Skyping in on a Peter Hurley shoot

I’ve been briefed remotely, written remotely, presented remotely, recorded radio remotely, but until now, I had never attended a shoot remotely.

Peter Hurley has a reputation for being the top headshot photographer in the world. A Canon Explorer of Light, his work is at peterhurley.com, his studio is in NYC, and his headshot crew, the photographers he coaches, has more than 10,000 members all over the world.  

 Peter Hurley doesn’t so much embrace social media, it’s more like he swims in it or breathes it.  When Facebook launched Facebook Live, they flew Hurley out to the west coast to be there. He’s a social media influencer and he is very busy with shoots, seminars, talks and conferences.

 Before the shoot, I sent off a note to Peter, made sure the prop would arrive, made sure the talent would get to his studio, and had a quick call to discuss executional considerations.

 When the talent arrived, I was up on Skype and followed along as Hurley worked on lighting, worked with the talent, and saw the images pop up on my screen. For photo buffs out there, Hurley shoots on a Canon EOS 5DS with maxed out resolution tethered to a Mac running Capture software. Out of his giant bag of lenses, Hurley pulled the Canon L series 24-70mm f2.8. For lighting, he favors the Wescott Peter Hurley Flex Kit and if you sign up for his headshot crew at headshotcrew.com right now, you save $300. It’s an awesome deal, come on people.  

 Before he was a shooter, Hurley was a sailor who made the US Olympic team. The boat he sailed, called a Laser, is an extremely physical boat where small changes can make a huge difference. He takes the same approach in the studio. He is not abusive of his equipment but he manhandles it, grabbing large lights in their stands, hand holding them upside down, and aggressively moving lights until he gets the look he wants.

 He takes the same approach with talent. He flatters, cajoles, orders, teases and works the talent until he gets what he needs. “Jam the chin toward me, I don’t want to live in double Chins-ville!!!,” he barks at the model.  He describes his approach to photography as “90% therapist and 10% photographer.” There was no good word out there to describe that, so Hurley invented one. He calls his discipline “PsyPhotology.”

 Despite the fact that I am a couple of hundred miles away on a Skype connection, I am able to participate in the creative process, offer up ideas, and discuss the work. So is Hurley’s retoucher, Damian Battinelli who is at damianbattinelli.com. They have quick discussions about how hot Hurley can go on the subject’s face while still retaining detail.

 Then, when I am happy and Damian is happy, Hurley asks the talent’s spouse for suggestions. He shoots what she is interested in, then he opens it up to the Headshot crew who are tuning into the shoot live on Facebook. Five hundred of Hurley’s ardent followers offer up their suggestions, and Hurley loves one of them. “Have the talent turn a bit more profile,” types someone somewhere.

 “Awesome!” screams Hurley and he is back on set, in motion. The energy flowing, Hurley keeps on shooting. He’s accepting notes from the Headshot crew, he’s working the talent, he’s asking viewers to sign up for his Headshot Crewz from NYC to Bermuda where headshot photographers can up their game by attending numerous seminars. And if you sign up to be a Headshot Crew protégé right now, you get a copy of Peter Hurley’s book The Headshot and he’ll sign it and send it to you right now.

 When Hurley gets a shot that meets his high standards, he lets the world now in a way that isn’t subtle. He screams the word, “SHA-BANG!!!” followed by, “that’s a wrap people.”

 The work is stellar and the creative process was truly collaborative. More than 500 people were at the shoot. Given a choice, I’d always rather be there in person, but if it isn’t possible, Skyping in on a shoot is a lot better than not being there at all, especially if the shooter is a Canon Master of Light as well as a Master of Social Media, Peter Hurley.