TABLEofCONTENTS

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Introduction

Marketing Your Portrait Photography: How to Target an Audience and Showcase a Brand

Getting Down to Business: Pricing Portrait Photography

Growing a Portrait Photography Business from the Ground Up: Laura Novak

Creating a Pricing Structure That Works for You: Jennifer Chaney

Building Client Relationships: Hannah Gough

How to Be a Storyteller: Jen Basford

6 Tips for Taking Fun Portraits of Kids

4 “Back to Basics” Tips for Senior Portrait Photographers

Conclusion

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What is portrait photography? Families, kids and senior photography is one of the most popular areas of portrait photogra-phy. Photographers working in this market have to enjoy working with groups, understand family dynamics, and should be great with children, teens or babies. But what makes one portrait photographer stand out from the crowd, and how do they foster a thriving business?

Over the next pages you’ll find interviews with successful and talented photographers specializing in families, kids, and senior portraiture who have done just that. They shared with us how, through trial and error, they built their businesses. From what they put online to help subjects get to know them before stepping foot in the door, to how they determine portrait package prices,—this guide is full of useful tools to connect with potential clients and build a real brand. And stay tuned, Part II of this guide coming out in late September, will offer major insights to help editorial and commercial portrait photographers grow their businesses, too.

Let’s first get started with an overview of what makes a great portrait photographer great.

A consistent and high quality productConsistency and high quality shows up in a few different ways for great portrait photog-raphers. First, it’s about the product. Photographers who are able to deliver stylistically consistent, high-quality images are those who have an intimate understanding of how to work with a wildly diverse clientele under any conditions; manage assistants, unruly toddlers, groomers, family dynamics, plus meet deadlines with ease.

Consistency and quality as a portrait photographer also means being great to work with. Clients expect an amazing set of images delivered to their inbox—on time and within budget. But what will make you stand out is being calm on set, being fun to work with, and being likeable.

IntroductionConnecting with people and building relationshipsFamily, kids, and senior portraiture is an intimate art form, which means your clients need to trust you. And trust can’t be faked. But, as you know, expecting trust from some-one you met five minutes ago is tough, if not impossible. Laura Novak, of Little Nest Portraits, says that as a portrait studio specializing in young children, babies, and fam-ily portraits, having a physical shopfront in the community has been very important to building relationships with her clients. “Having a physical presence helps establish credibility and trust for us. If someone is bringing what is most important to them in the entire world, their children, then trust is extremely important.”

Knowing how to connect with clients on shoot day and be an expert in body language and social cues is also crucial, both so your subjects can enjoy their time with you and to help you get “that shot.” Jen Basford of 3 girls photography, specializing in teens and senior portraits, says, “If you’re not connecting with your client and you don’t understand that one little tilt of the head shows a sign of confidence, for example, then you can miss out on great opportunities to capture a memorable moment.”

Successful portrait photographers will say again and again—in order to build relation-ships, you must go above and beyond superficial chit-chat and become invested in your clients’ lives and hobbies to help establish relationships that are real.

Knowing how to capture and create momentsIf you ask great successful portrait photographers about their best photos—the ones that captured raw emotion—you’ll notice that they often got that photo when they scrapped a great plan and circumstances presented a better one. The trick for portrait photographers, whose subject matter is staged (versus photographers who capture life as it happens and often without the subjects’ awareness), is spontaneity.

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That said, planning is key to capture these moments of spontaneity. As the photographer, if you are confident, prepared, and ready to give strong direction, you will be more open to creative ideas as they pop up.

For example, many photographers create storyboard-like collages of what they’re en-visioning for a shoot. Seeing images of the tone, the styling, and the staging will allow everyone on set to work more efficiently together, and that’s the kind of atmosphere that will give subjects the space to relax and be themselves. If you and your client have every-thing you need to feel comfortable, then you’ll have your eyes open when great moments present themselves.

Being a storyteller Telling the story of your portrait subjects means evoking their personality on shoot day. This is done with the use of setting, lighting, styling, pose and some research.

Portrait photographers who can tell a subject’s story in one photo are observant and able to see better than anyone else what makes the subject different. However, storytelling is also about your personal shooting style. Choices such as background, fill flash, closeup or full-body shots will be critical to delivering your vision. Should your subject’s entire body be showing, or is it his or her face and emotions that matter to you? Developing this can take years, and as Jen Basford told us, is often learned by trial and error.

Finding the right locationLocations can make or break your portrait shoot. Often families will want environmental shots and photographers need to be able to organize the logistics of getting a family to a location and also have a backup location in mind if necessary. That’s why scouting and being prepared for things like what time the light will be best, how a location will look in a particular season, and gauging your subject’s reaction to the location prior to the shoot, are all part of being prepared.

What to also keep in mind: you may not have a lot of time with your subject. Especially if it’s a family with very young kids, you should expect to have less time than you’d like. Be prepared by mapping out locations within walking distance to the one you’ve chosen first so that you won’t lose time (and precious attention-spans) getting there.

Peter Casey, Virginia Beach-based photographer who shoots senior portraits, also point-ed out that when photographing teenagers, it is very important to get seniors away from friends, and even eventually from family (around whom they’re always going to be a little stiff ). Take your subjects for a short walk. If you lose 15 minutes in travel but gain the benefit of a few better shots taken in the new location, do it.

Keep in mind, too, that a lot of family and teen portrait photography will need to be done in a studio. This means single-person operators need either access to a studio with equip-ment or will have to invest (either by renting or buying).

