Your first photo shoot: expectations and results - Your First Customer Series, Part 7
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
Ooh baby, it’s showtime.
(Speaking of showtime, here’s tip #1 for starting your first photo shoot right: show up on time. And on time means at least 10-15 minutes early. Guaranteed: if you don't, your client will.)
You’ve booked your first client, gone over your personalized pre-shoot checklist, and just parked at the location you chose for your first official photo shoot. Grab the paper bag, don’t hyperventilate, and get ready for a terrifyingly exciting ride. Here’s where you get to shine - here’s where you create art that your client can’t live without buying.
Okay, assuming this really is your first rodeo, a more reasonable goal may be to just walk away an hour later with images that are in focus and salvageable in Photoshop.
Just like anyone who has ever tried their hand at “something new,” your first time isn’t going to be your best. I don’t believe so much in aiming for the stars and landing in the heavens as I believe in mindful preparation and doing your best. It's all that can be asked.
You can knock it out of the park later on; for now, let’s just worry about getting around the bases, one at a time.
Slow down
On your first shoot, you’re going to deal with a heap of emotions and self-induced pressure:
- You don’t want to come off as a clueless amateur.
- You don’t want to give a bad impression and be talked poorly of.
- You don’t want your client telling all their friends how horrible a photographer you are and ending your career before it starts.
- You don’t want to throw up on your client.
- You don’t want to pass out.
- You don’t want to forget every single thing you’ve learned about portrait photography and end up with nothing but out-of-focus photos of people’s faces, contorted in disgust and venomous rage over your session being a complete waste of their time.
It ain’t pretty, but it’s true; you will probably be struck with the fear of any one of these escalating nightmares coming true. The good news is, they are nothing but fears; reality, I can tell you from experience, is far, far kinder than your own imagination.
More good news is, the first thing to do on your shoot is slow down.
(Repeat for effect: s l o o o w d o o o w n.)
The quickest way you will screw up your entire photo shoot is if you get nervous, worry too much about impressing the client, and melt into a lightheaded rush.
When you show up (early!) for your shoot, sit in your car and relax to some good tunes. Close your eyes. Take some deep breaths. Strike up the ol’ affirmations if you want: “I see myself taking my time, smiling and enjoying shooting with my client, and making the best photos I can for them.”
Deep breath.
Repeat.
Now that you’ve got your head on straight, step out of your car and don’t touch your gear. Close the car door.
Stretch. Breathe.
Look around. Smile and thank the stars you’re here today living the dream.
Start assessing the location you’ll be shooting at. Walk through the shoot in your head. Where’s an easy place to start out? Look for a comfortable place for you and your client, quiet preferably, with easy lighting and backgrounds, to test equipment and play get-to-know-you. If you did a dry run at the location during your pre-shoot checklist, just walk through your vision for the shoot one more time as a refresher.
Once you’ve surveyed the area and have your first few spots picked out to shoot at, pull your gear out and quickly test everything. Make sure your gear is where you want it and your camera settings are where you want them to be.
Feel free to walk over to your first setup (we’ll call good shooting spots ‘setups’), snap a few shots, and evaluate for exposure and background. Get things set to where you like them in your camera so when your client arrives, you won’t be fiddling too much with gear as you lead them into their first shots.
Client arrival & encouragement
When your client arrives at the location, do all the charming things your mother taught you. Greet warmly, firm handshake, smile, chat nicely, ask questions, laugh. Have some fun. Be serious about making the best images you can, but you’re not foreclosing on someone’s childhood home, you’re taking pretty pictures; allow some levity into the atmosphere.
One of the most important things you'll do with any client is make them feel comfortable and confident. A photo shoot is as much about the experience as the resultant images; from the start, show your client a good time and give them consistent encouragement.
“Hey, we’ve got some beautiful weather today and you look great; we’re going to have an awesome photo shoot.”
“I really like the outfit you picked out, it looks great on you and it’s going to look really good with this scenery.”
“Wow, we’re getting some great photos here; the background is great and you’re really photogenic. I am very happy with these shots.”
To quote my choir teacher from high school, it doesn’t take a mental giant to do this.
Don’t be smitten, don’t be inappropriate with compliments, and sure as hell don’t be insincere. Look at your client with honest and thoughtful eyes and see the best about them to talk about. Maybe their glasses are stylish. Maybe their hair looks great. Maybe they look like a train wreck, so compliment their distinctive style.
Just a few words of encouragement sprinkled throughout a photo shoot can relax your client, who is almost guaranteed to be more nervous and uncomfortable than you are. Give them some confidence, their guard will go down, and you can really connect and make some images that show their best.
Chat with your client as much as you like before your shoot; let them know you’ve got some ideas for great pictures, but you want to know if they’re looking for anything specific or Artist’s Choice. Nine times out of 10, they just want you to do what you do best, but it’s good to ask. Help your client feel empowered as well as encouraged - if they don’t want the power, then make them feel they are in good hands. Some gentility and a good attitude will take you far in your art and business.
Once you’ve got a rapport going, it’s time to step up to the plate. Lead them to your first setup and get to work - showtime.
Your first shots
Your first shots - in fact, most of the shots you’ll take - will be test shots.
Get your client in place at your first setup, let them know they can relax while you do some shots to “test the lighting,” and do just that - snap a few and see what you get.
Here’s where we slow down - here’s where we guarantee the best possible images from your first photo shoot.
What you’re going to do is snap a few shots, then pause to look at them on your camera. You’re going to evaluate every set of images you make, and then make adjustments to get better and better photos.
- Look at your exposure: Too bright? Too dark? Just right? Remember, expose for your subject, not the background; don’t silhouette your subject with a perfectly-exposed sky behind them, and don’t blow out the human in the photo to get a nice exposure on the dark tree behind them. Try to shoot from an angle that gives you a background as even as possible with the light on your subject. When you can’t, don’t sweat: just remember, expose for the subject, not the background.
- Look at your settings: How’s your shutter speed? F-stop? If your shutter is too slow, you’re going to get blurry photos from camera shake or subject movement. If your F-stop is too low / wide, you’ll only have inches of depth-of-field to work with and you’ll likely end up with the best part of your subject, their eyes, out of focus. Raise your ISO if you need to give yourself a boost on either of these other settings.
- Look at your background: What’s going on behind your subject? Is it a clean, complimentary background? Are there people, cars, signposts, trash cans, or other distractions? Are there any trees, flagpoles, or telephone poles growing out of their heads? Adjust your angle up, down, or sideways to clean up your background.
- Look at your subject: Books have been written on how best to photograph the human face. For your first shoot, we'll take aim at just a few biggies: shadows, expression, pose. This is where you’ll work your magic with a client to capture their best in your photos. Let’s give this one it’s own subhead...
Look at your subject
Here’s where so many photographers new to portraiture get discouraged and lose confidence. What you observe and adjust about your client’s face to get the best possible image will separate you from the wannabe’s.
Shadows: Unless you’re going for an artsy look, you want nice, soft, even lighting across your subject’s face. You want both eyes to catch some light and have life in them. You want light to come from roughly 45 degrees above and behind you, off to either side up to 45 degrees if you like.
This is why midday portraits are so challenging: your subject is lit from directly above, hiding the eyes and casting unflattering shadows.
Adjust your client’s body and face left, right, up, down, spin them around if you have to, to get pleasant light on their face. Remember that the camera will magnify the depth of shadows, so as with every setup you do, take some test shots and evaluate.
Harsh lighting is the most common challenge you’ll face shooting outdoors. If your client faces the sun, they’ll squint and tear up; if they turn sideways to the sun, half their face disappears; if they turn 180 degrees to the sun, their hair will blow out; if you put them fully in the shade, your background will probably be overexposed.
This is something you’ll have to learn to overcome with experience and practice. Be mindful of it as you shoot, keeping an eye on your subject’s face and the background behind them.
Above all else, no matter what other factors involve themselves, you want to properly expose your subject’s face and capture the best expression you can. In the sales session, your client will care far more about your getting a great photo of them than a perfect exposure on the background behind them.
Expression: Here’s where it pays off when you encourage your client and instill in them some confidence in front of your camera.
Getting an honest, personal, individual, telling expression out of a client is an art in itself; certainly worth of its own article in the future. There is so much nuance and psychology and personality involved in drawing out the best expression from a client.
Putting your client in the wildly unnatural position of being photographed, recorded, vulnerable in front of the camera, and then getting perfectly natural photos of them in that situation, is an area you will learn to master as you grow as a professional photographer.
Use your charm and social judgment to get natural expressions from your client. Get them to laugh. Get them to make goofy faces at you. Get them to look angry. Then happy. Then super-happy. Then angry again. This role playing will almost always draw a laugh or smirk out of them. Help them loosen up and be themselves and you’ll capture the best of them.
Pose: Posing is another factor in getting the best images of your client. This is also a subject about which many books have been published. In fact, go buy one or two right now. The illustrations and advice will give you far more knowledge and confidence than I can instill with mere words here.
In brief, you want to pose your client in a natural way that best compliments their unique body characteristics. In many ways, you want your posing to reduce or eliminate so-called “flaws.”
Double chins, big foreheads, big ears, big noses, lazy eyes, flabby arms, muffin-tops… You’ve got your work cut out for you, my friend.
But fear not! Honestly, most clients are reasonable human beings and know exactly what they look like, “flaws” and all. Play up their best features and reduce what they don’t like so much. As in all things, do your best; you’ll do fine.
Seriously though, invest some money in a good posing book or some time on a good web site that teaches posing. Even if you throw out all the canned “tried and true traditional” poses, what you learn about using poses and lighting to best compliment different faces and body types will pay dividends in every portrait you shoot.
Everyone is beautiful in their unique way, about this I have no question. It is a joy to me as a photographer to get to know and understand a client, to connect with them, and to best capture what makes them a beautiful person in this world. Sometimes it’s a laugh, a smile, a raised eyebrow, a stoic presence, a spiritual vibe, a loving aura…beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Step up - here’s where you earn your supper.
