ways to invite your subject (paying client or model) to reveal themselves as they are so you can capture their aliveness. No more fixed poses or vacant looks. No more stifling discomfort. No more uninteresting, superficial portraits.
Are you done with forced smiles and poses in your portrait photography? In this class you’ll learn to look and go beyond the surface of your subjects (and yourself. ) and portray who they really are.
You’ll learn to build rapport and capture their inner beauty in authentic portraits. I’ll teach you several ways to invite your subject (paying client or model) to reveal themselves as they are so you can capture their aliveness. No more fixed poses or vacant looks. No more stifling discomfort. No more uninteresting, superficial portraits.
So, this is not a technical course; it's all about the personal stuff in portrait photography. *
Skills, tips and tricks from 12 years of experience
I’ll share with you my personal toolkit. All that I’ve learned and acquired over more than 12 years of working with hundreds of people. I’ll share my client briefing and clothing tips. And many different ways to approach and work together with your subject. Some quite unusual...
Who is this course for?
This course is for professionals and aspiring photographers, hungry to go deeper than just the technically correct pretty picture.
Like: professional still life or landscape photographers aspiring to start working with people. Perhaps you’ve tried it, but can’t seem to build rapport with your clients or models? Do you or they feel awkward? Join me in this course.
The class is also for beginning photographers, who wish to portray their friends and family for fun or even start a stock photography portfolio, using regular people as their subjects.
It is not for you if...
... you're looking for a technical class (this is personal and both you and your subject must be willing to be a bit vulnerable).... you want to be in charge all the time and think only you decide how a portrait must be taken. ... you don't like to play.
Authenticity is key. Why learn to capture it?
In a world with dozens or even hundreds of images on our retina per minute, we decide quickly who to trust, who to work with and which images to buy for our business’ communication.
As humans, we are trained to recognize what is real and what is fake. And usually we don’t like fake people.
Therefore, in our portraits, we seek to catch a person’s realness, so others can relate to what they see and trust them (your brand etc.).
If you can master authentic portraiture, you will make many people very happy: not only your subjects, but also the viewer and if applicable, the buyer of your work. Even for you, it will become so much more interesting and you’ll find that you can use the skills also in other areas of your life.
Why join?
After taking this course and doing the exercises and assignments, you will be able to apply the skills in your own photography.
You will feel a lot more confident working with people.
Your photos will be more real, more personal and simply better, because you will have learned to truly work together with your subject, rather than telling them what to do.
Your portraits will speak more and be more relatable.
See you in class. Lucy Lambriex
*In just one hour, you'll learn more than you can probably handle, so I advice you break it up in perhaps two or three sessions.
I'll share some of the mistakes I made when working with people. No technical mistakes, but the people stuff... I'll also share why mistakes are not necessarily bad for you.
Watch this and you'll know if and why this course is for you. I hope to see you in class!
A quick lesson on why it is really important to actually try out and practice with everything I'm teaching you. Do it; you'll thank me and yourself later.
You'll soon know what authenticity is in relation to portrait photography and why it is so important.
You'll learn how to prepare yourself and your subject for a successful photo session or shoot. I'll explain the difference between a photo session with a paying client and a photo shoot with models. You'll learn to manage the expectations, by sending a brief.
Make sure to download the sample briefing that you can use as an inspiration for writing your own.
How to get your subject to trust you and surrender to your methods? And why not to be their boss.
Here's a discovery I made that is always saving my life when working with people (and actually in many aspects of my life).
In this lesson, you'll learn how you can lure out and capture certain qualities of a person, without them acting.
This is all about motion, emotion and aliveness. How to bring it out and how to capture this in your subject.
This simple but effective technique will give away some of your power to the subject. It will make your portraits look more real, more alive and if you teach it to your subjects, they can use it whenever they have their portrait taken. They will be thankful!
Learn how a distraction can be a wonderful tool in your photo session or shoot.
A great thing to do if you client is not warming up to you. This might be one of the best things to do to get going again and it will give both you and your subject more compassion for one another...
Take your time! This lesson is about why it's important to spend enough time together, if you want to capture the real person. I'm also sharing ideas on how to make a longer session profitable for you and affordable for your client.
Nonsense can be a tool too. Even with a serious client, it is important to relax and be playful once in a while. I'll share some of my examples. Let's play!
Perfectionists, brace yourselves! And take this lesson for sure. I'm sharing a flawed but very successful photo and some thoughts that might be new to you. Let's be raw.
What is the best posture for your subject? Try and alternate sitting, standing or...
This may be a scary lesson if you love all your cameras, lenses and filters. Please don't skip it if you are like that! It will bring back the joy and freedom in working with people in your photography.
Clients always want to know what they should wear. In this lesson, I'll share my clothing briefing, that you can also download and tweak for your needs.
In this last lesson you'll get a reminder of what you've learned, I'll share a trick you can use particularly with camera shy people, and there is a bonus download: a checklist to print out and put in your pocket when shooting.
Save
Instructor provides transformative, unique insights.
Transforms approach and boosts confidence.
Provides practical tools for subject interaction.
Emphasizes soft skills over camera settings.
Masters rapport and authenticity in portraiture.
Verified partner policies & purchase protections
Free preview video lectures available for all courses; optional 7-day free trial on Personal Plan subscriptions (cancel before trial ends to avoid conversion).
30-day money-back guarantee on all eligible individual course purchases (provided course content has not been substantially consumed or downloaded). Subscription fees are non-refundable once billed.
Lifetime access to purchased individual courses and future updates, verifiable certificate of completion, and direct student Q&A forums.
OpenCourser helps millions of learners each year. People visit us to learn workspace skills, ace their exams, and nurture their curiosity.
Our extensive catalog contains over 50,000 courses and twice as many books. Browse by search, by topic, or even by career interests. We'll match you to the right resources quickly.
Find this site helpful? Tell a friend about us.
We're supported by our community of learners. When you purchase or subscribe to courses and programs or purchase books, we may earn a commission from our partners.
Your purchases help us maintain our catalog and keep our servers humming without ads.
Thank you for supporting OpenCourser.