SCOuTiNg LOCATiONS

You won’t always have the luxury of scouting locations before a shoot, but if you can, do it. Check out

how you’ll be able to set up, what access you’ll have, whether permits will be required (public parks or

unmarked private property). Establish how close you’ll be to other locations that can be used if the first

just isn’t working for the subject. For example, you may want to cut time out of shooting to walk to a new

location, if it means getting a better setting. A good location is key, and can help you hold the attention of

your subject longer.

TipS

StylingWhether you’re working with families or teens, indoors or out, you will probably need to manage the styling and makeup of your subjects. Here’s what you should consider when working with different portrait clients.

FAmiLiES: Do you need to instruct them on what to wear? Though many photographers shy away from telling clients what to wear to portrait sessions, when it’s a family it can be helpful to get everyone onboard with wearing non-clashing patterns. Make sure you have a few basic grooming items in your tool kit, but in general grooming is less extensive for families than it is for individuals (such as seniors).

SENiOrS: Seniors want to know what to wear to their portrait sessions. As Jen Basford, senior portrait photographer at 3 girls photography said, “When you do a Google search, the number one thing that is still searched for by high school seniors is, ‘what

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to wear to your senior pictures.’” That said, you should make the choice to provide hair and makeup. If you are, then you will need to find a stylist.

BABiES ANd NEWBOrNS: These will be studio portraits, so you’ll need to have soft props and backdrops on hand. Props often comprise the bulk of the styling in these kinds of shots and will help to define your personal portrait brand. Do you want parents included? Do you want certain colors or textures to define your newborn work? Remember that whether you’re shooting in a studio or in a home environment, babies can’t stand yet, so his or her ability to pose is quite limited. Considering that real challenge, check out these tips on Posing Babies and capturing their expressions by award-winnning portrait photographer Jennifer Dell.

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Marketing Your Portrait Photography: How to Target an Audience and Showcase a BrandCreating a brand often starts with specializing in a particular area, and is honed by many factors like location, styling, and vision. The secret that any successful portrait photogra-pher will tell you: you’re not being paid because you have a camera; you’re being hired be-cause you have a distinct style and brand. Says senior portrait photographer, Jen Basford, “I always encourage people to understand their unique value proposition—what people can’t get somewhere else. Once they’ve figured that out then their marketing will start to rock.”

It’s important that portrait photographers looking to increase their bookings need to stay top of mind for the clients they are targeting, too. That’s why successful photographers keep track of their contacts, sending friendly emails just to say hello around the holidays, e-blasts and newsletters showcasing new work, and following up after jobs with notes to the people they worked with. For example, Hannah Gough of Hannah Photography in Brisbane calls her clients after their job is complete to make sure that they are completely satisfied with their experience. The extra personal touch makes her stand out from the competition.

Your great personality and professionalism are also key to word-of-mouth marketing and business growth. And what’s one of the best ways to showcase your personality to potential clients? Blogging.

Laura Novak’s Little Nest serves families in Pennsylvania, but what further sets her stu-dios apart from photographers in the same market, is the brand that the company has heavily invested in, and their blogging practice. Every full-session gets blogged and cli-ents get a sneak peek before they’ve even seen their images. “It helps enormously with word-of-mouth referrals. Our moms are online and get really excited when their kids are featured on our blog or Facebook page. Every mom wants to think that their kid is the cutest and a featured blog post let’s them show that off.” says Laura.

Reasons to blog about your portrait sessions:

» Not only does this help your clientele spread the word about your work, but it will show prospective clients what they can expect from you.

» It helps your prospective clients get to know you through your voice and will build your trust capital in your community. Parents especially need to feel safe in order to bring you their business, so let them get to know that others have had a great experiences with your services and are talking about it.

» A frequently updated blog also shows that you’re excited about the work you do and you like to celebrate your clients.

Here are a few more marketing Do’s and Don’ts that every portrait photographer should follow:

• Dosendoutemailcampaignswithnewworkfeaturingcreativeandrecentshootswithfamilies

orkids.Gettipsfromphotographerswhouseemailmarketingtoattractnewclientsinourguide

EmailMarketingforPhotographers.

• Doblogfrequently.Getinspiredbyalistofrecommendedblogtopics,suchasbehind-the-scenes

ofarecentshoot,top10lists,interviews,andgearreviewsinThePhotographyBlogHandbook.

Thetoneofyourblogshouldalsoshow-offyourpersonality,whichisimportantforparentsto

getasolidholdonwhoyouarebeforetheyhireyoutointeractwiththeirchildren.

dO ThiS

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• DoworkonyourwebsiteSearchEngineOptimization(SEO),keywordingandmetadatawhenever

youhaveafreemoment.Makesuretoincludewordsfromyourkeywordhitlistthatrange

fromgeneraltomorespecificterms.Forexample,ifyou’reafamilyportraitphotographerbased

inPrinceton,NewJersey,yourkeywordlistmayincludetermslike:“portraitphotography”,

“Princeton,NJportraitphotographer”,“NewJerseyfamilyportraiture”,etc.Formoretipson

creatingyourkeywordhit-list,checkoutourguide,SEOforPhotographers.

• Doupdateyourwebsitebecauseit’sagreatwaytoshowyourcustomersthatyou’reconstantly

producinggreatwork.Familiesandteensespeciallywillwanttoknowasmuchaboutyouas

possiblebeforetheymeetyouforaportraitsession,soletthemknowthatyouareawareofthis

andthatyouwantthemtogettoknowyouonline.

• Docarrycards,printedleave-behinds,andanewslettersignupsheeteverytimeyou’reworking

inagroupsettingsuchasclassportraitsorprivatepartyphoto-boothcommissions.