Pacing the shoot
Remember, you’re in control of your shoot. But for random acts of God, you’re given the reigns when it comes to pacing your shoot.
And I’ll say again: slow down.
You’re in a photo shoot. There’s no rush, there’s nowhere to be, there’s no finish line to cross. You’ll probably be shooting for around an hour or so, which is plenty of time to get a wide variety of great images with your client in a variety of setups.
Be methodical: set up, pose, shoot a few testers, evaluate, adjust, test, evaluate, adjust, test, shoot for real and work on capturing the best expressions and moments you can.
Getting the best possible shots during a shoot is a lot like solving a puzzle. Pace yourself and enjoy the experience just like you would while doing a good crossword puzzle, playing Jenga, or getting in a game of The Sims.
The very fact that you’re reading this article right now means you are miles ahead of most people, in artistic investment and business acumen. Take pride: even if you haven’t shot your first client yet, the education you are providing yourself through this blog and other sites and sources is putting you head and shoulders above most people to have ever touched a camera. You care. You're trying. And that's worth a lot.
As you proceed from setup to setup, work over your subject from different angles and distances at each spot. If you’re shooting them at a park bench, get a nice close headshot, then a layback shot on the bench, then some wide shots of them sitting on the bench, then doing a handstand on the bench - or whatever you want.
Nail your must-have shots, your bread-and-butter images that you know will sell well after the shoot, then experiment. Play around with ideas and just let your creativity flow. Once you feel you’ve worked over a setup for all the shots it has to give, move on to the next setup.
Repeat until your time is up.
Don’t be afraid to shoot the same shot at different times and setups throughout your shoot. Give yourself plenty of variety to choose from during post-processing. Keep shooting, testing, evaluating, adjusting, and shooting some more. Trust me; the headshot you get of your client toward the end of your shoot will probably be far more natural and pleasant than the first of the day.
Calling it a day
When time is up on your shoot, again turn on that charm your mother taught you and send your client off with more encouragement.
“This was a really great photo shoot, thank you so much for the opportunity. I really enjoyed it and I think we made some great photos today.”
“I’m really happy with how everything went today. The weather was right and you were really working the camera. We’re going to have some great photos to look at.”
“I think we got some photos today that you guys will really like. This is a great place for a photo shoot and we caught some great evening light.”
Lead your client back to your car and explain to them the remainder of the photo buying process:
- Show them your standard model release, explain what it means and what it’s for (“This just gives me your permission to use your photos in my portfolio or in an ad for my [senior, bridal, family, baby, whatever] photography business.”), and have them fill it out, including contact information and e-mail address.
- Ask if they enjoyed the photo shoot. Then ask if you may add their e-mail address to your newsletter list. If you offer a coupon for new subscribers, let them know what they’ll get and how they can use it during the coming proofing and sales session.
- Let them know you shot a ton of photos, but you’ll cull them down to the best from each pose and setup, looking for the best expressions and moments. If you recall a specific shot from the shoot that you know is good, mention it as an example. (“I loved the shot of you laying back on the park bench, the light was just right on your face; that will definitely be in there.”)
- Set a date, time, and location for your client to get with you to view the proofs and buy their prints and files. If they want the images in a private online album, collect your retainer for this service and let them know when they can expect an e-mail from you with a link to the images.
- Ask if they have any other questions, thank them for a great shoot, and then release them back into the sea.
Congratulations - you’ve survived your first photo shoot! Hopefully with grace and aplomb, but if not, no worries. So long as you were courteous, encouraging, had some fun, and made some solid images, you’ve had a pretty fantastic first shoot.
If you threw up on the client and all your shots were out of focus…well, everybody has to start somewhere!
:D
Taking notes on what to improve
Do you want to multiply the rate at which you improve as a photographer? Whip out a pad and pencil (or digital equivalent) as soon as your client leaves and get ready to jot some notes.
It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and flow of a shoot, then the euphoria of its end, without ever really slowing down to take stock of what went right and what went wrong.
The secret is to be conscious of your work.
Just like slowing down to evaluate each set of images you make during the shoot, you want to take a moment after to take note of your thoughts on how to improve for next time.
Pencil, stylus, keyboard, or touchscreen in hand, answer these questions:
- What was your favorite part of the shoot? Go into detail. Was it nailing a certain shot? Joking with the client? Getting to know the client and making better images for it? You tell me.
- What was the worst part of the shoot? Nerves before? Mind-melt during? Did the client have no sense of humor? Did you have no sense of humor? Details.
- What do you think your client's favorite and worst parts of the shoot were? Do these differ from yours? Try to step into their shoes as self-conscious and inexperienced subjects and explore what you feel they most and least enjoyed.
- This knowledge in hand, what can you do differently or better next time to improve your client's experience?
- Briefly looking at your images on camera, what do you like and dislike from the shoot? Best? Worst? Why? Where did you ace it, and where did you miss? How can you do better next time? Be specific; give yourself something real to grab onto and improve.
Head home, plug your card into your computer, back up your images, then back’em up again to a second or external hard drive.
In the coming final articles of this series, I’ll go over culling+post-processing, the proofing+sales session, and how to follow-up like a rock star.
Next Steps
- Take another pass through the Flickr archives to see what kinds of portraits other photographers are making in the great outdoors.
- Like a good actress or actor, grab a mirror, and talk out some of your photographer-client shpeel. Have a mock conversation with a client, from introductions on location to posing and joking around to fond farewells. Have fun. Be silly. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Life is good.
- Brainstorm session: What’s the worst thing that could happen on your photo shoot? What’s the most realistic worst thing that could happen? How can you prepare for it? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- What was your first photo shoot like? What were the biggest lessons you learned? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.
Should you buy an Apple iPad for your photography business?
My business sense and my technology lust often find themselves in severe conflict.
Apple’s official unveiling yesterday of the new iPad tablet computer is yet another case where I find myself trying a little too hard to justify a tool as a worthwhile investment for part time photographers. A sure sign of lust over love.
As with any tool, It’s All In How You Use It (TM!).
Pro Argument - The ultimate portfolio
Scott Bourne at Photofocus hit the nail on the head with his initial assessment of the iPad; for the foreseeable future, the Apple iPad will reign as the ultimate portable portfolio for photographers and other visual artists.
Apple already showed how slick photo viewing could be with the iPhone. Bourne says he has picked up numerous shoots using his iPhone as a portable portfolio, and I can back that up; it’s one thing to hand someone a business card, and another thing entirely to hand them your iPhone with your portfolio presented with music and animation.
Apple knows how to make it easy to look good.
The iPad is going to bring this ease and intuitive design to the presentation of your photography portfolio. If the iPhone’s little screen can land clients, imagine the impression you can make with 9.7 inches of beautiful screen real estate.
If you get a notable amount of your business from ‘F8 & Be There’ marketing (physically being where your clients are), the iPad will only multiply your returns.
Besides the carry-and-show portable portfolio scenario, imagine how this thing will look on a stand showing your images at events.
Is shooting local high school sports a part of your senior marketing mix (article forthcoming)? Set up your iPad to display animated slideshows and videos of your work with a stack of business cards at the concession stand. Or put a good screen protector on it and invite people to flip through photos on their own. Same goes for any kind of event.
If you sell prints from events like this, I can see a good season’s worth of increased print sales helping the iPad pay for itself, not even counting the increase in portraiture inquiries. During halftime or a break in the event you could visit with people at the concession stand and have an immediate ice breaker.
Differentiation is a big part of growing your client base in a competitive market, so if you start getting buzz from walking around and showing off your work on an iPad, you’re making waves that your competition is not with their printed portfolios, if they even have them.
The iPad can definitely help you build your client base one person at a time, which is a method I am a huge advocate of.
Seven ways I can see the iPad paying for itself as a photography business tool:
- Proofing: The iPad costs less than most projectors or laptops and will give you a unique and stylish way to do a proofing and sales session with your clients on location. With a gorgeous landscape+portrait screen, intuitive controls, photo+audio+video capabilities, and slick presentation build in, the iPad is the perfect setup-anywhere sales tool. If you don’t have a home or retail studio sales area with couch, desktop, projector, and mini bar, the iPad is by far the best value you can get in a sales presentation tool. When you’re pinching, pulling, and sliding images around, clients will be impressed.
- Portfolio: As mentioned above, the iPad will let you show off your images to anyone whose eyeballs you can wrangle, and it will leave a big impression on them. As great culinary artists will attest, presentation is as important as the product.
- Access: In relation to having a portable portfolio with style, the iPad for years is going to be a popular item that draws interest. Carry one around or be seen using it and you’ll have an instant common point of discussion with most people. Ever notice, if you carry around a dSLR, that people are very comfortable in approaching you and asking about the camera or photography in general?
- Booking: With this one tool in one place at one time, you can show off your portfolio, look at your calendar and book a shoot on the spot, collect a potential client’s information, do a pre-shoot consultation and show them examples of wardrobe and accessory choices, and e-mail them a copy of your pre-shoot checklist for clients and latest newsletter. Can you do all this with a laptop? Yes, but you’ll look like an egghead. Can you do it with a smartphone? Yes, but you’ll look like a dweeb. The iPad lets you do all this with style. Again, presentation.
- Display: Set this thing up to play a slideshow of your images and promotional videos at any event with a stack of business cards. Let the iPad sell your work for you. An iPad on a display stand is vastly more approachable than an open laptop.
- Ease-of-use: When a tool is easy to use, you’re much more likely to use it. I was completely prejudiced against the iPhone…until I used it. Then I bought it (for $100 less than the iPad starts out at). Then I loved it. Owning an iPhone has been revolutionary for me, in the access I have to communicate with people and in how I use little bits of free time. Keeping up with e-mail, MySpace, blog reading, the news… Having connectivity anywhere, and absolute ease in making use of it, has brought far more value to my business than what I shelled out for the tech to enable it. If the ease and fun of using an iPad helps you to keep your photography business’ blog updated, to tweet daily, to get out that monthly e-mail newsletter, to be seen by and around your target market, to market on MySpace or Facebook - and enjoy it - then you’ll reap great rewards from owning an iPad.
