What if Photographers Stopped Trying to Combat Change and Embraced it Instead?

It’s a question worth asking again and again. And again! That’s why this Dispatch seems familiar to you. It is. Re-releasing “The Mashable Movement” is a challenge to you to consider this inescapable question and find your unique answer.

What if YOU stopped combatting change and embraced it instead? What would that look like in your unique business?

Let’s take a look together.

What’s Inside:

A challenge to look at your photography business in a different way, to see your clients as collaborators rather than consumers. Inside you’ll also find practical tools for identifying the collaboration methods that work for your business.

Take a Look:

Collaboration can’t be formulaic, which is a good thing because neither can your business! In this Dispatch we aren’t offering quick-fix solutions for collaborative success. Instead we’re offering a road map to find the right direction for your unique business.

In this worksheet we’ll identify specific avenues of collaboration for your business, both through products and creative processes.

PART 1: CREATIVE COLLABORATION
Curious about how to utilize collaborative techniques throughout the client experience without committing to unfamiliar mashable products? Reflect on these questions. You might be surprised by the ideas you come up with!

Continue to Connect:

Continue to connect with Volume 7 of The Photo Life Dispatch by sharing your thoughts here on The Photo Life Blog, and on the Pictage Facebook and Twitter,#ThePhotoLife.

If you haven’t been introduced to Pinterest, you’re in for a treat!

It’s the newest, hip social network that cracked the top 10 of popularity…while still being INVITE only!  Inspiration boards of styles you like, goals for your future, books you want to read, cute DIY wedding ideas have always been around but up until Pinterest, they were created with paper, scissors, tape and poster board – I know, we’ve all been there!

Pinterest is a gold mine for photographers, especially wedding photographers, because brides-to-be are there, pinning images from their favorite websites to showcase ideas while categorizing their favorite wedding cakes, details, dress and even their ‘something blue’ for crying out loud!  As photographers, we supply images that they pin (you can pin ANY web image and brides are scouring wedding websites and blogs for new images). Then, their followers and friends see our work...and boom…in comes a job lead!

Things to remember when using Pinterest:

1. You must use a watermark or a logo border on all of your images so that no matter which image they choose, your brand goes with them (as well as a link from the source URL).
2. Pinterest frowns on being solely a self-promotion tool. It’s inherently about authentic social sharing! Sure, you can share your own images on your boards, but think outside the box and pin into categories your style, stuff you love and even posing ideas from others to spread the love. Clients are looking for ideas, from cute clothes to wear to their session to adorable save-the-date concepts.  Include images that you want your clients to pin for a specific reason, not just because you think it’s a great image.
3. Market your boards to your audience and fan base to follow you. Why? Because when clients choose you, it’s because of your personality and style! Pinterest shares both the style of your images and the uniqueness of your personality by visually displaying things you love. Consider adding ‘Pin it’ plug-ins to your blog and a link to your Pinterest page from your website.
4. Optimize your description and include a link to your website and Facebook URL.  That shows on the left side of your page.
5. Check out what images of yours have already been pinned by others using this link:http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomain.com/  (Change yourdomain.com to your website URL).

Pinterest is THE hottest new online marketing tool and there are endless possibilities of vision boarding. When you jump on the Pinterest bandwagon, showcase your personality and style by pinning things your clients will LOVE. Being a genuinely helpful resource for your clients catalyzes dialogue about their planning, showcases new ideas for their wedding or portrait session, and builds trust.

Happy Pinning! This is part of the new e-book “55 Smart Web Ideas for Photographers.” For information on the e-book, check out: http://bit.ly/webmarketing-ebook-55smartideas

About Wendy Roe

Wendy Roe has spent the last 10 years ingrained in all things web marketing – from design/development to search/social media. In May 2010, she decided to quit the corporate life and join forces with her husband, Byron Roe, to shoot full-time one of life’s ultimate highs – weddings. She now focuses on business development and being a second shooter for Bend, Oregon based wedding photographers, Byron Roe Photography.

She is the co-author of “55 Smart Web Ideas for Photographers” e-book, a 2-time speaker at WPPI Photographer’s Ignite and traveled through west coast PUG groups consulting photographers on web marketing. She’s known as an interpreter, changing technical language into easy information. Above all, she’s an educator at heart and believes: “Web marketing and wedding photography are two passions that drive bringing the best out of beauty and brands.”