• Don’tbeafraidtofollowupwithpotentialclients—youwanttoknowifyourclientshavehadagood

experiencewithyourwork,becauseyourfamily,babyorteensubjectscouldeasilybecomerepeat

customers.Followingupwillalsogiveyouanopportunitytopresentthesekindsofrepeatservices.

You’reinasalesbusiness,soyoushouldbecomfortablepitchingyourworkandyourservicesto

thoseyou’veworkedwithinthepast.

• Don’tleaveyourwebsiteuntouchedforoverayear.Withoutconsistentupdates,yourbusiness

willappearoutdatedandyou’lllosethecommunitytrustcapitalyou’vebuiltwhileyouwere

activeandupdatingfrequently..

• Don’tover-promoteyourbusinessonsocialmedia.Fillingpeople’sfeedswithyourportraitimages

andpromoscanharmyourbrandandwillturnintovisualwhite-noise.Teensespeciallywillknow

quicklyifyouronlinepresenceisoverkill.

• Don’traiseyourpricestoohigh,toofast.Ifyouadjustyourprices,youneedtobereadyto

explaintheincreasetoclients.Ifyouareanactivememberofyourlocalandonlinemarket

communitiesthenyourclientsaregoingtoknowthatyourchangesjustshifteddramatically.

Youcouldalienateprospectiveclientsandverypossiblyendupwithoutanywork.

• Don’tuseyourportraitsubjectsinmarketingmaterialsbeforegettingtheirpermission.

• Don’tfillyourportfoliowithportraitsofpeopleinonepose,especially“arms-crossed-over-chest”.

Youwon’tstandoutandyouwillcomeacrossaportraitphotographerwithnouniquestyle.

dON’T dO ThiS

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Ok, so you’re great at taking photos. To be a great portrait photographer, you need clients and a consistent flow of business so you can keep producing great work and bring in money.

Keep in mind, many if not most portrait photographers, pursue multiple niches in order to grow their businesses. In a PhotoShelter survey, The Photographer’s Outlook on 2013, we found that “the top speciality of full time pros surveyed is commercial photography (13% of full time pros), and of that population, most pursue portrait photography as a secondary specialty (30%).”

That said, there is a line between offering too much and being such a specialist that you won’t be able to make a living. Each photographer should find this balance for him or herself—hone your offerings to what you’re best at, what makes you most happy, and what your ideal client is asking for.

It’s also very important to know how your client plans to consume photography, plus the common licensing practices, fee structures, and pricing packages associated with your area of portrait photography. Let’s dive into a few best practices.

pricing portrait packagesLaura Novak, founder of Little Nest Portraits based in Pennsylvania, is a firm believer in using PPA, the Professional Photographers of America’s standards to set a floor for your pricing package, and then increase your prices if your audience is willing to pay a premium for your styling.

If you’re offering portrait sessions with print packages, for example, you’ll need to first consider what your clients are likely to want as the final product. Are you serv-ing families who want printed canvases? A married couple that wants an album? A graduating senior who needs wallet prints to send to 150 relatives and friends? Start there, and then do some research to find out what people in your local market are

Getting Down to Business: Pricing Portrait Photographycharging. Understand how much you need to make to stay in business, and what your ideal client would want to pay. One thing many photographers will tell tell you right off the bat is that you must experiment. There is a sweet spot that you’ll have to find by polling clients and adjusting accordingly.

Prints and other products will comprise a large chunk of your profit if you’re work-ing directly with consumers. But, as Jennifer Chaney says, making these kinds of sales is really contingent on your comfort being a salesperson, and understanding what your client is paying for, what they are willing to pay for, and what the cost will be for you.

When Jennifer is helping other photographers figure out how to price packages, she often recommends one of three options:

Session Fee with a la carte pricing or packages

Session fee, all digital

Packages only (one or three)

Let’s break those down:

CrEATiNg A SESSiON FEE: If you’re setting a new pricing structure, consider starting out with a basic session fee. This should be determined by what you need to make per hour to stay in business and also take into account what your target client can realistically pay. When deciding this fee, you should factor in travel, number of subjects you’ll be working with, and time spent back in the office preparing and delivering files. As you might have noticed already, these numbers can be all over the board. Some photographers charge $50 an hour with a budget for five hours ($250 for the basic session, no prints or files included), others charge anywhere from $500 to $5000 for their sessions.

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SESSiON FEE, pLuS ALL digiTAL: This is often a favorite because there’s no pressure to sell a product later on. This package includes your session, plus image processing and all images delivered in a disc or via a private gallery, downloadable online.

pACKAgES: Start with the basic session fee plus a variety of “extras” like prints, albums or canvases. When building a package you need to understand what it is your client will want and offer them a variety of packages with products that make sense for them. Is it a family that will likely want canvases? Or is a couple who will want an album but no prints because they’d prefer to print on their own? You need to think through how your clients plan to consume your photography and offer packages that reflect those needs..

“In general, to figure out what to charge, you should look at what comparable photogra-phers are charging around you. You don’t want to be too high or too low. Once you start booking people and making money, you can then slowly adjust by incrementally increas-ing the session fee or product prices”, says Jennifer.

For those who feel comfortable with in-person sales, Jennifer adds, “Be organized. Know your prices cold, be confidant and use a product like Preveal. It’s an affordable, super easy to use iPad app that will increase your sales by helping you actually show your clients what their wall gallery will look like.”