- Impression: I’ve touched on this several times already, but it bears repeating: the iPad will let you make an impression on potential clients unlike anything else in its price range - and you can make that big impression anywhere. You don’t have to buy a billboard, you don’t have to haul around a 30” monitor or projection screen, you don’t have to boot up a laptop, you don’t have to set up a kiosk, you don’t have to court around a one-trick-pony printed portfolio, you don’t have to limit yourself to still images, you don’t have to buy presentation software and learn to use it, you can change the contents and presentation on the fly…and look like a modern, savvy professional while doing it.
Con Argument - Keeping the purse strings drawn
As much as I advocate investing in tools that make your life as a part time photographer easier, more fun, and more profitable, I also believe wholeheartedly that one of the ways to guarantee success is to vigorously control expenses.
Looking at the forums of eloquent discussion between photographers online, one would think that professionals spend more time arguing and debating than actually taking photos. “What should I buy next?” is always a hot topic that draws mountains of sage advice; it’s easy to spend other people’s money.
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket, according to the great Will Rogers.
Before your fall in lust with any piece of potential camera kit or marketing mix, you have to compare what you’ll gain to what you’ve already got.
If you are specifically not the type to go around with your portfolio, showing off your photos and landing clients because of it, the iPad is going to be more of a luxury purchase than a smart business one.
Showing off a portable portfolio to people is certainly an effective method of marketing, but if you’re not that outgoing, it’s going to be real hard to argue your returns on a $499 tablet computer. You probably can’t edit photos nearly as well as on a desktop, the hard drive isn’t much larger than your camera’s memory card, and it’s easier to type venomous posts in the forums with the honest keyboard of a laptop.
The iPad is a beautiful piece of tech, a revolution, doubtless a real pleasure to use… But as a valuable and necessary part of your part time photography business, if not for visceral punch with potential clients, there isn’t anything it can do for you as a photographer that comparably-priced alternatives don’t trump.
Here’s a list of 10 other worthwhile ways you could invest five benjies into your business (based on Jan. 28, 2010 prices):
- Save it: Put those $499 back in the bank. Stick it in savings. Hold onto it for a rainy day. Guaranteed, at some point in your professional career, you will need it. [You weren’t thinking of buying your iPad on a credit card, were you? O_o]
- Lens: Freshly-minted professional photographers often lose sight of the value of good lenses behind the sparkling glare of features found on new camera bodies. I’ve seen many photogs walking around with $1,500 camera bodies and $50 kit lenses on the front. Lenses hold their value better than any other gear you can buy, and even a cheap dSLR will benefit from having good glass attached. My favorite under $500 is the Tamron 17-50/2.8.
- Camera: A lens is only a good purchase if you have something to put it on. If you’re still sporting a point-and-shoot camera, assuming you’ve about mastered its use, stepping up to a good dSLR will open up a new realm of artistic opportunities for you. Going from P&S to dSLR is a challenging step (learning how to control depth of field alone will set you back a month), but it will by far raise the ceiling on your artistic growth and image quality. My pick at $499 is the Canon Rebel XS with kit lens.
- Computer: As professional photographers, we spend as much or more time sitting at a computer as we do taking photos. Upgrading here will let you work more efficiently and quickly so you’re spending less time waiting for pics to load and more time shooting or marketing. $499 goes a long ways these days with both laptops and desktops; if you want to do presentations, in-person location proofing and sales, or just prefer to stay out of the house, go for a laptop. Otherwise, you’ll get more power for your buck with a desktop. I like Gateway, myself.
- Monitor: On the same token, with as much time as you spend in front of your computer, a good monitor upgrade will give you more screen real estate to work with, less eyestrain, and better color reproduction. Pick one up with a decent color calibration tool to have confidence when processing that what you see is as true as possible. You can pick up a gorgeous LG 27-inch or Samsung 25.5-inch with cash left over for a calibration tool such as the Spyder3Express.
- Software: $499 won’t quite get you to a full copy of Adobe Photoshop, but you can easily pick up Lightroom 2 + Elements 8 and get 95% of the benefit for a third of the price. Grab Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 2 for Digital Photographers and Elements 8 for Digital Photographers and become a master of your software domain. $250 will get you a year’s worth of unlimited Animoto videos for commercial use, which if you make use of it, will impress the heck out of your target market and even give you a new line of products to sell.
- Marketing: Much as I push free marketing through social media and being in front of potential clients, $499 can have long legs with paid marketing if you use it right. Consider a monthly direct mail campaign to the homes of 50 potential high school senior photo clients, weekly classified ads in the services section of your local newspaper, small weekly display ads in the sports pages of your newspaper, a banner ad on your Chamber of Commerce or newspaper web site, or a co-op marketing campaign / contest / program with several businesses that serve the same area and market as you (families, seniors, new parents, etc.). For $499, if you target tightly, you should be able to get a year’s worth of exposure in front of potential clients.
- Education: Five benjies will take you a long way with books, e-books, magazine subscriptions, instructional DVDs, professional association memberships, and workshops (if you spend your dollars wisely). Invest in resources that will broaden your business, marketing, and artistic horizons. There are hundreds of good options here, but to name just a few: the Duct Tape Marketing book, W Magazine (massive fashion magazine full of inspiration), any PartTimePhoto e-book (all I need to do is write one!), Lynda.com for Photoshop tutorials, your local PPA guild, PPA Super Monday workshops…this list could go on and on and on.
- Business: Drop that $499 on getting your business in order. Score some time with a good accountant to make sure you’re handling your finances, budget, and taxes right; invest in a nice portfolio web site or WordPress theme; get your logo designed; get your business cards designed and printed; then set up your e-mail marketing and integrate it into your web site and every part of your business. Get all your ducks in a row so that you can concentrate on showing love to your art, to your market, and to your clients. With a solid foundation and the confidence it provides, you can quit worrying and start working.
- Health: Call me too holistic if you want, but I will never shy away from saying that taking care of your health is as important to your business as taking care of your art and your marketing. I know from experience that when you’re overweight and out of shape, it affects every facet of your life, including your ability to do your best work in your business. $499 invested with a personal trainer to talk about exercise and diet will give you a lifetime’s worth of beneficial knowledge. With the leftover cash, schedule a visit with a dietitian and sign up for a local yoga class. These can be personally challenging steps to take, but just like with knowing your business is well taken care of, the confidence you have from knowing your body is taken care of will pay dividends artistic and financial.
So am I going to buy one?
Hell yes I’m going to buy one.
Even though at this point, having like most people yet to even touch the thing, my impression of the iPad is that it’s a really big iPod Touch / iPhone.
But after my conversion from a non-believer to a devout iPhone user, I have faith in Apple that once the creature is in my hands, I will find the return on investment to be far higher than I could have imagined.
I’m a very social and outgoing kind of guy, so the iPad is a perfect match for my personality. If it does nothing but replace my Dell netbook, with its cataclysmically-placed apostrophe key, it will earn its keep.
Stylish mobile blogging, portable portfolio, wow factor with clients, proofing and sales sessions at Dairy Queen over Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards…
…oh yes. I think so.
Next Steps
- Hurry up and wait. If you want to buy an iPad or read real-world reviews of how well it works in the hands of professional photographers, only time will tell.
- Brainstorm: What are all the ways you could make use of the iPad’s unique features (style and impression being valued features) to improve your photography business? Where could you possibly better invest your $499? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- PartTimePhoto.com is your source for real-world advice for part time professional photographers from a part time professional photographer. If you like what you read here, please don’t hesitate to click the free “Subscribe” link at the top of any page of this site.
- Are you excited or deflated by the possibilities the iPad brings to the photography industry? Did I miss any good $499-and-under investment recommendations? Leave a comment below, e-mail me, or call or text me at 830-688-1564.
Your pre-photo-shoot checklist in four easy steps - Your First Customer Series, Part 6
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
Booked your first shoot? Pat yourself on the back; the hardest part is done.
Truly, there’s a reason why most successful photogs will tell you professional photography is 95% business and 5% photography. Getting clients in the door is the great challenge of any new business, artistic and service-based or otherwise.
So congratulations - with your first shoot on the books, it’s time to go down your pre-shoot checklist and make sure you’ve got all your waterfowl properly aligned. Nothing will make your first and forthcoming shoots go more smoothly and comfortably than a healthy dose of preparedness.
Step 1 - Confirm the shoot
Leading up to the date of your photo shoot, contact your client a few days before to thank them for their booking and confirm the date, time, location and meeting place for your shoot.
Answer any last-minute questions they may have about wardrobe or anything else.
Give them a weather update. Visit weatherunderground.com or a similar site to see what the forecast is for the day of your shoot. Have a bad weather back-up or rescheduling plan. Set the expectation that you want your client to have. For example, I tell my clients that if the weather gets iffy the day of the shoot, I’ll call them to confirm or reschedule the shoot that morning. Then I follow-through - not knowing what should happen or is happening is a big source of stress in any situation. Always work to dissipate the chance for such stress.
As I’ve said many times, your art takes time to grow, but you can provide attentive, fantastic customer service like this starting with your very first shoot.
Step 2 - Your “Plenty of Time” Checklist
Right after you confirm the shoot is on with your client, go through your first round of preparations:
- If you haven’t picked up your camera lately, do a dry run through all the gear you’ll be using. Pop in the battery, pop in the memory card, walk around and snap some photos. Plan on using an external flash? Load the batteries and snap some test shots. This is just to make sure all the gear you intend to use is in full working condition and working the way you want it to. If you’re going to have a problem, now’s the time to have it.
- Is anything not working? Do you have backups for crucial items like batteries and memory cards? Grab a third-party backup camera battery and a cheap 1GB memory card if that’s all you can afford, but try to always have a backup. Try to have a backup camera body if you can, even if it’s just a decent point and shoot or - if necessary - a decent camera phone.