Real life is beautiful.

We established that in Part One of this series. But although this philosophy sounds wonderful, it can be hard to follow through with, particularly when it’s personal. In my last installment in this series, I explained that I believe there are two major barriers to overcome in Lifestyle Photography – ignorance and insecurity. I outlined ways that I work to combat ignorance by cultivating true relationships with my clients. Once the barrier of ignorance has been removed, and people become aware of Lifestyle Baby Photography, we are still left with their insecurities. Even if my potential clients embrace the concept that Real Life is beautiful, in a global sense, they have probably not truly grasped that their Real Life is beautiful. My job is to prove this to them. I have to help them see beauty in their own everyday experiences.

My clients are amazing customer evangelists. (Side note: If you haven’t yet read the book Creating Customer Evangelists, pause your reading of this post and go buy that book. It’s that important.) When I photograph a session, I try to share that session with my clients as quickly as I can via Facebook and my blog. I want them to have the images while they are still feeling emotional about the experience. I am always amazed to watch what happens after I share the images. My clients immediately begin the evangelization process. They share with their networks on a large scale. They single out the mostly likely potential candidates for me, and then they push those people to connect with me. They transform from my clients/friends into my personal sales representatives. It’s a foolproof technique, because they are sincere in their pursuits. They have no reason to push their friends towards me, because I offer no incentives for their doing so. They do it because they believe in me, and because they believe in Lifestyle Photography.

Even with all of this encouragement, many of these potential clients remain resistant to Lifestyle Photography for one simple reason. They fear that their Real Life isn’t beautiful. This insecurity remains as the greatest barrier to my ability to gain new clients, even though I am surrounded by amazing customer evangelists.

There are two points at which I have the ability to combat this insecurity. The first situation is one in which the potential clients are intrigued by their friends’ images and excitement, and they contact me. I hear various excuses for why their life isn’t currently beautiful enough to be photographed.

“I have to lose this baby weight first.”

“We need to finish decorating/unpacking/renovating our home.”

“Newborns don’t really do anything interesting. Maybe when he’s older”

They never come out and say “No,” but rather, they inevitably say “Let’s do this later.” They are waiting for that day when suddenly their Real Life seems worthy of being photographed. (Just in case you are wondering, that day will never come for these people. If you let them fall prey to the ‘Later disease,’ they’ll always find reasons to wait. Their Real Life will never be perfect enough unless someone intervenes.)

I love the challenge of these opportunities. Whenever I am met with “maybe later” responses, I try to bring the focus back to the real point of these sessions. I assure them (often in a sweetly sarcastic manner) that I am not going to be taking closeups of their dirt or their clutter. I ask them to look at session after session on my blog, and then ask if they really noticed any baby weight. I ask them if they really think that their newborn is uninteresting, or if they are, in truth, fascinated by the smallness and perfectness of them as they sleep. I tell them that the point of these sessions is not to document their inadequacies, but that the point is to document their love.

I ask, “Do you love your family, regardless of their imperfectness? Sometimes because of their imperfectness?” The answer to this is invariably, “Yes, of course!”

I respond, “Then let me capture that. Trust me to capture that. I promise that your Real Life is beautiful. Just give me one chance to prove that to you.” If this conversation doesn’t completely seal the deal (and sometimes it doesn’t. Why would they trust me? They don’t know me yet.), I ask them to go back to that referring friend and discuss their doubts. This strategy almost always brings me to the second scenario in which I need to work to combat this insecurity.

My clients amaze me with their persuasiveness. Often, they’re so persistent with their friends that they convince them to book a trial session with me. They don’t try to sell them on a full baby’s first year collection, they just convince them of the importance of booking a simple newborn session. I’ve even had clients pool resources and purchase a newborn session as a gift for a particularly insecure mom. (This has actually happened more than once. Seriously, my clients are amazing!) When this happens, I am entrusted with a true gift. My clients are trusting me to take care of their friend. They believe that Real Life is beautiful, and they are giving me the opportunity to share that belief with someone they care about.

