Ok, so. Another wedding down; got an engagement shoot coming up, and I am pleased to say that we got through our first boudoir (boo-dwah) shoot with some not only usable, but pretty good images. . . I am pretty happy with where the business is going. Like I keep telling people, it is super cool to have worked and worked getting all the gear, saving and spending to make sure I have the right tools, pushing myself and my business non-stop, all the schmoozing!!! And now finally in the last few months, random people are starting to like the facebook page and here and there people are starting to find me for work, rather than me having to search for and initiate the conversation.
I guess it’s simple enough to say, hard work pays off, or some kinda cheesy one liner. What I see as the bottom line though is that none of it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t worked my ass off in pushing myself to potential clients. I always have cards on me. I spend time every day looking for “photographer wanted” ads on Craigslist. I have worked with other local photographers. I am constantly reading and trying out different lighting and editing techniques. I have done a ton of free shoots, both for experience and portfolio work. But. Finally. I think it’s safe to say that I am in a place where I can start letting my work speak for itself. To clarify, that doesn’t mean that I am going to be advertising myself any less, in fact, just the opposite. My issue until this point has been trying to advertise Navy-based photos, stagnant spooky hallway shots, and the occasional portrait-like grab that I get while shooting out and about. “This is my work, look at the style and creative eye, not the fact that I haven’t actually shot a wedding myself.”
Part of starting this blog was for me to have a place to express thoughts about the business as I grow. I would call where I am right now a point of growth. Like taking the training wheels off point. Still going to fall on my ass plenty, but, at least it’s progress forward, right? I have neglected the blogging severely over the last month or so. I also need to kick my assistant in the ass to have them kick me in the ass while on a shoot to take set-up shots. I have somehow managed to forget to do that a lot lately. Going to be writing a few blogs in the next week or so. One on the recent boudoir shoot we did, I have some cool stuff we did at a wedding recently with light, and I want that to lead into a post on the new Pocketwizard Flex tt5 system for Nikon. I am highly pleased with them thus far. More to come on that.
I suppose the point of this post is just to let those working on their business know that it gets better. You are going to hit a point where all you can think is “what the f-, I spent all this money on all this gear, why the hell am I not getting shoots?” Either you suck at photos, or you aren’t advertising yourself enough. Get one on one with people, hand cards out in public. Sidenote. Whenever I am in Barnes and Noble, I wander over to the wedding books section. I do this for two reasons. One, I open one of the many planning books to see what kind of photos they have in there. These are the books brides stick their noses in to learn how to have a perfect wedding….. those photos will help shape their mind to what a perfect wedding photographer’s work looks like. Make sure you have photos similar to those books on your website. Have your own style, but, still make sure the “shot list” is at least resembling what they see. . . . details (as if I don’t say it enough), group shots, my favorite is the f/1.8 35mm flowers in the hand held at stomach level with the bride. I am a sucker for that shot. Don’t know why. Don’t really care, I like what I like and well, I like that shot.
Two, I am hopeful that there will be someone poking through those books. Pick a book up, flip a few pages, and strike up a conversation with the bride to be, or the guy who just proposed and has no idea what a wedding really entails. And don’t be afraid to be honest. Tell them why you decided to come lurk hang out in the wedding section for a few minutes. “I like to get an idea of the kind of photos they have in these books, bounce my style off what brides to be will see in books like these…” Keep it short, let them know to give you a call and hand them a card. Then take that book with you and go sit in the coffee section. Don’t just set the book back on the shelf and walk off, that’s the difference between clever marketing and kinda lame self promotion. Besides, they will see sincerity in your attempt to better your own work if you walk away with that book and go plop in a chair with it. They will watch you until you disappear. It’s human nature. Make sure to shake hands too. They will remember you a little better. But keep the conversation short on your end. If they start asking questions and such, that’s fine, but don’t make it seem like you are trying to push yourself, the key here is casual coincidental timing. I feel like I am giving tips to a 13-year-old on his first date…. “don’t forget to tell her how nice her hair is, compliment her father. DON’T put your hand in the seat before she site down at the movie theater, you little wierdo, she won’t think it’s funny and I am not bailing you out of jail….That’s a fourth or fifth date move…”
I am getting side tracked on what should be its own post probably (wedding stuff, not the butt grab move). Point is, advertise yourself everywhere, every chance you get. I am a card handing hoe, and I tell people that. “Well, I am shameless, here’s a card.” In so many words.