- Day by day, stay abreast of the weather situation and forecast. Assuming at this point you are shooting outdoors with no off-camera flash or strobes, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. Respect her.
- If time permits, do a walk through of the location you’ll be shooting at during the time of day you’ve booked to shoot. Look for cool nooks and crannies to get fun photos in. Look for attractive and evenly-lit backgrounds and foregrounds. What exactly you’re looking for will change depending on whether you’re shooting a high school senior or a newborn or a family of four. But familiarity with your location before you’re there with clients will make the experience more fluid for them and you will be more confident throughout.
- If this is truly your first time with this kind of client or location (senior in a park, 50th wedding anniversary at a church, etc.), hit your favorite photography forum and post a request for some pointers and ideas. Fellow photographers are always a deep well of great experience and fresh perspectives. Ignore any discouraging bullbutter any grognards may heap your way, and take the good stuff to heart as you plan your shoot.
- Raid the ark of inspiration that is Flickr’s talented artists. Do a search for photography in the type of location you’ll be shooting at and with the kind of people you’re shooting, such as family portraits in the park, or high school senior photos at a junk yard. Take note of anything that inspires you - analyze what you like about your favorite images and solve the puzzle of figuring out how you can make those types of images happen on your shoot. Perfection is not required, just an idea of what you’re aiming for. Start building your shot list.
- Your shot list? Ahh, here’s one that some cocky starving artists don’t care for. That’s why the poor anemic things look like they’ve been living off two Starbucks lattes a day since they hit puberty. The shot list is good stuff, and unless you’re someone who can draw upon The Muse at will and MacGyver your way through a photo shoot with just a pinhole camera and your own force of will, said shot list will give you a big boost in confidence, flow, and most importantly, salable results.
In fact, let’s give The Shot List it’s own subhead:
Step 2.5 - The Shot List
Your shot list is a collection of images, ideas, and setups you want to work your way through on your forthcoming photo shoot.
In the beginning, your shot list may take the form of a scrapbook or folder with photos, notes, printed web pages, setup diagrams, and roughly illustrated concepts. As you grow as an artist, you’ll transition from a physical shot list to a purely mental one. With enough time and experience shooting all kinds of people, styles, locations and lighting, you’ll have enough swagger to let The Muse guide you through most shoots.
But for now, let’s assume that the second you shake your client’s hand, all your intensive research and creative inspiration will transmute to grass growing in bullet time. Honestly, that’s probably what will happen. Again, good preparation can diffuse this stressful problem before it starts.
Check out my article on the top 10 money-making outdoor photos of people for a strong jumpstart to your shot list.
What you want on your shot list are enough go-to resources to keep you flowing through your photo shoot when your brain quits on you. And you want enough variety to show your client a wide range of imagery during your sales session.
It’s easier to sell a client one image each of 20 different setups than to sell three images each of only six or seven setups.
Start with some easy setups; some simple, specific poses and places that let you get into your groove and to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera. If you’re shooting a senior near a swimming pool, don’t start with the cannonball drop into the drink. Give yourself and your client some easy stuff to start with so you can both get warmed up.
Add as much fun and artistic stuff to your shot list as you like. This is where you’ll begin to develop your personal artistic style, and experiment with new looks and feelings in your images. Have a solid set of salable images you know you can pull off - then, as time permits during your shoot, try out as much fun and experimental work as strikes your fancy.
You don’t have to go through your entire shot list on every shoot. But starting with a core set of images that let you make salable art with any client, then introducing some fun and artsy stuff with flavor and impact, you’ll be able to put together a robust set of proofs to show and sell.
Your client will very rarely buy every image you shoot. But you better your odds for a happy client and a bigger sale if you give them a smooth experience and lots of variety to choose from, both of which are a direct result of having a good shot list.
Preparation = confidence.
Step 3 - Your “Day Before The Shoot” Checklist
Now that you’ve got a good sense of who, what, and where you’re shooting, let’s get into the technical stuff you’ll want to check off your to-do list the day before your shoot.
- The obvious stuff: charge your batteries (both camera and flash if you use one); dump and clear memory cards; make sure your camera settings are about right for your shoot (TV mode is prepped at a fast enough shutter speed in case you start getting motion blur / camera shake, AV mode is prepped at a wide f-stop in case of low light, Manual mode is about where you think you’ll need to shoot, and your bloody ISO isn’t set to the noisiest-possible 1600 or H setting).
- Gather and pack your gear, including bodies, lenses, batteries, cards, flashes, tripod, backups, and anything else you need for your shoot. Try to get everything you need into one camera bag so that if you remember to bring anything, you’ll have everything.
- If you’re not too familiar with where you'll be shooting, have directions in hand from someone who knows or, preferably, Google Maps. Plug the address into your GPS. Know how long it should take you to get there - then allot an extra 15-30 minutes. If there’s any chance of traffic issues, allow even more extra time.
- Go back over your notes or e-mails from talking with your client and take heed of any specific requests or information they provide. If they “have to” get a family photo in their Texas Tech Red Raiders jerseys, by all means, write this down. Be sure to proactively remind your clients of this when you meet up - they will immediately appreciate that you remembered and that you're excited about making “their” photo.
- Check the weather yet again. If you may have to deal with light drizzle, intermittent cloud cover, overcast skies, or bold cloudless sunlight, you want to at least be solving those problems in your head the night before rather than the moment of your shoot.
- Watch what you eat. A worthy mantra for anyone trying to maintain their girlish figure, this advice will also keep your intestinal issues at bay the day of your shoot. Overeating or eating abrasive food is only going to exacerbate problems the next day when your nerves go straight to your stomach as you’re driving to your shoot. Eat light, drink lots of water, stick to fruits and veggies and salads that you know are easy on your system, and by all means, have a bottle of Pepto at the ready if you need it. (This is one of those “been there, done that” real world tips you just won’t find elsewhere - there’s no BS or pretense here, this site is about really helping you do your best as a part time photographer).
- Clean your gear. Whip out those microfiber cloths that come Free With Everything and give your lenses a good wipe down. Make sure your glass is clean and your camera body looks nice.
- Set your alarm. If you’re shooting early, set your bedside alarm. If later in the day, set an alarm on your phone with time to get your gear together and get on the road. Much as you have prepared for your shoot, the moment you sit down for a second in front of Call of Duty on the Xbox or David Hasselhoff on YouTube, you will lose track of time and only realize you’re late when the phone rings, it’s your client wondering where you are, and your heart drops out of your chest.
- Plan your wardrobe. Having checked out the weather for the next day, pick out what kind of professional-but-comfortably-artistic wardrobe you want to work your shoot in. Your wardrobe style should reflect your personal style and your artistic style. Some photographers belong in turtlenecks and scarves, others in jeans and T-shirts, still others in graphic T’s and khaki shorts. But guaranteed: if you don’t plan your shooting wardrobe, you’ll awaken to realize all your good clothes are in the hamper and either show up wearing a wool sweater and gym shorts or smelling like cheese.
Preparation = confidence!
Step 4 - F8 and Be There
If you’ve done your prep work - which despite the length of this article, should only take a couple of hours total - you can arrive at your shoot with time to spare and confidence oozing from every pore.
Or at least you won’t be hyperventilating and fighting to keep your breakfast down.
Your first time, as with a few other select experiences in life, won’t be your best. But there’s no reason you have to go into your shoot blind, deaf, and dumb. Take the small amount of time needed to give yourself the best odds at having a great shoot.
If you can show up with those ducks in a row, you’re honestly doing better than many paid professional photographers. What they lack in attention to detail, complacency brought on by arrogance and boredom, you can make up for in preparation and honest caring.
Art takes time, but providing the best experience you can for your clients starts right now, this very day.
The next articles in this series will walk you through a typical location portraiture shoot, your first sales session (in person or via online album), and how to follow through with a client to guarantee referrals and a customer for life.
Next Steps
- Now that you’ve read through this article, make your own personal pre-shoot checklist that touches on the above advice in brief. Single-sentence To-Do’s should keep you on track to make the most of your shoot.
- Make an inventory of all your shooting gear, piece by piece. Are you missing anything, specifically backups for crucial pieces of kit like batteries or memory cards? A spare of either costs about a tenth of what you’ll lose if you blow a shoot for lack of backup, and a hundredth of what you’ll lose long-term from looking like an unprepared amateur. If you have the coin, hit up Amazon.com or bhphotovideo.com and get a good faith set of backups for your primary gear, even if it’s the cheapest thing you can buy. I’d rather fall back on a children’s $50 Disney Digital Camera than nothing at all.
- Brainstorm session: What’s a quirk unique to you that could affect your ability to perform at your shoot? Irritable stomach? Profuse perspiration when nervous? Need Starbucks? Affirmations? Yoga? A jog? What should you add to your pre-shoot checklist that gives you, you personally, you specifically, the best chance at having an awesome photo shoot? File this in your Brainstorms folder (and add to your checklist!).
- PartTimePhoto.com exists to provide sound, real-world advice from one photographer to another, me to you. If you like what you read here, please don’t hesitate to click the free “Subscribe” link at the top of any page of this site.
- What’s one thing that you do to prepare for a shoot that’s unique to you? Did I miss anything in the above list? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.
How to prepare for your first photography client's call - Your First Customer Series, Part 5
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
So you've got your prices set, your most salable photos picked out and practiced, and your marketing has people talking about your business.
Then the unimaginable happens - someone actually contacts you to ask about your services! Life and small business ownership are sometimes truly unpredictable.
Make no mistake - if you are practicing your art and marketing your services to your target market, you will get clients a-callin'. Let's explore how we need to prepare for this momentous, and nerve-wracking, occasion.
Your first contact
Not unlike how scientists are prepared to communicate with alien races when they come to take away all our cattle and chocolate, you want to be ready to take the questions your potential clients may have when they call and turn them into answers, education, and bookings.