If I fail to follow through, I am not only losing the opportunity to create a new and amazing client relationship, I am causing damage to current client relationships. I have to show them that I truly mean it when I say that Real Life is beautiful. They must see that I’m not talking about other people, but that this philosophy also applies to their Real Life. In these situations, I have to prove myself. I have to listen to my new clients. I have to learn about their insecurities and doubts prior to our session. I have to work to instill a sense of trust and relaxation during our session. I have to deliver images of their Real Life captured beautifully soon after our session. I have to do everything in my power to prove that their perception of their life as inadequate is wrong.

My first task is to learn what they are afraid of. Most clients aren’t going to offer up this information. It’s not easy to talk about fears and insecurities, particularly with a stranger. I have to ask them questions. I have to get them talking. Most importantly, I have to listen not just to what they say, but also to what they don’t say. If their referring friend has any information to share, I make sure to listen to that as well. If I know this mom is concerned about her weight, I need to make sure I never share any images with her in which she looks even slightly heavy. I need to be sure to shoot her from flattering angles and to compose my shots in ways that hide her trouble areas. If I know she’s worried about clutter and disarray in her post-baby home, I need to make sure to stay focused on her and her new family. Many times I shoot a few pull back shots that showcase the clutter and craziness, but with a mom who’s already paranoid about that part of her life, I make sure not to include these in the blog or on Facebook. Instead, I’ll save them for a Pictage gallery. By the time she sees them there, she’ll already have embraced the fact that her life really is beautiful, and those images will just be amusing reminders of how crazy (wonderful) everything really is. (This works, I promise. I’ve seen it a million times.) I have to really really listen to what she does and does not say, and I have to make sure that the photographs I take work to combat those fears and insecurities. I can’t assume that I know how she feels. I have to listen. (By the way, sometimes just giving this potential client/new mom the opportunity to talk about herself is the key to gaining her trust.)

After I feel I have some sort of grasp on what my new client’s fears and insecurities are, I then have to show up at the session prepared to fight them. When I show up at her house (newborn gift in hand, as explained in my last article), I always greet her with a giant hug and some sort of compliment. I have driven to their house with the client’s insecurities rolling around in my head, and I’m prepared for the worst. Because of this, I don’t have to work to create some sort of compliment. Without fail, my thoughts go something like this: “Are you kidding me? You were worried about being in front of the camera? You’re adorable! This will be a piece of cake!”, and since I struggle with my verbal filter, those thoughts are usually exactly what comes out of my mouth.

New moms, in general, are exhausted and overwhelmed and need encouragement. (I also try to bring my new moms some sort of a physical pick me up, usually in the form of Starbucks.) Hearing me say, enthusiastically, that I think her session will be a piece of cake, is usually just what she needs to relax and enjoy herself. I encourage her throughout the session. I compliment specific aspects about her home, I ooh and aah over her baby, I heckle and joke with the dad, and I lavish the mom with compliments relating to things happening during our session. I make sure they never feel like they’re taking up too much of my time. I assure them that if the baby needs to nap/eat/scream/etc, all of that is beautiful and all of that is photo worthy. I never stop photographing, unless it is to offer a hand. I try to never leave the session during a stressful time, even if we were basically done with the session when the stress begins. I work to make sure our sessions end on a peaceful note, but there are times when that isn’t possible. Sometimes the baby really is having a terrible horrible day, and sometimes it feels like she cries for the entire session. I know that when it feels like that to me, that feeling is magnified intensely for my client. When this happens, no words from me are going to assuage her fears. I will promise her, as I leave, that we captured beautiful images, but she will not believe me. It’s understandable. She just experienced the same stressful time that I experienced, and for her it is personal. She will not be able to see anything beautiful about it. In these situations, she doesn’t need words. She needs proof. From this point on, the images have to be that proof. The images have to prove that her Real Life (even the horrible part that she just experienced) really is beautiful.

