I had the most wonderful 121 recently with a client I’ll soon be photographing. During our conversation, we talked about something I hear all the time: she’s nervous in front of the camera, both having her photograph taken and filming herself.

It made me realise that what I’ll actually be helping her with isn’t simply photography or video. It’s camera confidence.

As a portrait photographer, I regularly work with people who tell me they hate having their photograph taken. The technical side matters, but so does helping someone relax enough that I can photograph the person rather than the nerves.

Video presents a different challenge. You have to press record, look into a lens and talk, often with nobody there to guide you. It can feel incredibly unnatural.

I know because I didn’t start making videos because I was confident. I started making them because I wanted to become more confident.

At first, video was simply another way of promoting my photography business. But the more I did it, the more comfortable I became with hearing my own voice, making mistakes and expressing myself without trying to make everything perfect.

That confidence started carrying over into other areas of my life. Networking became easier. Talking about my business became easier. Public speaking became easier.

That’s what I want to help my client discover.

I’ll teach her how to film herself, think about lighting and sound, speak naturally to the camera and edit her own videos. But the real goal isn’t learning which buttons to press.

It’s becoming comfortable enough to press record in the first place.

Because sometimes learning to make videos isn’t really about video at all.

It’s about finding your voice.

Ray