Answering the phone:
- Do: Smile (people really can hear it in your voice)
- Do: "Thank you for calling James Taylor Photography, this is James, how may I help you today?"
- Do not: "Hello?"
Nothing turns me off faster than when I call a business, especially a service-based business owned and operated by an individual, that answers the phone like I just interrupted their dinner. "Hello?"
Because then I have to sound stupid and ask, "Is this James Taylor Photography?"
To which they shall then eloquently reply, "Yeah."
I'm officially done. I no longer care about whatever I called to ask about. You've lost my business and I'll probably tell everyone I know.
As a part time photographer, your business phone is probably your personal cell phone - nothing wrong with that; that's how I've handled my business for many years. But unless you know for sure the person calling is a friend or family member, always answer with your professional intro and a smile. Begin every call by giving the right impression.
Be sure you know your business, policies, and prices. Be ready to answer questions broad and specific.
The first question most contacts will ask is, "What are your prices?"
At this point, don't become a smarmy, manipulative salesman. Grognards will tell you that the first thing you do when asked this question is to deflect and say, "Well our price depends on a number of factors. Tell me what kind of photos are you looking for?"
You know what? If I call someone and ask what their price is, and their response is to not tell me: yet again, instant turn off. Don't start trying to play Salesmanship 101 with me. Tell me what I want to know, then introduce your hook.
"I charge no session fee and have no minimum order, you just buy what you love. Prints and files start at just $10..."
...then, without pause, extend the conversation...
"What kind of photography are you looking for?"
If you follow my suggested pricing structure for freshly-minted professional photographers, it would take quite a cheapskate to balk at your prices. You don't want to flatline the conversation, though, by answering their question and leaving them to come up with a response. Warmly guide them into establishing a rapport and learn about their needs so you can better help them get what they are looking for.
Remember: In all acts as a small business owner, your goal is to help your clients. Approach all contacts as an opportunity to learn their needs and help meet those needs via the best experience to be had. It is most definitely not about manipulating and milking clients for all you can get out of them.
Be ready for anything
Be sure you are knowledgeable and confident about your business:
- When someone asks your price for a 16x20 print, know it. ("16x20's go for $80. Are you looking for some wall art to go over your fireplace?")
- When someone asks if you guarantee your products, know the answer. ("Any print or product you purchase from us is 100% satisfaction guaranteed. If you purchase a digital file from us, we will give you our recommended labs to get prints from, but of course we cannot guarantee someone else’s prints. That's one of the benefits of buying directly from us. Some clients simply prefer the convenience of knowing we are handling and guaranteeing their prints.")
- When someone asks if you're available this Thursday at 2 p.m. for an outdoor shoot, know your schedule. ("I do have an opening at 2 p.m., but the light is still pretty harsh at that time of day. I would suggest shooting closer to 5 p.m. so we can catch that lovely, soft evening light. Would that work for you?")
- When someone says they had a bad experience with another local photographer, know how to respond. ("I'm sorry to hear that shoot didn't work out for you! I've always heard good things about Jane Doe Photography. We have no session fees and no minimum orders, and we guarantee complete satisfaction with all our prints and products. Tell me what went wrong with your other shoot and I'll tell you how we will prevent those problems if you decide to work with us.")
- If someone asks you for anything outside of your limits, know how you'll respond and still help them. ("No, I'm sorry, we don't shoot on family holidays like Thanksgiving. Would the day before or after work? No? Hmm, let me call a couple of other photographers I know and see if they are open that day. Could I get your phone number and call you back in about 10 minutes?")
Whether you charge $10 or $100 for an 8x10, whether you never shoot on Sundays or every Sunday, make sure you know and are confident in your policies. Some fish will swim away, and that's perfectly fine. Even just starting out, you do not have to shoot for free or jump through hoops to build your business, and you never, ever have to suffer insufferable clients. Have the confidence to say, "I don't think we are the right match for what you need, but let me recommend a couple of other local photographers I have worked with that may better be able to help you."
Answer client questions directly and honestly. If you don't know how to do something they need, or if you feel they need someone with more or different experience, don't be afraid to tell them so. Don't be afraid to tell folks that you are new to professional photography, that that is why you are such a good value, and why you're ready to work hard to ensure they have the best experience possible.
And be ready to refer out: as someone just getting started in part time professional portrait photography, taking on a big commercial contract for an architectural firm is asking for a mountain of stress and one ticked off client.
Booking the shoot
When you feel like you've answered your caller's questions and fairly educated them to your prices and policies, go ahead and ask for the booking.
"I have an opening this Friday at 6 p.m. Would that work for you guys?"
Put the ball in their court. Try to get a firm booking from them, but if they have to talk to a spouse or check their schedule, make sure their impression of you is a good one. Starting out, sometimes enthusiasm is all you’ve got - but that enthusiasm and attention can be big sellers to potential clients. They will expect, and receive, a better experience than a much larger, pick-a-number studio may provide.
If your art isn’t to the point of enamoring clients, make sure the experience you give them leaves them enamored with you as a person, photographer, and business.
When finalizing the booking, be sure to:
- Ask for the client’s phone number so you can call to confirm the shoot the week or day before the booked date (and to get a hold of them if something comes up on your end - when I came down with swine flu this year, I had to make quite a few phone calls).
- Ask for their e-mail address so you can send over a Session Prep Cheat Sheet (I’ll write about this in a future article). Ask if you can also add their address to your e-mail newsletter list. If newsletter subscribers get a little bonus like a free digital file or 8x10 with their first shoot (and they should!), be sure to mention this when asking their permission to add their address to your mailing list.
- Repeat the date and time back to them one last time. “This sounds great! I’m very excited to shoot with you guys. I’ve got you down for Sunday, Dec. 20, 5 p.m. at the City Park. We will see you then!”
- As soon as you hang up the phone - before, if you’re good at multitasking - get that booking on your own calendar in full detail. Be sure to include all the details of your conversation, your client’s needs and expectations, and their contact information. I use Microsoft Outlook, and put all this information right into the calendar; this way, when I sync my iPhone, I always have everything I need at my fingertips.
- If you said you would send a follow-up e-mail with that cheat sheet or any other information, do so immediately.
So you’ve booked your first honest client! Not your sister, or your best friend, or your coworker - your first client to learn of your business from an outside source and proactively contact you to set up a shoot. Congratulations!
Preparation is key - I’d rather be ready than lucky any day.
The next three articles will close this series with how to prepare for and perform your shoot, how to make the most of your sales session, and how to follow-up with your client.
Thank you to all those readers who have visited and referred their friends and fellow photographers to this site over the past few months. It’s been great reading your comments and sharing encouragement with one another!
Next Steps
- Review your prices, products, and policies - daily - until they are second nature to you. When a potential client calls, you want to be confident in answering their questions. Feel free to have mock conversations with family or friends, or by yourself - remember, practice how you will perform.
- Call around to your local competition. Don’t be shy in playing the part of a consumer and seeing how they respond to your questions. See if they use a soft or hard sell, see if they treat you with respect and answer your questions clearly, see what their demeanor is like on the phone. Refine the experience you provide your potential clients on the phone to meet or beat their best.
- Brainstorm session: Do you feel prepared to answer the phone when a potential client calls? What can you do to make sure you can speak with confidence and answer potential questions and curveballs? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- Encouraging, educating, entertaining, empowering content is the bread and butter of this blog. If you like what you’ve read today, please don’t hesitate to click the “Subscribe” link at the top of any page of this site.
- What do you to prepare for incoming phone calls? What phrases and methods have helped you up your bookings over the phone? Leave a comment below, e-mail me, or call or text me at 830-688-1564.
How do I get my first photography client? - Your First Customer Series, Part 4
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
Ahh, welcome to marketing.
We've talked about the benefits of part time photography, how to price your work, what images are solid options for making you money, and now we'll come to the threshold: Your First Customer.
Let's be clear from the start: marketing is about getting your name and product in front of people who need, or know someone who needs, what you have to offer at the price you ask in trade. Or, as John Jantsch puts it, you want to get folks with a need, to know, like and trust you.
Odds are, your very first customers will be family and friends, and that's perfectly fine - that's how you build your portfolio and get the ball rolling. They'll give you a nice set of images, invaluable experience, feedback, and kind testimonials to get you started.
No doubt, other than for fun and practice, you should offer friends and family the same pricing system as everyone else. If you're using my suggested prices and policies, it's a no-risk investment for them and the prices are such that anyone can afford them safely.
Getting your first customer
While the word "marketing" draws a blank stare from many photographers, there are a number of ways to get your name and product (your art and abilities) out in front of a buying market. And thanks to the Digital Age (the same Digital Age many grognards say has upended their industry), we're going to get your work out there at little to no cost.
I have a laundry list of free and very low-cost ways to market your business (read my brief list at the end of this article), all ripe for their own articles, but let's get you started with the cheapest, easiest way to land your first customer.
Social Media Marketing
Social media, MySpace specifically, by far sends me the most business of any marketing I do. It's also absolutely free and easy as writing e-mail, if you're even somewhat of a people person.
Running a good photography business is about building relationships - photos are just the common subject over which to bond.
Social media gives you so many opportunities to find potential clients, introduce yourself and your art, establish a rapport and grow a profitable long-term relationship. You can read what people are talking about, get a feel for their lifestyle and family, easily see who is getting engaged or having a baby, and the "social" part of social media gives you the situational go-ahead to interact with people about their lives.
For most people, it's hard to walk up to a pregnant woman at the grocery store and say...
"Congratulations! When are you due? Have you picked out a name? I am a photographer and would love to do maternity photos with you. Here's my portfolio - do you like it? Would you like to get together for a photo shoot?"
And God help you if the woman only looks pregnant!