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Growing a Portrait Photography Business from the Ground Up: Laura NovakLaura Novak is the founder of Little Nest Photos, a portrait studio for families, children and babies. Laura has been a photographer for over ten years and Little Nest was born out of her love of photography and capturing the life’s moments. Her portrait studio has two locations, one in Glen Mills and one in Wayne, Pennsylvania and has a staff of fourteen professionals who assist with everything from photography to sales. Laura told us how build a portrait business from the ground up and to maintain a brand that is loved and trusted by families.How did you target a niche and a grow your presence online?

Targeting an audience and growing your business is really about knowing who your ideal customer is, in any market category. If it’s babies, find out where the local moms are looking for photographers. Try to put yourself in those places. If it’s an OBGYN office or a birthing center or Mommy and Me class, make sure you’re visible in those locations. And for every age group, know where those moms are going so that they can be exposed to you.

In terms of building a web presence, there’s really no better way to grow an audience than to blog each portrait session. We blog every full portrait session that we do. As soon as our images are ready and beatified we put our favorites on the blog. It gives clients a sneak peek, even before the ordering takes place. We do it for every single person who does a full session with us (we don’t do it for mini sessions). This is something that makes us special. Between our two locations we see over one thousand families every year. It’s something very special for the customer. It gets customers excited; they can see and share our favorite images with their friends and families who may also be potential customers!

Laura Novak, Founder, Little Nest Photos

www.littlenestphoto.com

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What tips do you have for reaching new clients?You need to establish your reputation, which is the hardest thing to do. We are pretty established because we’re in shopping centers and have the opportunity to connect with other retailers in person. We’ve gotten to a place where we’ve won awards and our brand is pretty recognizable in the area, and we’ve done that by being very visible. I don’t think that a storefront is the right choice for every photographer just starting out though. But if that’s not something that you’re interested in, get the word out with friends and fam-ily and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Connect with as many people as possible. You never know who could be a potential client or who might know one.

How do you go about building a brand?Your brand is everything: it’s not just the things you can see and touch but the things that you can’t. It is the way you answer the phone, or the timelines and tone of your email responses, or the words you use; or how you finish your packaging. All those details help establish your brand and can make lasting impressions.

There isn’t one way of developing your brand, but you must have a heightened awareness of every interaction with your customer and think about things from their perspective. Too often photographers forget all the pieces of their brand that a customer interacts with and how these things can can be perceived as inconsistent.

How do you maintain brand consistency with a large staff?We have a very specific hiring process. It’s safe to say that it’s hard to get a job here and that’s probably a good thing. The more selec-tive you can be about the talent and the opportunities available within your company or even for those you bring on as an assistant for the day, the stronger your business.

Even if it’s a one-person operation and you’re at a place where you could use a little help, you should still put people through a pretty stringent interview process. You need to see what the person is about, because at the end of the day when your customers are interact-ing with that individual, it’s going to reflect of your business and brand.

Did the scope and scale of your business grow organically?It did; I have a large staff and I’ve been in business over 10 years.

People who are starting out should experiment and see what they enjoy and what they’re good at, what they want to specialize in, and then perfect that before moving on to something else. They might see that they really like working with high school seniors because they enjoy working with someone who will take direction. Others will take an unruly toddler over a teenager any day.

It’s really important to have fun and build a business plan around that. You have to be passionate about what you’re doing because that’s what’s going to pull you through the bumps in the road.

Credit: Little Nest Photos

Credit: Little Nest Photos

Credit: Little Nest Photos

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How do you develop pricing structures and portrait packages?The first thing to do is assess what appeals to your customers in terms of products. We base our pricing on the PPA standard recom-mendations, which are based on market studies. There are benchmarks that can give you a floor for what you should charge so that you can make sure you’re making money. There are very few studies that have taken place in the photographic industry, but PPA has studied, researched and published a standard markup based on their research. There is one standard that retail studios should consider and there is a standard markup that home studios should consider. We really abide by their recommendations; they’ve done that research for us already and we appreciate it.

What I’ve found over and over when I’ve taught any kind of photographer class, is not that photographers are charging too much, but that they’re charging too little.

Most photographers don’t know that they’re not making any money until it’s too late and they’ve already established themselves in their community at a certain price point. It’s rare that a portrait studio would look at their profitability month to month. So they realize they’re not making money when they look at their tax returns and they go into shock. Understanding what your markups are and that you’re making money is really important.

What are some marketing dos and don’ts you’ve learned over the years?Never hire anybody that doesn’t believe in your brand or believe in you. Whoever you hire whether it’s a computer tech or a staff member or an assistant for the day, it’s got to be someone who really loves your company, loves what you’re doing and supports you. Somebody asked me once whether or not you need to be a better artist or a better photographer to be in this business and I thought, you just need to be a better person. If you have staff, inevitably someone will have a different way of doing something than you. Or someone will make a mistake and how you react to that is going to have to have a lot to do with how you relate to your staff. You’re definitely going to have an angry customer, and you’ll develop a reputation from how you deal with your customers.

There’s really no

better way to grow an

audience than to blog

each portrait session.

Credit: Little Nest Photos

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Creating a Pricing Structure That Works for You: Jennifer Chaney Jennifer Chaney is a high-end, San Francisco-based portrait photographer who specializes in families. With a background in finance, fee structures and pricing come easily to her. Since she got started as a portrait photographer, Jennifer has learned that for her high-end clients, session fees are the way to go. She’s not a salesperson, one thing she says every photographer has to know about him or herself before they jump into pricing their portraits. Here’s what Jennifer shared with us about setting up a fee structure that works for you, and for your ideal client.

When determining your pricing structure, where do you start? Pricing is scary for a lot of people, but to me it’s really intuitive. And I think it’s because I’m a world-class consumer. I know how I buy. I think that a photographer’s ideal client is a lot like them with very similar buying and spending habits.

