“Just as important as the gear, you have to decide what you will say when you’re shooting, and practice in every session to perfect it,” he says.įor women, this lighting usually fills in every shadow, rendering complexions smooth and wrinkle-free. Automated and locked in, his shooting techniques have become second nature to him, and when a session begins, he’s not thinking about the lights, camera, backgrounds or even what to say. His self-assuredness grows from working with a studio setup that’s relatively unchanging from day-to-day. “I try to draw colorful expressions and reactions from my subjects the entire time we’re shooting.” For him, “headshots are 10 percent photography and 90 percent communication.” Hurley’s banter can be so engaging that, he says, “eventually the camera will disappear for many of my subjects.” “When you’re in front of my camera, I never shut up,” he laughs. Hurley greets each person at the door and immerses him or her in nonstop attention and chatter. The path to lookability starts the moment a subject enters his studio.

“I try to draw colorful expressions and reactions from my subjects the entire time we’re shooting.” Part of this approach strives to create a photograph that has a quality he calls “lookability”-it shows something in a person’s facial expression, posture, and body language that engages and holds the attention of viewers (especially casting agents). All of us, he continues, have singular expressions and gestures that define our personalities. How does this king of portraits make images that his clients love? It’s a combination of a finely tuned lighting setup and constant communication with his subjects.įor each client, Hurley sets an imposing goal: “I try to capture a look that’s unique to that person,” he says. Hurley runs satellite studios in New York and Los Angeles (), has designed a wide range of photo products, hosts workshops, and will soon publish a how-to book bearing his name. Since then, he has become the guru of the stylized form of commercial portrait we know as a headshot. Here’s how he makes everyone look their best, and how you can do it, too.įormer major-league fashion model, Peter Hurley stepped behind the camera ten years ago. For these essential marketing tools, many of today’s showbiz, fashion, and corporate pros call on one man: portraitist Peter Hurley. She says she usually doesn’t like being photographed but left his studio “feeling great.”Īctors and models often live and die by their headshots.

He’s shown here photographing Popular Photography editor-in-chief Miriam Leuchter. Hurley’s setup is simple and intimate, with lightbanks deployed to surround the subject’s head.

Dying light only head shots