People ask me all the time why I frequently travel for engagement shoots. Many photographers balk at driving more than 30 minutes to photograph an engagement session, since the actual shoot time for these sessions is usually a few hours at most. So why is it that I’m more than eager to hop on a plane and travel across the continent just for a shoot that will last a few hours? Here’s just a few of the reasons why I love traveling for these engagement shoots: 1. It’s crucial to photograph people in places that are meaningful to them. When I’m traveling for an engagement shoot, I often travel to the place where the couple first met or where they currently live. About half the
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How to Bring out the Best in Your Boudoir Client, Part 1: Overcoming Doubts & Fears
Bringing out the best in a real woman starts with letting her know what to expect and taking the performance pressure off of her. Most women who approach me for a shoot have similar concerns and hesitations. Make sure to address each of them by keeping it light with a sense of humor, validating her feelings, and letting her know what to expect. The most common doubts I hear are: “I DON’T KNOW HOW TO POSE.” I usually respond to this hesitation with a laugh and say, “Good! Let’s not do that.” I explain how I’ll coach her by giving her simple directions, like “toss your hair.” I also reassure her that I will always demonstrate what I have in mind first. I make sure
Three Essential Skills for Today’s Wedding Photographer
Times….they are a changin’. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard some of the doom and gloom that’s been rumbling in our industry. And although the photo industry is different than it used to be, this isn’t necessarily bad news. The photographers who are able to successfully navigate the changing industry landscape are still running successful businesses and have adapted to ensure that their business will still be around in the years to come. Whether you’re just jumping in and are new to the industry or you’re a seasoned pro, here are three essential skills that will help you succeed. 1. Choose your Words Wisely. As you’ve built your photography business, at some point you probably were told about the exercise of
What Donald Draper Tells Us About Happiness
Photo by The Youngrens “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is OK. You are OK.” Donald Draper (Mad Men, 2007) Even the old school ad guys got this one right. My good friend Don (yes, the fictional character Donald Draper) knew that he was never just selling products, he was selling happiness. In order to do this he had to figure out how what he was selling resonated with his ideal client’s unique idea of happiness. Your products and services aren’t just products and services. They represent memories,
How To Bring Out Authentic Emotion in Your Shoots
Jeff and I were just in San Francisco this past week and in the course of four days we shot three engagement sessions for three incredibly unique and beautiful couples. Each couple was very different from the others – their stories were distinct and their personalities were one of kind. We absolutely LOVE that all of our couples have such unique stories and personalities – we wouldn’t trade this job for anything – but photographing so many different types of personalities can also be challenging, right? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if every one of our couples responded the same way to our jokes? If they all looked great in the same type of poses? If their senses of humor all clicked perfectly with
Get Out There! How Getting Away Has Grown Our Business
You can’t do a good job if your job is all you do. At the end of the day, your job is an extension of your life. We learned this lesson the hard way, and we’re still learning it. We’re learning that sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is to give it some space. Wide. Open. Space. As most photographers would say, we’ve always put our clients first. In the six years we’ve been in business, we’ve held tight to this philosophy, knowing that our clients are our greatest partners. In every decision we made, the guiding voice in our heads told us that making ourselves available to our clients would naturally bring us success. And so, we made ourselves available.
4 Ways To Make Your Clients Comfortable On Engagement Shoots
I spent the entire week stressing about my engagement session. Though I know that photographers shoot dozens of these sessions each year, I spent hours upon hours doing everything I could to prepare. And still, when the time for our shoot came, I was nervous and insecure. But within the first few minutes of my engagement shoot, my photographers, Jeff and Erin Youngren, calmed my nerves and set the tone for what turned out to be a wonderful experience. Though I’m not a photographer myself, I know that great photographers do more than just take nice photos. And being in front of the camera for my engagement session, I was reminded again of how important the client-photographer relationship is. Being a bride myself, I know
6 Tips for Hosting Effective and Profitable Boudoir Mini-Sessions
**In honor of Cupid, this blog post is the second in our February series on Boudoir photography. See more posts on Boudoir photography…** A typical boudoir day for me consists of anywhere from seven to twelve clients coming into my studio in one day. While powering through sessions might not work for everyone, with some practice you can effectively have profitable and fun boudoir sessions! Here are a few tips for having an effective and profitable marathon boudoir session. It all starts in the marketing. In order to be able to book several clients in one day, you have to be able to get several clients to sign up. The best way to do this is to create a special that limits the number of
Tips for Getting Started in Boudoir Photography
I receive tons of emails from enthusiastic photographers who are catching boudoir fever and would love to know how to get started! Here’s a perfect example: “I am just starting out as a photographer and would love to do Boudoir. There are so many things I need to do and learn, and I am working to raise the money needed for equipment, sets, and marketing. I’m not sure what to do first or how to really get started!” Here is my best advice for a helpful approach in getting started, how to prioritize your investments, create a smoking hot portfolio, and get that first boudoir client! KEEPING A PLAYFUL AND INTELLIGENT APPROACH As a boudoir photographer and as a woman, I live by the following
Character Marketing: Why do your clients hire you?
Why do clients hire you? Think about it for a minute. Over the past 13 years as a photographer/entrepreneur, I’ve realized that the reason people hired me was not always what I assumed it was, especially in the beginning years of building my business and reputation. I would have liked to think that people hired me because they had to have me as their photographer. Looking back over my first few years though, I realized that many of the people who hired me did so not because of who I was, or what I did, but for some other lesser reason. They might have hired me because I was the most economical, because I sold them on me, because I had a show special, or because I