For me, for example, my husband holds the purse strings very tightly, and it’s my job to pry those open. I’d say 90% of my clients are the same way.

How do you price your own work?I offer three packages which all include the session fee and the digital files. I call them “Sessions” because I want to make it clear that they are different from a “package” (which can be added on later and contains prints, albums, etc...)

My inclusive sessions start with a Saturday Morning Session at $2000 and the remaining two sessions are more expensive and equally as unique. I don’t list my prices on my site, but I do tell them that my sessions start at $2000. This gives me more flexibility with pricing and offerings. I can change and adjust as frequently as I want. I love having that freedom!

Jennifer Chaney, Portrait Photographer

www.jenniferchaneyphoto.com

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Keep in mind, there’s lots of different ways for photographers to price themselves. Here’s a look at a few key offerings you can price and offer your clients:

» Base session: This includes your session fee, with no additional add-ons.

» Base session plus digital file: This includes a session, plus image processing, and all of images delivered on a disc or in a download-able, private gallery.

» Session plus a la carte add-ons: With this option, you can start with a session and digital file fee, then offer a la carte items such as prints, albums, canvases, and anything else you can think of (and that makes sense for your client).

» Packages: I recommend creating three distinct packages. Whatever product you decide to include, be sure that each package clearly is different from the others. If you make them too similar, your client will have trouble making a decision.

What’s a good strategy for creating a digital package?For packages, I suggest creating very distinct bundles in a tiered package system. Similar to the cable company: there are a few dif-ferent packages that start with a base (and is typically never enough for anyone), a middle, and a high-end package (that includes way more than most people ever want).

You should have a similar range of packages. At the low end you have the bare bones package, which includes only the session and digital files. At the high end, you’re offering a premium package. The premium package has to be everything you could imagine your client would ever want – albums, multiple canvases, prints, etc. When I begin working with a photographer, I always start by ask-ing what they would buy if money were no object. I recommend including close to whatever they mention as the elements of your premium package. All other packages should pale by comparison.

Your goal however, is for a majority of your clients to purchase your mid-priced package, as that one should accommodate most customers’ needs.

This kind of three-tiered package structure is a little complicated when you’re just starting out, so keep your offerings simple. I also suggest looking around to see what everyone else is charging in your market and what kind of packages they offer. For the total cost of the sale - gross of the session fee plus product sales, a typical fee might be $1,200 to $1,500 for a session <<delete, for example. Beginners will likely be much lower, but if they are regularly booking clients, they can slowly increase prices and then charge twice as much in a year or two.

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How has your fee structure evolved?I have been all over the board with my pricing, and I think you have to try different strategies to find the one that fits for you. I am not a good salesperson, so sitting down for an in-person sales meeting is not going to work for me. Instead, I package all of my ses-sions with the digital files. I shoot, come home to edit and then I send the clients their gallery with the files.

I will also try to up-sell my clients, which I encourage photographers to do. If a client purchases some prints or standouts that they weren’t originally planning to, that’s great because that’s extra money for me. I don’t feel any pressure to do this, though.

When I first started I did what everyone does: I charged a $250 session fee and offered all 5x7” and under prints between $35 to $40 each. You do some funky math that doesn’t make a lot of sense until suddenly you realize the high cost of canvases.

I wasn’t making a profit so I shifted my fee. And when I did, I made a big mistake: I raised my prices too high and too fast. I decided I was going to price my portraits like weddings. Clients would pay for my time, they’d get the digital files and if they wanted to pur-chase anything else after that, they could. To reflect these higher prices, at that time I did a lot with my clients. I went to see them before the shoot, we talked about what they did and how their life was and I got a good idea of who they were. I’d leave, storyboard my concept, come back and shoot the whole session. It was a big package and I was spending more time on them than I wanted to. It was very time consuming.

With my raised fee then set at $5,000 for a session and extras available for purchase after, I also wasn’t getting bites. So I did my due diligence. I met people in my target market and asked for direct feedback about my pricing structure. If photographers are not sure how to price their work, I strongly recommend creating a small focus group of your target audience and picking their brains.

The feedback that I got was that $5,000 was the breaking point, visually. I listened and dropped my session fee down to $4,500 and began picking up clients. I learned that people will pay money, but they want to feel like they’re getting a deal or a bargain.

My biggest tip to photographers is to step back and asses if your current price structure is still working. If not you, they must make a strategic change.

Jennifer’s tips for pricing packages:SpECiALiSTS CAN ChArgE A prEmium.

Specializing is the key to any successful business, be it a swim school, carpenter, or a hair salon. In the eyes of the consumer, special-ists are the experts. And, experts cost more money. When photographers don’t specialize, to a consumer (client) they don’t stand out. The client will then compare on price and go with the least expensive. This is where I believe our industry is failing, because once Photo Jane sees that Photo Jim is getting more clients, she drops her price. Then the tides turn and Photo Jim isn’t as popular. His gut reaction? Drop his price. They’re going to race to the bottom and eventually be miserable or close up shop. Maybe both.

Credit: Jen Chaney

Credit: Jen Chaney

Credit: Jen Chaney

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ONLy SELL WhAT yOu pErSONALLy LiKE Or LOvE.

People buy on emotion, so while they’re salivating to purchase that beautiful portrait of their adorable baby, if you aren’t excited about it, too, it’s going to show. I only sell what I personally would display in my home. If you offer only what you love, sales will become effortless because you can easily become excited about it. And, your clients pick up on that.

KEEp iT SimpLE.

