"Apertures, ISOs, shutter speeds… I didn't know what I was doing! I didn't do anything right!" says Peter Hurley

Canon USA has launched its new podcast, Canon Unscripted, and it's off to a strong start in the company of renowned portrait photographer Peter Hurley – who shares some fascinating insight on his early career, including his struggles with the technical side of photography.

Filmed for YouTube, Hurley and technical specialist for Canon, Mason Higa, can be seen sitting almost uncomfortably close, in leather armchairs against a blank background, with a splash of color from the red circular rugs on the floor.   

Hurley is a Canon Explorer of Light, a program created in 1995 by Canon to celebrate the work of outstanding photographers. After stints as a professional sailor training for the Olympic Games, he turned his hand to modeling. Following a fairly successful career, modeling for brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Hurley decided to get behind the camera himself. 

After nearly two decades, he is now considered one of the greatest portrait photographers in the industry. The pair discussed everything from how to get a subject to relax, to a fascinating moment when Hurley reveals that an assistant taught him how to light shoots properly.  

"I think light is one of the hardest things for me," he says. "Light just didn’t click for me overnight, it took a long long time to really understand it."

Canon Unscripted EPISODE 1: From Modeling to Headshots – Interview with Peter Hurley - YouTube

Watch On

Above: Watch the full podcast

Hurley recalls working on the TV show The Apprentice and having an assistant light the shoot for an ad campaign.

"It just looked awesome and I was like, this is perfect – I just pressed the button but he did everything. So after I was like, look, I can’t go on like this – can you come over and teach me some stuff. So he came over and we went through all these lighting scenarios, and then he left – and then I tried to recreate them and I failed miserably."

Hurley goes on to describe how he was "too cheap" to fly this assistant on his next big assignment in California.

"I spent the whole morning trying to light this, and it was a simple white site – I could do this in my sleep now – but I couldn’t figure it out then.

"I think that just photographers out there, they get lost on the technical aspects, and it just has to sink in differently for everybody. Everybody’s brain is different, so mine was all trial and error."

So there you go – if you're someone who struggles with flashguns and studio lighting, don't worry! If Peter Hurley can become Peter Hurley after such a difficult start, there's hope for everyone.

Love Canon? We've put together a guide to the best Canon cameras on the market. We've also got a guide to the best Canon lenses, and the best cameras for portrait photography.