It's a lot easier to be surfing MySpace and happen upon someone in your zip code with a profile photo showing their pregnant belly. Then you can read their profile, get some details, and send over an introductory message:
"Hey there Jane, I saw your profile photo and wanted to congratulate you on your baby! My son was born two years ago and has been nothing but fun since day one. I run a photography business here in town and I'm working on my maternity portfolio right now; you can see some of my work on my profile. I would love to set up a shoot with you if you would be interested!"
Season to taste (and to match your personality), of course.
One in a hundred people will give you that "uuuuhm okaaaay" look or response, whether you make the offer in person or online. Most photographers don't approach potential clients directly for fear of rejection. If you're pleasant and are able to just chat casually with them, trust me when I say that most people will be thrilled.
And that's assuming you go for the direct approach. You'll have as much if not more success if you just go about casually chatting with people and adding them to your friends list. When you send someone a message or leave a comment on their page (regardless of the topic), the first thing they will do is visit your profile - where they will see you are a photographer and see the quality of your work. Mission accomplished.
(Brief aside: Never be ashamed of the quality of your work. Photographers are notoriously hard on themselves and rabid perfectionists - you have to start from somewhere! If you're reading this, I'd bet good money you are notably better at photography than your client base. And if you're following along with my suggested pricing and policies, potential clients will always know exactly what they're getting, and they'll know they are getting a good value. Better art will come with time and practice - and with it, bigger sales and more profits for you.)
In the course of discussion, you'll always either be asked about or have the opportunity to talk about your photography. Never be afraid to offer people photo shoots. Most people are flattered by the offer, and even if they aren't in the market at that time, you've established top-of-mind awareness: when they think local photographer, for themselves or others, they'll think of you, and know where to find you.
Setting up and using your MySpace profile
(These concepts apply the same to Facebook, I just don't have a profile on there - yet!)
When you set up your MySpace profile, try using a display name of something like John @ John Doe Photography. I use James @ Outlaw Photography, for example. Enter your real name and allow it to be shown, so you look more like a real person than a possible spammer.
Fill out as much personal information as you like. Be sure that your photography and business are mentioned, but not hyped.
"I love photographing people and am blessed to do it professionally. You can view my work in my photo album or at OutlawPhotography.net. Drop me a message or e-mail me at James@outlawphotography.net if you would like to set up a photo shoot."
...is far less abrasive than:
"FREE PHOTO SHOOTS!!!! MSG ME!!! i specialize in maternity landscape newborn automotive commercial industrial pets antiques seniors children families and weddings in the Texas Hill Country Bandera Fredericksburg Boerne Kerrville Hondo San Antonio area... CHECK ME OUT AT www.geocities.com/soho/113131/kitty.html"
(No, no...really.)
Next up, post some of your best photos to your profile's photo album. If you don't have a feel for how many, go for 10-20 to start. I have hundreds on mine, usually four images per photo shoot, sorted by year into albums.
Visit the Browse Users page under the Friends menu. Search for folks local to your zip code. If you're in a city, tighten the search - if you're in a rural area like me (Bandera, TX, pop: 957), widen it out to include surrounding towns.
As one marketer so perfectly put it: Own Your Zip Code. Start by visiting the profiles of people within five miles of your zip code. Check out their profiles, see what they're talking about, look at their photos, and send them a message to say hello. Be as basic as you want:
"Hey there! I'm new to MySpace and I'm adding people from around Bandera to my profile. I saw you love U2 - did you go to their concert last year? I was there and it was truly awesome. I have some photos from the show in my photo album."
One by one, you'll gain access to and build rapport with people from your community. As they visit your profile, see your photos and see that you are a professional photographer, you'll begin getting inquiries about your prices and booking. As you book these people and shoot with them, you'll start seeing your photos appear on their profiles - which then appears on all of their friends' profiles - and the cycle begins.
This is just a small sampling of what you can do with MySpace and social media to reach out and collect your first customers - and to build an ever-larger set of customers over time whose own profiles will serve as the best referral you can't buy.
10 (other) ways to market your photography
Not feeling the Social Media vibe? Some folks are just that way and you know what? That's perfectly fine - being a part time professional photographer should be fun and rewarding, and you should never have to do any kind of marketing you aren't comfortable with.
Here are 10 other ways, in brief, you can land your first customer (all of which I have done and can vouch for as working quite well):
- Classifieds - Craigslist or your local newspaper. Advertise online for free or in small local papers for a few dollars a week. It's the least expensive newspaper advertising you can buy, and some of the best read. I have gotten many, many lucrative clients (especially for baby photos) through this venue.
- Offer to pick up competitors' excess work - This one might seem a long-shot, but every photographer at some time is unable to meet someone's needs because of time or price. They are happy to refer work to a fellow photographer who can take on that client - it makes them look good, and it nets you business.
- Free press - Talk with your local newspaper and get in a press release about your new business, get their business writer to do a feature on you, hold a grand opening event (like a half-day photo shoot at the park) to be featured in the paper's event calendar, submit photos of local sports and events in exchange for bylines (including your name and web site). Try advertising in their classified section for a month first - often this will grease the wheels when you ask for some PR. Local radio and TV stations are also worth contacting for possible PR.
- Co-op marketing - This is one that the big-boy boutique studios use. Find a business with the same customer base as you and do a contest, drawing, or event together. As an example, if you're a baby photographer, visit your local children's resale store and offer them three photo shoots with files on CD to give away to their best customers. You'll do the shoots using wardrobe provided by the store, then give the store framed 20x30 prints to hang on their walls - alongside your business cards, of course.
- Bulletin boards - Be sure your business card is tacked onto every bulletin board in your community. Ever see those "For Sale" sheets of paper with the phone numbers at the bottom, cut individually so people can tear a number right off? Make up your own for your photography services! Many businesses, including your local Visitor's Bureau, are also happy to display your brochures and business cards.
- Volunteer - Non-profits can always use more volunteers, and as a photographer, you have a unique gift to give. Work with local charities to photograph their events, membership, and marketing images. You will help a good cause and build an immediate fan base among members.
- Shoot local sports and events - From Little League to Friday Night varsity football, pet parades to Fourth of July fireworks, communities love to see photos of their friends, neighbors, children, and themselves. Work with organizers to be able to display images from these events on your web site, and to promote your web site at the event. Offer to sell prints from the photos as a fundraiser for the event or organization (such as sports photos for the Athletic Booster Club) as a way to grease the wheels and gain access and permission. Your web site traffic will go up by leaps and bounds.
- Networking - Being present and involved in the community is one of the best ways to build loyalty and recognition. Attend Chamber of Commerce mixers and business association meetings, high school Project Graduation meetings, Little League board meetings, Kiwanis Club car washes, Education Foundation gatherings, any kind of event where people will get together, share ideas, and work for a common cause. Participate as a member of the community and offer your own ideas. Bring your camera.
- Models - Beginning photographers get along just fine with beginning models. Use sites like OneModelPlace to set up a photography profile and meet models in your area. Do TFCD (Trade For CD) shoots with them to build your portfolio. They may not be paying customers (at first!), but they can help you practice and grow your art while building your portfolio. And as always, the better your portfolio, the more people will take notice.
- The Modern Marketing Triumvirate: Your business cards, web site, and e-mail newsletter - These are three of the least expensive weapons in your marketing arsenal, and three of the most effective. Your business cards lead folks to your web site (the best brochure ever), your web site leads people to subscribe to your e-mail newsletter, and your e-mail newsletter gives you a free list of people who are actively interested in your services, along with the permission to market to them.
I'll expound on each of these marketing opportunities in future articles. They are all wildly powerful, free or inexpensive, and can serve to keep you booked solid.
Own Your Zip Code
So you've got your name out there and people are beginning to buzz about your work! What do you do when that first potential client calls and asks about prices and booking? What do you need for your shoot? For your proof viewing session? What about model releases, referrals, testimonials? Come back tomorrow to find out.
Again - Own Your Zip Code. Whether you start with MySpace or visiting with people in your own neighborhood, your end goal is to ensure that anyone who needs photography services - on your block, on your street, in your subdivision, in your town - knows who you are and what you can do for them.
Remember: Be social, don't fear being direct in asking for people's business, and let your art and your profile do your selling for you.
Next Steps
- Head over to MySpace or Facebook and set up your profile as a professional photographer. Use the steps outlined above to maximize your profile's selling power, then start visiting with the locals. You will make so many great contacts and friends this way, and the more you participate, the more your business will grow.
- Play around with some of the other marketing ideas mentioned above. Pick any one as a supplement to your social media marketing and try it out. As with all marketing, ask every person who contacts you, "How did you hear about us?" Make note of which marketing efforts are getting you the most attention. Then, track who books with you, and make note of which marketing efforts are getting you the most bookings. Then, track who buys from you, and make note of which marketing efforts are getting you the most profitable clients.
- For more great marketing ideas, I can wholeheartedly recommend anything (books or blogs) by Seth Godin, John Jantsch, or Michael Port. For a good Marketing 101 education, start with Michael Port's "Book Yourself Solid," follow up with Jantsch's "Duct Tape Marketing," then graduate to Godin's numerous excellent books. His book, "The Dip," will show you how the challenges you face now as a newly-minted part time professional photographer are necessary and welcome along the road to success. Don't fear The Dip - embrace it.
- Brainstorm session: What opportunities do you see in your neighborhood or your town to show your target market (parents of newborns, high school seniors, brides to be, all of the above) who you are and what you can do for them? What's stopping you? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- This article is just the first of many on marketing to be featured here at PartTimePhoto.com. If you like what you've learned here, please don't hesitate to click the "Subscribe" link at the top of any page of this site.
- What's the best marketing advice you've ever been given? What marketing effort has produced your best clients? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.
What should I charge for my part time photography? - Your First Customer Series, Part 3
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
[2014 follow up, here: How to price your photography, Pt. II]
[2012 follow up, here: Pricing for growth versus pricing for profit]
Here's where a lot of new-to-the-game professional photographers get stuck.