Because we have so many products and options available to us, we can overwhelm our clients with too many choices. When they are overwhelmed, they don’t buy. If you can’t resist the urge to offer a lot of products, at least don’t show them all of the options (mount-ing, sizes, finishes, etc...). If they ask, you can look it up. This way your price sheet will be clean and easy to understand.

BE AS hELpFuL AS pOSSiBLE.

The best sales people aren’t seen as sales-y at all. They’re viewed as helpful and understanding. Take time to get to know your clients and see if you can help solve for any problems they might have. When it comes to photography, what stresses your client out? How can you help alleviate some of that stress?

Credit: Jennifer Chaney Credit: Jennifer Chaney

19| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

Building Client Relationships: Hannah GoughHannah Gough is a portrait and wedding photographer based in Brisbane, Australia. After working with a portrait studio for many years she walked away with a strong sense of what she would need to start her own portrait business. And that’s what she did. Starting with choosing a great area and meeting as many people as she could, she has established herself within the community and her market in just over a year. Here’s what she did to build lasting relationships with clients.

How have you built lasting relationships with clients? This is probably the most important part of my business. There are so many portrait and wedding photographers in Brisbane and around the world, that it’s very important to make a connection with the client so that they will refer me. Making a connection should happen throughout your entire experience with the client which means you need to be consistent, exceed the client’s expectations, and help them enjoy themselves. Then they will be happy to talk to their friends and make a referral.

When I first started, I tried to go out and actually meet with as many people face-to-face in the community as possible—other small businesses that had some kind of connection to my business—party shops and beauticians and hair dressers that meet a lot of wed-ding clients, and wedding venues.

I was lucky to meet a few key people in the area and still today a lot of my referrals are from that initial group. I am lucky that I have a spot here in Brisbane that everyone is really happy to help smaller businesses.

Though I market myself more as a portrait photographer, weddings seem to market themselves. I’ll tend to meet one or two people at a wedding who are getting married and then I book them.

How do you build great customer service into your workflow?I try to implement customer service at each stage of my process. I’ve worked in the hospitality industry, too, and I think that has helped me understand what people need and how to keep them happy. The key is communication. I’ll try to be as available and

Hannah Gough, Portrait and Wedding Photographer

www.hannahphotography.com.au

20| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

communicative as possible, at each stage. Once they’re booked in and confirmed I make sure that I’ve answered any questions they have. I keep them in the loop about my process, and when everything is done, once they have received their frames or prints, I follow up—I want to make sure that they’re happy.

How do you keep portrait clients flowing through your door?Lead generation is very important so that you always have people to reach out to and pitch. One way to generate leads (aka potential clients) for me was to team up with local businesses. I do a lot of family-with-pet portraits, so I gave some vouchers to a pet grooming salon who gave them away to their most loyal clients. It made them look great because they were giving away a $200 gift voucher, and people were happy to have portraits with their pets, and I had people through the door.

I also found that market stalls (a booth or table) were very good at certain events. You can actually get out and meet people, face to face. I have done a couple of fundraisers for the local schools [offering her services as a raffle but also helping to organize the events]. It took a lot of time and money, but I got a lot of clients out of it and I made my money back as well as gained a whole lot of new, quality clients.

What are some of the challenges of wedding portrait photography? I find sometimes with engagement shoots that the couple is a little reluctant and feels a little silly, and it’s quite often the guy. Usually I help them relax by being relaxed myself. Otherwise make sure they have some beers or champagne, that helps as well.

You have to build a rapport beforehand and help ease the client’s nerves. Tell them, it’s not going to kill you to have your photo taken. Have a little fun. Get them to interact and forget that they are in front of the camera. They can start mucking around and you can get some fun photos. By the time the wedding comes around they feel comfortable with me.

The biggest challenge I find shooting weddings is maintaining control over the bridal party after the wedding and reception. Hon-estly, all they want to do is drink, but I still need their attention. It can be tricky juggling all this, keeping them from getting bored and cranky. That’s the biggest challenge—making the shoot worth their time.

What are some marketing tips you can share with other portrait photographers?Face to face marketing is much more effective than print or online media. I’d always rather spend that money on a booth set-up in an affluent community where I can introduce myself to people in person. You have to literally put yourself in the right place.

What have you learned the hard way?Helping out as a photographer at school fundraisers, I have found that the only downfall is that the more you give people, the more they come to expect freebies in the form of photo shoots. You have to be very careful about how you are perceived.

Marketing also takes time. I expected to have people knocking on my door straight away. I still have to be out as much as I can to attract customers.

Credit: Hannah Gough

Credit: Hannah Gough

21| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

How much do prints sales account for in your income? For me that’s where I make my money because I don’t charge a lot for people to come in. I don’t have a big name so people don’t really know what to expect. I take that risk away by not costing a lot of money initially, and if they like the images they can then buy them if they choose. Most of what I sell are frames or albums and digital files are always an option.

My target is to have every client spend $1,000 [that’s Australian dollars], when they do business with me, and that’s currently my average. Sometimes they spend $500 or $1,500 and that’s just a portrait. If they spend $1,000 then I make $500. In theory, I need 10 portrait clients per month to make my monthly goal, but I aim to get 20 portrait customers and two weddings per month.

Credit: Hannah GoughCredit: Hannah Gough

22| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

How to be a storyteller: Jen BasfordJen Basford runs 3 girls photography based in Oklahoma, which specializes in high school senior portraiture. From videos to fashion shows and competitions—Jen’s website and marketing zeroes in on her clientele. Over the years, she has perfected client target-ing, which she spends time refining every year. But, she says, it all comes back to relation-ships. Telling the story of any teen standing in front of her lens requires that she have a connection with that subject. Jen shared with us her system for getting to know people, learning body language, and understanding her clients’ needs—all the key ingredients for telling a story and capturing that perfect moment.