The only way you are going to “make it” is word of mouth and a strong and varied portfolio. You can hear advertisements all day about a business, but what makes you say, I’ll have to check them out, is when your friend says something good about that place. When is comes to a varied portfolio, your friend’s kids are cute, but if that’s all you have in your portfolio is one or two people over and over, people will shy away. They want to see a bunch of different people, shows more experience.
One other big thing to keep in mind is networking. Network the hell outta everything you can. I will do free work for someone if I can afford it at the time and I see the opportunity for them to help me. It’s not rude or “using” someone, it’s business. If they can benefit by getting free photos, and you can trade the immediate “payment” of money for furthering your name down the line, wouldn’t you??? You have to be able to help to be helped. Gina, who I have mentioned before, runs a farm out in Pungo called Back Bay Botanicals. I do anything I can for her for free. She needs help being advertised and getting off the ground like I do. But I also see that she has a business that can help me advertise. Picking your own bouquets of flowers is a very family oriented idea for a Saturday afternoon. Families love portraits, therefore, if she is talking to those families and mentions me, there you go. Being green is coming into style big time, so if a bride can get in touch with the environment and pick her own flowers for her and her bridesmaids, I am going to pass Gina’s name along, just like I know she would do if they were already there and didn’t happen to have a photographer for some reason. Gina also does a program called “rent-a-chick” She has chickens, sells eggs, and is slowly building her chicken collection. When she first gets the chickens, they are babies. She makes a little money “renting them out” and letting kids raise baby chickens for a few months. She needs/wants photos for her brochure to put in the kit that goes home with the kids. Want photos done for that? Uh, no problem (I’m actually doing that shoot this evening). In exchange for those photos, just drop my name and number in a small corner at the bottom of the brochure. Guaranteed that a family or two will call for portraits when they see the cute little girl all excited with her baby chicks on the cover, or so I hope. “Wow, cute photo, you know we haven’t gotten photos of little Sally/Sammie done in awhile….” I am even tossing the idea of offering a “rent-a-chick” portrait discount. . . it’s all about give and take and helping each other. It’s called networking.
Also, I have ready access to her beautiful empty, but furnished, house she has on her property until it becomes a bed and breakfast. And that is a big deal right now as I am starting to get into this boudoir scene. I am saving myself and or the client about $150 each session by not renting a NICE hotel room for a day to do a shoot in. It’s a perfect remote and quiet location, helps create a calm and quiet atmosphere to make some cool photos.
Another big networking piece of advice is keep everyone you meet stored in your phone (which hopefully is an iPhone….just saying). Be able to put people in touch with other people. If you can help someone out, even if you don’t benefit right then…. they will keep that experience in mind. A friend of theirs says “I want to get photos taken” Oh, they know this really nice guy, helped me find out this, I think he is a photographer…. referral made.
Never be an a-hole. Another valuable piece of advice. I do everything I can to be personable with everyone I interact with. The ability to call someone up that you worked with two years ago for a just a week, even if they don’t remember you, it’s better than “oh, yeah, I REMEMBER you….” Always do what you can to leave people with a good note. Schmoozing is my term for networking. . . . and I schmooze every second I can.
Blogging is like talking to my mother, no matter how hard I try to keep it under 30 minutes or a thousand words, I just can’t seem to keep it short. So, to wrap it up bluntly, Eye of the Shutter is moving forward and slowly growing and these are some of the thoughts and processes that have gotten me this far and are continuing to carry me along. To those just starting with a camera, wanting their own business, don’t slow down for a second, or you’ll miss an opportunity. To those big shots charging $5,000 a wedding and $500 a boudoir session, I can only hope to be competing with you in a couple of years.
More on the way///
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