Greg Williams
James Bond photo special!
I work in the entertainment business.
I’ve worked on over 200 movies as a specialist photographer, which means you go on set and produce material to go with the film. I’ve shot posters for four Bond films; otherwise you’ll find me stage-side at the Oscars or in an actor’s home.
I’m a candid photographer.
It’s very in-the-moment and you will often see first-person interaction with the lens. I want the audience to feel they’re breathing the same air as the subject.
I started when I was six.
By eight I knew what a Leica camera was, but I was 32 before I could afford one. I mostly use a Q2 with a fixed 28mm lens. It’s a light and unobtrusive, and you know the millisecond you push the shutter it’s captured the shot. For portraits I switch to an SL2 with 75mm and 90mm lenses.
Getting a great picture only takes a couple of minutes.
Maybe I’m in someone’s hotel room before a red carpet or on set between takes… the Q2 allows me to work fast and I shoot really close up, generally 0.7m to 2m.
Empathy plays a bigger part than my photography skills.
If you’re not in the dressing room, on the plane, on the boat or on set, you can’t take the picture – so you have to build trust with people quickly. I’ve shot big Hollywood actresses minutes before a premiere, literally met them and within a minute I’m in the bathroom photographing them brushing their teeth.
My online course is called Candid Photography Skills.
The idea is you can take great photos in any scenario without specialist equipment. Sounds big-headed, but I don’t know anyone who’s watched the course and hasn’t improved their photography… apart from a couple of very, very good photographers who laughed and took the piss!
The thing that attracted me to photography was the cameras.
I love all the shiny kit, and when you’re younger you think you need it, but you don’t. It helps you, but not having it shouldn’t hinder you. I dart in with a camera and leave two minutes later – and the course teaches you to do that with a phone.
I speak to so many people who say: ‘I can’t take a good photo’.
That’s not true – they’ve just never thought about it. You start by having control and thinking like a photographer. When you reach the highest point – still without specialist equipment – you’ll go in with an idea but also the ability to spot something better.
Apple’s iphone 12 Pro Max has an astonishing camera.
I go out on a job confident that if everything goes wrong I still have my phone. Automatic cameras tend to expose towards a mid-grey, so having control over your exposures is probably the single most important thing to look for in an automatic camera… and Apple has smashed it.
Think about your pics before posting them on Instagram.
Don’t be lazy – stand up, use shapes, use angles, stand on tables, lie on the floor and look up, move around and try to make your pictures more dynamic. Look for the detail in the story you’re trying to tell, and stand in front of a north-facing window because the sun doesn’t shine through it so you’ll get a nice, soft, beautiful light.
I’d love to photograph Barack Obama at home.
I know that’s odd because it’s not like he isn’t really well photographed! He just represents something to me in politics that genuinely brought hope, and he was honest about his flaws. When you shoot someone at home you know about the books they read, the art they like and their taste… or lack of it.
For the Greg Williams Candid Photography Skills course visit skillsfaster.com
“I GO OUT ON A JOB CONFIDENT THAT IF EVERYTHING GOES WRONG I STILL HAVE MY PHONE”