Once the shoot has ended, the hard work is done. If I’ve done my job, I’ve listened to my clients fears, and I’ve worked to combat those fears during the shoot. All that’s left is to process images and share them with as quickly as possible. I choose as many amazing images as I can, focusing on the happiest moments, but not avoiding the difficult ones. I’m not going to convince my client that her Real Life is beautiful by only showing her the traditionally beautiful parts. I have to show her all of it, and I have to showcase it beautifully.  When the images are culled and edited, I am left with a story. The story these images tell might have messy moments and stressful moments and sad moments, but the overwhelming theme of the story will be love. In every image, love should resonate. That’s what makes Real Life beautiful, after all. If I have done my job correctly, this story will change things a little for my new client. It will be impossible for my client to walk away from this experience without thinking, “Wow. My Real Life is beautiful.”

Written by Amber Holritz the lifestyle baby photographer

Amber is a wife, mom, and photographer based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. You can see more posts by Amber in the coming weeks here on the Pictage blog as well as at www.amberholritz.com.

I began my photography career while working in corporate America. Eventually, I transitioned to teaching high school history (a job I loved) and worked concurrently as an educator and photographer for six years. Despite my best attempts, working two jobs was not sustainable. Here’s a few lessons I learned along my journey:

Believe it or not, your “day” job is an asset: use it.

Now, don’t get me wrong…working two jobs was one of the most stressful and difficult times of my life, but one thing I always understood clearly was that my “day job” was a powerful asset that allowed me to build my photography business exactly how I wanted. In other words, because the bulk of my income came from my teaching career, I was able to establish my wedding pricing at the level I wanted rather than setting the bar lower in fear of not booking enough.

Having other income doesn’t mean you should shoot weddings for free just to build your portfolio. On the contrary – your time is even more valuable because you have NO free time. The safety net of your other income allows you to charge a higher rate and invest more money back into your business. This approach absolutely requires more patience, but you’ll see a gradual increase in business that stands the test of time and grows with your abilities.

Getting Ready to Make the Switch

Be realistic about what you can accomplish. So you can book 30 weddings at a rate you’re proud of? Fantastic! Can you shoot them, deliver them, keep those clients happy, keep your day job happy and maintain your personal relationships? Doubtful. If your business continues to grow, you’ll need to make the jump at some point. As a teacher, I had the freedom to shoot weddings in the summer, however to build enough income to make the switch I had to take more and more jobs. Eventually after a few years of shooting 20 weddings while maintaining my full-time teaching and coaching jobs (and having a son), the levee eventually broke. It was time for me to leave my comfortable teaching gig.

Do your math. Figure out what you need to survive and pay your bills. How many weddings at what rate? Eventually your momentum builds to the point where you can have the confidence that you’re going to book X amount of weddings. This confidence for me came because I did build my business over time, rather than overnight. When it’s time for you to make the jump, book everything you can and give your day job plenty of notice. The first lesson you’ll learn running your own business is to NEVER burn a bridge. Giving your day job plenty of notice allows both of you to make a smooth transition.

Start to build your network. When I was teaching, I didn’t really have time to get out and meet other photographers, planners, or venue managers. I didn’t really realize how important they’d be to my business (AND my happiness…I’ll touch on that next). Developing a strong network of colleagues is one of the best investments you can make in your business. Like it or not, this is a people business. The more people you know, the more jobs you’ll get – regardless of how good your work is! The more sincere you are in your desire to connect and collaborate, the more fruitful these relationships will be.

You’re the boss…now what?

Know that feeling of going to work and catching up with your colleagues about the last episode of Bachelor Pad? That’s gone. Prepare to have that conversation on Facebook or Twitter. No one tells you that the life of the photographer is a solitary one. Maybe this is fantastic for you. Me? Did you ever see The Shining? Then you’ll know where I’m coming from. In my first year away from my teaching job, I missed my colleagues horribly – the ones who made me laugh, challenged me intellectually AND especially called me on my BS.

As a result, I’ve made it a point to develop and foster friendships with new colleagues. Yes it’s cheaper to eat at home, but the mental health you’ll gain from developing a few new friendships (thus preserving your sanity) far exceeds the cost to your wallet. Not to mention, these new friends become your advocates – passing leads along when they’re booked. The isolation also played a major role in my decision to hire an employee rather than to outsource some of my post production.