"My friends tell me I take really good photos. I want to start charging and getting customers, but how much do I charge? What if I charge too much? I can't charge as much as that guy, he's a lot better than I am. Oh man, what if I charge too much and people realize I don't know what I'm doing and they're disappointed and my business is ruined before I ever get started?"
At which point, most people promptly hyperventilate and pass out.
Pricing any product or service is a simple enough theory: you're worth what people will pay you. The sweet spot is in charging the most money you can while attracting the most customers.
Many photo grognards will tell you that you have to charge $XXX to make any money at all, otherwise you're not a professional and you're undermining the industry and you're going to go straight out of business.
Let's ask the market, though:
- Do some people get their photos done at Wal-Mart? Yes.
- Do some people get their photos done with <insert work-from-home part time photographer here>? Yes.
- Do some people get their photos done with <insert retail studio here>? Yes.
- Do some people get their photos done with Annie Liebovitz? Yes.
Point being, there is a market for just about any price range and artistic level of photography. I don't feel I'm stretching the imagination by saying that people pay less for Wal-Mart than they do for my own work, and less for me than they do for Annie Liebovitz.
Let's cut to the chase.
What to charge for your part time photography
Here's the pricing system I suggest to any newly-minted professional photographer:
- No session fee
- No minimum order
- $10 - 4x6 print or hi-res digital file
- $15 - 5x7 print
- $20 - 8x10 print or sheet of wallets (8)
- Then double the price for bigger prints: $40 for 11x14, $80 for 16x20, $160 for 20x30.
Simple as that. (I can hear the collective gasp of horror from across the land of "boutique" photographers.)
Now that I've thrown those prices out there, let me issue some clarity:
This pricing system is dead simple and dead easy for you and for your clients. As a fresh-faced professional photographer, most likely with a limited or non-existent portfolio and a yet-developed artistic style, your focus needs to be on practice, building your portfolio, and growing your talent and customer base - and as a professional, you deserve to be paid every step of the way.
When someone asks what you charge and you explain, "I charge no session fee, there's no minimum order, and prints and files start at just $10 - you just buy what you love," you will never - I repeat, never - lose a potential client due to pricing. Do you run the risk of someone really only spending $10 with you for all your time and efforts? Yes, but don't worry about it. Those folks are by far the exception, not the rule, and either way you'll have added another layer to your portfolio and experience.
This pricing system places the onus of responsibility for maximizing profits on your artistic ability. The more great photos you make of your client, the more they will buy. There is no artificial padding of the profits through session fees or minimum orders. Either you produce photos your client wants to buy, or you don't.
There is zero fakery involved. You can show people your portfolio, no matter how small or weak, and if they hire you, they know what they are getting. There is no risk for them because they only buy what they love. There's no risk, and far less pressure, for you because they're only going to buy what they love. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This pricing system takes all the BS and salesmanship and upselling out of the equation. Your goal is not to squeeze and squabble as much money as you can out of your client - your goal is to make art they love and want to buy. Yes, you'll offer guidance when it comes proofing and viewing time, and I'll talk about that in a future article, but your purpose is to maximize their long-term enjoyment of their purchase - not to make that purchase as big as you possibly can. This is how you build lifelong clients and a successful business.
Talent- (read: results-) based pricing
All of that said, the numbers I've thrown out have no knowledge of your artistic ability or your market. I've had 10 years to perfect my pricing in my market to make sure I stay as busy as I want and earn an average amount per client that perfectly meets my personal and business goals.
Pricing, by and large, is best used to increase or decrease your total number of bookings, not to affect your bottom line. Assuming you're marketing yourself properly and your market knows you and what you have to offer (another topic for a future article), you can raise or lower your prices to add to or reduce the number of people booking with you.
When you raise prices, you'll price yourself out of landing some clients. That's perfectly fine - you'll make up their loss with a higher per-client average. If you price yourself too high, you'll lose more clients than you make up with those that remain. This is also perfectly fine if your goal is to reduce bookings.
Your goal is to shoot as many people as you want, to spend as much time working with clients as you choose, while earning enough money in exchange for your time and talents that you feel more than satisfied having made that trade.
I repeat - the goal is not to always make as much money as you possibly can off of every person you can make it from. That mentality will leave you stressed out and burned out. Some people, however, do play business like they play chess, and the numbers game is one they enjoy playing in its own right. If you're like me, you would rather focus on growing as an artist and, as a result, getting paid better and better for your work.
This is not to say you should never raise your prices. I am a firm believer in the adage that if nobody's complaining about your prices, you're not charging enough. But this assumes you're booked solid. If you're just starting out, as an artist and as a business, work on building your portfolio, client base, and artistic ability. When your art and your marketing have people beating a path to your door, then you can start raising prices and maximizing per-client averages and playing the numbers game to your heart's desire.
But, but, but!
But but, you ask: What about framing? What about coasters and key chains and photocookies and mugs and gallery wraps? What about outsourcing my Photoshop work? What about expenses and Cost of Doing Business calculators and Costs of Goods Sold? The grognards are doubtless red-faced that I've spoken of pricing without saying word one about any of these almighty acronyms.
All good questions to be answered in future articles. For now, in this moment of getting your feet wet and landing your first clients, don't worry about it.
If you have a camera, you can start making money with your photography today. And if you don't have a camera at all, I've even got an article in the works for you.
Remember: Ready, Fire, Aim! Start shooting and making money with your photography today. Call a friend or run into someone on the street and book a shoot. Make photos, let them see them, and let them buy them. Go make some art, get out of the way and let your subject buy what they love.
Next Steps
- Call a friend or family member and set up a photo shoot! Go over your list of top money-making outdoor photos, take your subject to the nearest park, and have at it. Invite them over later or the next day, after you've had the chance to cull and process, and show off your work together. Let them buy what they love. Pocket the cash and revel in astonishment that being a professional photographer is just that easy.
- Pay a visit to Google and look up your local competition. Check out their web sites and take note of their prices and where you perceive their artistic level to be. If they don't list their prices (and they probably won't), call them up and ask what they charge. See how they handle the question and what numbers you get. Don't forget to ask about session fees, prices for prints and prices for files.
- If you have the coin, hire one of the photographers for a basic session, even if just to get some headshots. Make sure you budget enough for the session fee and a hi-res file or 8x10 print or two. Enjoy the experience and critically evaluate how the other photographer does business and makes photos. Are they nice on the phone? Do they book shoots on Sundays? What's their turnaround for proofs? Do they proof online or in person? How do they present their pricing and why they charge what they do? How do they work with you during your shoot to get the best possible photos? How do they work with you during the proofing session? Are they helping you get what you want or trying to sell you something you don't necessarily want? What's the final product like? This entire experience will be invaluable for you as a photographer, businessman, and competitor to this and other local photographers.
- Brainstorm session: Who are the best photographers in your market? Why and how? Who are the worst photographers? Why and how? What do you need to do to move away from the worst and closer to the best? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- It's taken me time to find my groove with posting here on PartTimePhoto.com, but I think I've got the hang of this blogging thing now. If you enjoy what you've read here and don't want to miss your daily dish of part time photography goodness, please feel free to click the "Subscribe" link at the top of any page of this web site.
- What do you charge for your photography services? How do you feel about that? What's one thing you could do to earn more? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.
Top 10 money-making outdoor photos of people - Your First Customer Series, Part 2
(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)
It may take some practice on yourself or friends and family, but below you will find the top 10 money-making outdoor photographs you can make of and sell to your portraiture clients as a newly-minted part time photographer.
I'm featuring outdoor portraits here because you can shoot them with just the camera in your hands, and you can shoot them just about anywhere, from a local park or playground to your own back yard.
Aim to start shooting about one hour before sunset. This will give you nice evening light to play with.
For your lighting, you want your subject facing toward the sun. If the sunlight is right in their eyes and they're squinting, move them into some shade but still have them face toward the sun. If you're lucky, you'll get a passing cloud in front of the sun or have overcast skies to act as a big diffuser.
I'll be adding some more in-depth video and photo tutorials for these photos in the future, but for now, use the below guidelines to begin shooting salable portraits of your clients.
Let's visit the great outdoors!
The Headshot
A good headshot fills the frame with your subject's face, preferably from mid-chest or shoulders up. Zoom your camera in all the way and walk away from your subject until they are properly framed. By zooming in, you're reducing your depth of field, which will give you a nice, soft background.
The biggest part of the headshot is a natural expression (preferably a candid smile or laugh between funny faces) and good lighting. If your lighting is too harsh or too far to the side, you'll get nasty and unflattering shadows across the eyes and face. Make sure the eyes always look fabulous.
Don't have to worry about background too much with these, since almost all of the frame will be filled with the subject. As always, try to have a complimentary and simple background. Avoid busy or clashing backgrounds at all costs.
Mix this up with a nice pair of sunglasses and you can get another set of fun and stylish photos. Once you've got what you like from a standing-back, zoomed-in position, zoom all the way out, get close, and do some wide-angle headshots. Make sure your background is clean and complimentary, lift your camera overhead and shoot down at wild angles, and have fun with it.
The 3/4 (Three-Quarters) Shot
The 3/4 Shot goes up from your subject's thighs, waist, or torso, including arms and hands. We'll introduce a bit of body posing with this portrait.
Make sure your lighting looks good on your subject (I'll say this every single time - learn to look at the light and shadows on your subject's face before you even lift your camera to take a shot), then have them "just slightly" push their shoulders back and arch their backs. If they suddenly look like they sat on a cactus, have them loosen it up a bit.
Where your subject's hands will go depends on what they're wearing. Thumbs can go in jean pockets for a Western look, arms can cross for a powerful stance, hands can go to hips (with a little hip swish to the side) for a more model-esque pose, hands can go in jacket pockets if they're wearing one, etc.
Look for something natural and fitting: unless you're breaking the ice and being funny, cowboys shouldn't swish their hips and khaki-wearers shouldn't hook their thumbs in their pockets.
Women going for a model look can do the hip thing, put hands in their back pockets, bring their hands up to mess with their hair, etc. You can turn most women loose with posing in a 3/4 shot and they'll do fine on their own.
