Tip of the day: Confidence

There's this new product out there, it comes in a 12 oz. can called "Confidence". If you drink it, you'll perform better and everyone will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Well, not exactly.

I remember earlier in my shooting career, if something went wrong it would show on my face and I would get flustered trying to sort out the issue. My buddy Ren told me basically to never let people know that something was wrong, after all if you're not in control then "Who's driving this thing?" Models lose confidence in you when you show weakness.

I'm still a bad liar but many successful shoots, I'm better at what I do and therefore simply more confident. It's not to say that I don't run into issues anymore (although more seldom), but rather that I handle issues differently.

Matthew Jordan Smith said that he set up all his lights well before the model arrives. Then he dotes on the model to make sure that they build rapport. He never messes around with the lighting (unless it was horribly wrong) when the model is on set. This makes sense when your models are Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Williams, etc. but this makes even more sense when you're dealing with big personalities that are often a force of nature themselves. If you're not comfortable in your environment, you can quickly lose control of the situation and lose the trust of such talent.

The truth is that confidence is addictive on multiple levels. It's something that you become addicted to (in yourself) and also something that people find incredibly compelling and sexy (in you). It applies in shoots because often we're working with new talent and though it's not obvious, people are watching to see if you really know what you're doing.

That's where confidence comes into play.

Confidence brings out the best in people. It's contagious. If you're confident, the people around you will be confident. Don't believe me? Observe the most confident people you know. I'm not talking about arrogance. I'm talking about true confidence which often comes with a healthy dose of charisma. These people somehow brings out the best in those around them. And we all want that.

So how do we become more self-confident? Honestly, I don't know. I'm not an expert in this field. What I've seen in myself is that confidence often comes with age/experience. Why? Because success begets success and it's easy to believe in yourself when you've had a strong history of successes. So string together a string successes and let that momentum carry you to a higher level of self-confidence.

Or you could just drink a 12 oz. can of "Confidence" :)