Connecting with people as you shoot!

Have you ever read a book or blog hearing someone say HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO CONNECT WITH THE PEOPLE YOU ARE PHOTOGRAPHING?  But when you shoot your adrenaline kicks in and you forget?  This past weekend I shot all day seminars and a dinner banquet that totaled 8 hours long for a friend.  I did my normal thing trying to hide (yeah right...with two big cameras) while catching people engaging with the speakers and each other as they all tried to network with each other.

When it was over I began to put away my equipment, I noticed there were a group of people standing around me.  And low and behold, they wanted to talk to me, and...
...take pictures with me.  I felt like a celebrity.  One young girl began to pour out her heart to me sharing how she loves photography but her parents wants her to get a real job that pays money.  A young guy came up to me and said, "We really love your CHARISMA in their broken English kind of way."  I was shocked!  What just happened?  For 45 minutes after it was over people stood there wanting to get some time with me.  It was crazy!

As I began to reflect, I realized that I did things that come natural to me that may be difficult to others.  So let me see if I can articulate them for you.

• I move slowly when I enter a room and DON'T make eye contact right away so that people can re-focus on the speaker and not me.  This shows respect to the speaker as well.
• I smile with a warm smile and try to connect with their eyes because we all know when you start shooting heads will turn.  Tip: Shoot without a flash.  A 2.8 glass is the max you'll want to use.  Preferably a 1.8 or 1.4 lens works great.  Just keep smiling and wait for their heads to turn back.  Now they know you are there and taking pictures, so just wait a few moments and then you can begin shooting again.
• Many times if I get a good shot I like to show people the picture I just took (during a break of course).  This really helps soften them up to allow you to shoot them.
• Bag of Funny Tricks: So when I have to shoot a big group (this time was about 50 people) it's tough getting people to smile.  So I like to make them laugh by using a cable remote and have them focus on my eyes and my actions.  My all time favorite in my bag of tricks, is to make them believe that you have ants in your pants or that someone just pinched your bottom and you jump and say "Ouch what was that?"  Definitely works on kids 99.9%.  And when that doesn't work I try to snort while doing the fake laugh.  Just be ready to hit the remote when when you are about to make them laugh.  Being silly makes them appreciate you and you feel like there is a connection.  And smiles sure come out after that.  I'll have to make a new post about my bag of funny tricks.

I'm sure I'll have more after I post this.  But that is all for now, hopefully it was helpful for you.