Your background is going to be more visible in this shot, so make sure it doesn't hurt the image. If it's loud, noisy, overbearing, super busy, or just not complimentary to the photo, change positions. Have your subject lean against a tree if you must, but maintain a clean background.
This photo set should also be shot from a distance, zoomed in. Feel free to introduce some sunglasses and/or wide angle shots if you like, but since we're shooting more body this time, the final impact will be less pronounced.
The Close-up Shot
Not for the faint of heart or those with particularly poor skin.
The close up shot is a twice-as-close headshot, focusing greatly on the eyes, filling almost every inch of the frame with your subject's face.
Definitely step back and zoom in to take this photo. Wide-angles up close will exaggerate features well beyond attractiveness. That said, if you have a funky subject, go for it - never let your own snobbery of how a portrait should look take precedence over what the client wants and will buy.
When you're this close, make sure you aren't casting a shadow (even faint) on your subject.
When you like the lighting on your subject's face, let them give you several expressions, and play to their best features. If someone has bad teeth, aim for closed-mouth smiles and dramatic or intense facial expressions. If they have a great smile, start cracking jokes. If they have amazing eyes, get super close on those. If they have great hair, or if their hair is a big part of their style, be sure it frames or comes forward a bit to accent their face.
Since a close-up is more of an artsy and intimate image, play around with having your client look away from the camera, pose their head to the left or right and have them look both toward you and away, and if they're the jocular type, have them make some funny faces.
Good close-ups make great MySpace and Facebook defaults.
The Layback Shot
Find something for your subject to lay back on. I'm lucky to have a great spot on a tree at my city park where my subjects can lay back comfortably, but you can use a flat surface like a patch of grass or a park bench.
You'll have your subject lay down, and turn/lean their head back to look at you. As always, make sure your lighting looks good, and if their faces aren't catching even light, rotate them until they look great.
Have your subject arch their back a bit to make it easier for them to look back to you. Take your time and get a natural pose here - if your subject is straining their neck too much or too twisted around, their discomfort will show up in the final photo.
Hands can go down the side into/around pockets, their far hand can go up behind their head, and the near hand can stay down, go in a jacket pocket, or reach up to grip a lapel.
This mostly looks good as a dramatic photo, but as with every photo, try to work a range of expressions in. Go crazy and cull out the misses later when you're on the computer.
The Bench Shot
A good park bench is a great prop for posing. Your subject can sit, stand, or lay on it, and any which way, it creates visually interesting horizontal lines in the image.
Work your angles and expressions, primarily focusing on straight-on shots capturing the long side of the table or bench. Overhead shots can be good here as well to create some angled lines through your image.
The Standing On Something Shot
I may not be creative with naming these shots, but this is one of the more dramatic photos you'll take of your subject.
Find something that your subject can stand on, preferably a something that creates a statuesque appearance. A chair, a rock or cement wall, a pillar of some sort, a table, a tree stump, whatever's available.
Go for dramatic and goofy poses and expressions here. Try to get your camera down around your subject's foot level and shoot up at them. Primarily do this zoomed in, but try some wide angles as well. Dramatic poses should give your subject the appearance of a statue on display, and goofy stuff can include flamingo one-legged stances and bird-in-flight pantomimes.
The Wide Shot
You'll have to do some hunting and practice your landscape photographer's eye to find a good place, but seek out some good scenery to do a landscape-style photo with your subject as a small but highlighted feature in the shot.
A tree that overhangs a hillside, a select tree out of a row of a dozen, a lone tree in a field (can you tell I shoot around trees a lot?), a hillside or field covered in green grass or flowers... You get the idea. Get in a position where you can shoot a wide-angle photo of this beautiful landscape or natural feature, and pose your subject in a key point.
If photographing the overhanging tree, place your subject in the frame created by the branches which dip down at their tips. If shooting the lone tree, seat your subject at the side of the tree, or stand them in front of it. If you can shoot from a high position, lay your subject in that field of flowers and let them be the unique break, and thus focal point, in the pattern the landscape creates.
Your subject will be very small in this photo, so pose them dramatically enough that they don't appear as just sticks or squares in the photo. Extend the pose enough to create more interesting shapes. Make them take up some space around them.
The Funky Angle Shot
Go wide-angle and shoot from an unusual angle on your subject. I love to shoot overhead for these, but you can lay down and shoot from ground level, or just get close and twist the camera so your subject takes up the frame corner-to-corner instead of top-to-bottom.
This is a playful type of shot, so feel free to play around with your subject to get a memorable image.
The Down The Road Shot
Roads, not unlike the done-to-death train track, create nice lines in an image.
Place your subject in the middle of a road (do mind the traffic), or off to one side or the other, and look for a shot which includes the bold graphic element of the road and the lines on the road. Have your subject take a bold stance if in the middle of the road, or have them turn toward the road if they're posed to the side. If to the side, place your subject in the left or right side of the frame, with the road filling the rest.
After you nail your straight-on shots, do some funky angle shots and do some overheads. The bold lines that roads create will, if captured properly, give your portrait a big boost in style.
The Jump Shot
Ahh, The Jump Shot - a must for nearly every subject I photograph, in the studio or outdoors. Seniors, brides, children...none are exempt from the coolness of this photo.
Find a place where you can get below your subject's feet; the crest of a hill, a low wall, whatever works for you.
Lay down. Get extra low for this shot. The lower you are, the higher it will appear your subject jumps, even if they are notably sans "ups."
Get some space between you and your subject, but stay close enough that you can shoot zoomed out for a nice wide-angle effect.
For the jump, tell your subject to get as high as they can on the jump, and have them go all-out cheerleader. Guys and gals both should throw their hands up and kick their heels back. Big laughs and wide-mouthed smiles look great here.
Snap your photo at the apex of their jump. If you're shooting with a point-and-shoot, you'll have to play with your timing to make this happen. Pre-focus on your subject to reduce the delay.
Watch the background in this one - your subject should have nothing buy sky behind them. If there are trees or buildings disturbing your subject's blue-sky background, the flying effect won't be as strong.
This is always a fun photo to make and show to clients, and one that often sells as a big print.
Bonus: The Prop Shot
I have a couple of bonus shots for you, separate from the rest because they involved props.
The appropriately-named Prop Shot involves the inclusion of just about anything that your subject will pose with - a pet, sports gear, hobby gear (such as a camera!), etc.
Whatever the prop is, your first priority is to show your subject interacting with the prop, and your second is to have the subject interact with the camera at the same time.
If your subject wants to pose with their dog, they're holding the dog in their arms and the pup starts licking their faces, great photos will be had. If you can catch your subject laughing and looking at the camera while this is going on, it will make an even better photo.
If your subject wants a shot of them swinging on a swing, get a nice low angle down and to the side of them so you can catch them at the top of their forward swing; if you can get them to look back/down at you while laughing or smiling, even better.
Interacting with the camera, in any case, is secondary to them interacting naturally with their prop of choice. If you're doing a profile shot of a subject kissing their pet potbelly pig, the mid-laugh smoochy shot is going to be far and away better than then snuggling and smiling at the camera shot. Make them both, but know which one will sell more prints.
Bonus: The Car Shot
A car is really just a big prop, but because of its size and usually very personal relationship with its driver, it gets special mention here.
A car says a lot about its owner. A beat up old truck can lend as much character to a portrait as a slicked-up Porsche can add style to another.
Get photos of your subject in the driver's seat, leaning against the car James Dean style, sitting on the hood or tailgate, do a Layback Shot on the hood, ask for stories about the driver's experience with the car and then try to recreate that experience. If they rebuilt the engine, get photos of them under the hood poking around, or slid underneath the car with just their legs sticking out. Find the connection between the driver and the car and make some fun and memorable photos which capture that connection.
Practice makes perfect
Phew! That's 2,443 words of ideas to get you kick-started taking money-making photographs of your portraiture clients. Start practicing what you've learned above and build your own set of favorite money-making photos so you never have to "make it up as you go along" unless you want to.
Keep in mind, this is by no means an in-depth or exhaustive list; as you grow as an artist, and expand your repertoire of favorite images to make of clients, you'll start to enter a flow state when you're shooting and go naturally and easily from one pose and place to the next.
In the near future you'll find here on PartTimePhoto.com some fun and dead-simple video and photo tutorials to help you more visually learn to make the most of these photo opportunities.
Next Steps
- Take a drive around your town or neighborhood and explore the outdoor areas which would be ripe for good photos. Look for parks and playgrounds especially. Walk around your own back yard and see what little nooks would be great to take portraits in.
- Grab a friend or family member and practice, practice, practice. Print out or download this list to your iPhone and setup by setup, practice each photo, and practice getting good expressions from your subjects. Remember, you're a working photographer now - let your guinea pig subject know that they can get with you to view the photos at a later date and buy what they love.
- Have fun practicing and have fun on your shoots. You will make far better photos, and your subjects will enjoy the experience a great deal more. Remember, your art will take time to grow, but your ability to provide clients with a fantastic experience lies in your hands right now.
- Hold a practice viewing session with your guinea pig subject and look at your take together. See which images get the best reaction from them. See if they're interested in buying any of them. Take note of what really floats their boat, and keep this in mind for your upcoming brainstorm session - these are the photos that you want to lean toward making with future clients.
- Check out the work of Flickr artists from their outdoor portraiture sessions.
- Brainstorm session: Write down your thoughts on which photo setups gave you your best images, both artistically to you and financially to your subject. Those photos that they were really happy with are what you'll want to be sure you shoot every time with your clients. File this in your Brainstorms folder.
- If you're interested in maximizing your financial and enjoyment benefit from your part time photography business, feel free to click the "Subscribe" link at the top of any page of this web site. I'm very thankful for your readership!
- How would you classify some of your favorite outdoor portraits? Do they fit in any of the above categories? If not, how would you classify them? What have you learned is your best-seller image? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.