Shooting with Luke Coutinho - India's favorite holistic lifestyle coach.
Luke Coutinho doesn't require much introduction. a highly sought after and accomplished holistic lifestyle coach working in the field of integrative medicine. His core beliefs concentrate around the four pillars of optimum health: sufficient sleep, balanced nutrition, emotional detoxification, and exercise.
Luke has had remarkable success managing both children and adults, as well as issues related to illness, lifestyle, and obesity all across the world. He is the author of the best seller “The Great Indian Diet” with Shilpa Shetty, “Eat smart, Move more, Sleep right” , Reset Journal and his last best seller “The Dry Fasting Miracle - From Deprive to Thrive" and his latest best seller "The Magic Weighloss Pill : Lifestyle" with Anushka Shetty
“GQ 50 Most Influential Young Indians 2018
Times Power Men 2018
Elle’s Best Health Expert of the Year 2018
Vogue’s Best in the Industry - Nutritionist 2018”
So to think that this was one shoot where I was going to bring up the topic of food would actually not be such a smart idea! Luke’s headshot was scheduled at 12:30pm right before his lunch and I was given a window of only 20 minutes. I had planned to head straight to school to my students after finishing Luke’s headshot session. If all went as per plan I would have reached school on time. I was assured that Luke is very punctual. This made me very happy!
The morning of the shoot I got a call around 11 am asking if I could reach the hotel by 11:45. Luke had managed to clear up his schedule and was wondering if I was able to shoot a little earlier. Why would I mind? There was this possibility to shoot longer and also this whole idea of being in a space where I did not have to feel rushed because of the clock was all the more appealing.
Given that my studio is in CBD, (just off Park Street) I was literally 10 minutes away from the hotel Luke was put up at. So we threw in all the equipment and drove down to the hotel. What joy would a shoot be if there were no challenges? We reached the hotel at 11:15am. Excited as we were to be on time things took a crazy turn when the valet informed us that there was no parking available inside the hotel. I was requested to park the car outside. Now getting a parking spot in CBD at 11:15am in almost impossible; and do not forget the one way traffic. This was not good.
As much as I hate going over someone’s head, I had to rush to the manager on duty and requested her to assist. After hearing me out ramble on my story she was kind enough to help sort matters out. I think they may have double parked may car! We rushed up and were promptly showed the space where we were expected to shoot. Long story short we were setup and ready by 11:35. With 10 minutes to spare.
Luke showed up on time and it was evident that he does not like the camera much. The stiff body and this eagerness to get out of the frame was all to obvious. I do not blame him. Heck I am so camera shy that I chose to be behind one!
Jokes apart he was extremely easy to work with. All he told me was just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll follow. I love to chat up with my subjects while I shoot. When I asked Luke about his daughter his eyes lit up and he was all smiles ear to ear. He is almost always dressed in simple Tshirts and track pants. So expecting a sharp formal image was actually a little difficult. (Unlike winging the formal jackets for Shiva Keshavan’s shoot)
I was able to pull some decent shots. He was pretty happy with the images and we wrapped up in good time too. It is so interesting to meet someone like Luke who breaks the norms of being a celebrity. Shoots like these are always refreshing and I enjoy them the most.
Check out Luke’s site here.