How do you develop your own storytelling style?That’s hard, it’s something I’ve struggled with for years and I continue to refine. But if you’re just beginning, you have to allow your-self the freedom to screw up. Find people you can emulate, and start experimenting. Remember, you have to spend some time figuring out your own style, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

How do you capture personalities? There are many types of emotions and to be true to every client you have to be able to capture a range of feeling. Not everyone is going to be happy and giggly.

To capture this range, establishing trust with your clients is critical to helping you tell their story, especially with the elderly who are from a different generation. And if you’re photographing the Millennial generation and you don’t have that element of trust, nothing you get from them will be real. So when photographing them, in particular, be natural, and don’t force them to look or feel a certain way.

Jen Basford, 3 girls photography

www.3girlsphotography.com

23| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

As a portrait photographer, how do you tell a story through a single image, or a series of images?To tell a story through a single, it’s important that you put your subject in the right environment. In the beginning, make sure things are up and your subject can get comfortable. Once they are, start shooting as you speak to them. You’ll find that they start begin to relax—they move their body a little more normally and open the door to more “real” moments.

If you’re trying to tell a story through a series of images (vs. a single image), try to keep your subject in the same outfit so you can let their movements and mood progress naturally. Everything someone wears makes them feel differently, so if you have someone change outfits, the story can take a completely different turn. One outfit could be fun, flirty and casual, and another could make them feel confident and beautiful. You’ll notice they stand completely differently.

How do you make connections with your subjects quickly?You’re not always going to have the benefit of an hour or two with someone, but you can tell a lot about a person right away. For example, when I meet someone I’m shooting, I always greet them with a hug. I can tell 90 percent about someone based on how they react to my hug.

Also, all of my sessions start with makeup, so I have had a solid 30 minutes with kids before we even start. My sessions are set up to give time to get to know someone.

In addition, I know a lot about who’s coming in a good two to three weeks ahead of time by checking out their social media profiles. I follow people on Instagram, and learn things about who they are, including for example, how much their friends mean to them, how much they care about fashion, or if they’re bold and outgoing or quieter and more reserved.

How have you developed creative marketing ideas that appeal to your teen audience?Relationships have always been the base of everything we do. I have never done traditional marketing, though I do have an MBA and a background in business. We’ve always looked for creative ways to do marketing. I could beat people over the head with ads but that’s not going to be my target audience. So we developed a different way of reaching our audience.

Doing marketing videos for us was a natural step, which we began doing two and a half years ago. It lets people get to know us. Seniors get to see behind the scenes what the experience will be like. No matter how much I’ve checked out the seniors before they come in, they’ve checked me out more. And they should.

We profile our ideal client every year to make sure we’re still on target. We go through a process where we literally decide our ideal target client. We define it down to a single person. I profile where my ideal client goes to school, where she hangs out, what her friends are like; does she care about causes, is she active in school and the community? I may never get that exact person, but if I gear my marketing towards that person, then what I’m doing is drawing in all types of clients that relate to a certain part of that and have an aspect of her in them. We tweak that every year to make sure we’re reaching the right people.

Credit: 3 girls photography

When you’re

photographing seniors

you’re marketing to two

generations: seniors and

their parents. You have

to be able to walk and

talk both languages.

24| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

What’s the best skill a portrait photographer can have? You must be a people person. Reading body language is also something that I’m personally fascinated with has greatly helped me connect with my clients, much more so than my camera. A shutter speed is a shutter speed and an f-stop is an f-stop, but if you’re not connecting with your client and you don’t understand that one little tilt of the head shows that a client is feeling confident, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to capture something great.

Credit: 3 girls photographyCredit: 3 girls photography

25| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

Getting kids to relax and have fun in front of the camera can be the trickiest part of taking kids’ portraits. They’re often either full of energy and hard to pin down for a solid shot, or shy and unwilling to let loose enough to get a natural picture.

It’s that unpredictable component that makes kids portrait photography one of the most fun specialties—as well as fre-quently an overlooked talent among professional photogra-phers. Getting a three-year-old to be playful yet attentive is a skill relished by prospective clients.

Kara Michelle Lamm of KiKi Creates is one such skilled child photographer. She also specializes in landscape, wedding, and lifestyle photography. Kara has a knack for com-ing up with fun ideas for kids portraits—she encourages playtime and can make even her youngest subjects feel comfortable during the shoot. Here Kara shares her tips for how you can do the same.

ShOW OFF prEviOuS pOrTrAiT SESSiONS BEFOrE ThE ShOOT

Kara typically asks parents to show their kids her website and images before the shoot. “When they see other kids have fun in neat locations, they can excited,” she says.

She also makes a point to goof around with the kids right off the bat, so they feel com-fortable. “Or else they will look at it as all work, no play, and the entire shoot feels like pulling teeth.”

6 tips for taking fun portraits of kids By Florida based photographer, Kara Michelle Lamm of Kiki Creates

gO WiTh A Kid-FriENdLy LOCATiON, EvEN iF iT SEEmS CLiChE

Acknowledge that a zoo, beach, or park is a cliche setting for kids portraits—then get over it. “I always choose a location that’s fun for kids, and provides great lighting and levels for me,” says Kara. She loves heading to the park or even the family’s own backyard if it’s conducive to taking photos.

“Kids can be themselves while providing me with simple posing,” she says. “Their back-yard is the most natural and playful area for them, and also provides a sense of nostalgia for the images in the future.”

uSE pArENTS TO yOur AdvANTAgE

Many kids portrait photographers will tell you to get the parents out of the picture—the focus is supposed to be on the child, after all. But in certain times you can use parents to get kids to start acting naturally. “When kids get to act as they usually would with their parents, you provide a likeness to their real personality that may otherwise be missed during the shoot,” notes Kara. “That ‘likeness’ is what the parents—and paying client—loves the most.”

KEEp A LONg ANd ShOrT LENS hANdy

Long lenses are great for high-energy kids who tend to run around during the shoot. You can still catch the best moments even if you’re far away. For kids who love the camera, Kara isn’t afraid to get close and shoot with a wide aperture to capture clear, sharp eyes. She shoots with a Nikon D700, and always carries her 50mm f/1.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses.

prOmpT diFFErENT pOSES WiTh quESTiONS

Every pro children’s portrait photographer knows that posing your subject simply doesn’t work. Kara has a few go-to shots that she likes to set up (for example, close-ups with the

26| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

kids off-center, and a colorful background that’s slightly out of focus), but for the most part she likes to prompt kids with questions.

“The most interesting way to pose children is by giving them a scenario,” she says. “‘What face would you make if you just got the best present in the world?’ Fun little questions like that, where they hold the response, are always great character portraits.”

ALLOW A prOp Or TWO

Too many outfits or toys can make for a distracting session, but a favorite toy can help make kids feel more comfortable. Kara also encourages parents to let their kids pick out an outfit for the day.

See who else is doing it:Siobhan Ford DesignsNed Leary PhotographyDavina ZaguryJill Carmel Photography

Credit: Kiki Creates PhotographyCredit: Kiki Creates Photography

Credit: Kiki Creates Photography Credit: Kiki Creates Photography

27| GrowinG your PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy business: PArT i: FAmilies, Kids, And senior PorTrAiT PhoToGrAPhy

4 “Back to Basics” Tips for Senior Portrait Photographers There is a large market for senior portraits and in recent years, photographers have be-come increasingly creative with these shoots. Working with teenagers and their parents often requires a unique set of people skills. And this segment, like family portraits, is also a location-based market, which means photographers will need to know where to take their subjects, as well as how to shoot landscapes and manage ambient light scenarios.

You will also need to invest in a little strategy development and the psychology of teens. Portrait subjects are almost always going to come to the photographer on guard, but teens by and large require a particularly delicate touch to loosen them up.

Virginia Beach-based photographer Peter Casey who takes beautiful, natural senior portraits in his beachside community, offers up 4 “back to basics” senior portrait ideas for fellow portrait photographers:

FOrgET ThE STudiO—ShOOT ENvirONmENTAL

“Teenagers are so much more dynamic than what they feel they are forced into at school and with their friends,” says Peter. He advises photographers to find a place that provides an interesting setting and cover if the weather turns bad.

AvOid WOrKiNg iN FrONT OF AN AudiENCE

It’s likely that the people paying you (i.e. parents) will be around, supervising. But as anyone who’s raised a teenager knows, they’re not always themselves around family. “At some point during the shoot, I like to try to get away from the parents or friends they brought along. Their involvement can be good, but sometimes it’s nice to get some distance and see how that changes their dynamic.” says Peter.

STArT WiTh hEAdShOTS, ThEN mOvE TO FuLL BOdy imAgES

If your seniors are immediately comfortable in front of the camera (which many aren’t), then start with some simple headshots. “I like to start out with the generic headshot type of photos, and from there my subjects’ walls start to come down, which makes for a very natural session,” says Peter.

Peter Casey, Photographer

www.peterjcasey.com

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What about poses? “Everyone has a particular way about them,” notes Peter. “My directions are more guiding seniors toward their best natural pose. If there’s a pose that absolutely works, then I’ll ask them for hold it for a minute. If something just isn’t working at all, we move on.”

Peter also suggest asking seniors to smile only 20% of the time. Portrait photographers know that asking your subject to smile is a sure-fire way to guarantee fake smiles. Peter elicits genuine emotions by being genuine himself.

BriNg A CAmErA BOdy, LENS(ES), ANd NOThiNg mOrE

You don’t want to be lugging flashes or strobes around on an environmental shoot; plus, the light during sunset is often the best. Peter likes to shoot with a 70-200mm lens, and moves closer and further away from his subject to get the right frame.

See who else is doing it:Ashley + WestphalAutumn Harrison

Credit: Peter Casey Credit: Peter Casey Credit: Peter Casey

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Conclusion ResourcesWhat makes a great portrait photographer for families, kids and seniors? The ability to build real connections with your clients and potential clients. The key then to growing your portrait business is developing a service that targets a key demographic looking for your services and build relationships in that market. This means everything from your brand, your marketing efforts and your fees have to sit nicely with your target audience. At the end of the day, if your clients like you and you can deliver fantastic service that earns you that golden word-of-mouth referral, you are well on your way to a thriving business.

Blog: 10 Common Tax Deductions for Your Photography BusinessBook: Best Business Practices for Photographers, 2nd EditionChart: Business Comparison ChartFinancial Survey: The PPA Benchmark (for PPA members only)Contract: Sample Portrait Contract (for PPA members only)Course: High School Seniors: Posing With a Purpose Course: Posing ChildrenCourse: Lighting: Portraits in the HomeBlog: 10 Tips for Creating Great Family Portraits Video: Demo: Stylizing Your Portrait Photography Video: Retouching Portrait Photography Using a Quick Action Guide: Email Marketing for PhotographersConsultant: Tax Ninja

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