Remember why you left the day job. Of course you love photography and couldn’t dream of doing anything else. But let’s be real, you especially left because you were sick of ALWAYS working. Working during the day on “day” job stuff, and working at night and the weekends on your photography career. DON’T continue this course. Unless you have a dedicated studio away from your home, It’s way too easy to keep these habits because you never leave your work. Set boundaries for yourself. If photography is your only job, treat it like that. Do you want to work 5 days a week like normal people? Take Sundays and Mondays off, or Fridays off. Whatever works for you. Resist the temptation to always be drawn back to your computer. Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it.

Ned Jackson is a Boston based photographer who has been photographing weddings in New England since 2003, building his business organically by focusing on strong client relationships and creating classic, clean and timeless imagery.  Originally a teacher, Ned enjoys connecting with the photography community and sharing ideas with peers around the country.  Ned is a featured photographer of Pinhole Pro, a member of The Best of Wedding Photography and has been a speaker at the Pictage PartnerCon and InspireBoston.  He lives North of Boston with his wife Amanda, son Nate and their dog Jake.

Photographers get no shortage of advice. Some of it is good. Some of it is great. Some of it is – well – not so good at all.

There is no question that these are challenging times. It’s funny that we all seem to think that’s new. It’s not. The decision to enter small business is the decision to accept the challenge of going it alone. Like that ad on TV where the guy says he’s the ‘Chief Everything Officer.’ If you decide you want to be in the business of photography then that’s what you are, a Chief Everything Officer. (Now, go and have new cards printed up that say that!).

Much of the discussion today centers around the challenges of the photography industry. To be sure, too much supply and not enough demand is a big challenge. A photographer who wishes to succeed – and for purposes of my posts we’re going to define success as making enough money to earn a living as a photographer – needs to make a lot of scary decisions about their business. However, from what I’ve gleaned during my short time here at Pictage, I think there are a few solid rules that serve as checkpoints. Think about these things when considering all of those scary decisions and you’re likely to be just fine…

1. A significant portion of the struggles this industry faces have nothing to do with this industry. You sell a luxury product. The economy has been really troubled for the last three years and this will continue this year. During these times your focus needs to be on preserving your business, husbanding cash, saving costs where possible – (now – really – do we ALL need to run out and get the iPhone 4s?), etc.

2. Partly due to the above and partly due to the proliferation of solid consumer grade cameras, consumers are making choices about where they want to spend their money. If they value photography they will spend their money on photography. If they don’t they won’t. You can’t change what a consumer values. You can merely position your business to meet the needs of the consumers you wish to serve.

3. You don’t want to be in the deadly middle. Sell your business in one of two ways. Either target the high end consumer who cares about photography and has money to spend or target the low end consumer with a low priced product (that is inexpensive for you to fulfill). Either strategy is valid. What is not valid is trying to do both.

4. Diversify. A consumer (whether high or low end for these purposes) who hires a professional photographer is telling that photographer two VERY important things.

One – they value professional photography services enough to hire a photographer.

Two – they like that professional photographer enough to have hired them out of a field of competitors. 

Just because the first shoot is over doesn’t change any of this. They will have other needs. It is YOUR business and YOUR job to make sure they know that you are a place to fill those needs. Keep in touch with them. Send them little reminders of who you are. If they want portrait work don’t turn them away. The next week a friend of theirs will be getting married. Take every opportunity you can to turn your sunk cost investment into dollars in the bank.

5. Keep moving. The hardest thing about business over time is keeping moving. Trust me. There are days when I want to pull the sheets over MY head and go back to sleep. Business is frustrating, frightening, disappointing, and tiring. There is nothing easy about being in a small business. You have to make a choice to keep moving. Sure, sit around and reminisce from time to time but then get up off your butt and get going. (You ARE you say? What new things are you doing this month that you weren’t doing last month? What is on your calendar for next week, next month, next year that will change your business? Don’t tell me about a conference you’re going to go to where you will figure it all out. Tell me about some ACTUAL things you are doing right now. Not all of them will work but some will.)

There are no magic bullets in your business. There is no one who’s going to do the thinking for you and there is certainly no one who is going to do the doing for you. Baby steps. Start with one thing. You can do it. After all, what’s next is what’s important.

About Jim Collins

Written by Pictage CEO Jim Collins

Jim joined Pictage after a long and successful career in managing and growing a variety of businesses that focus on small business services. Most recently Jim was the CEO of Affinity Internet, an internet hosting provider to small business. At Affinity, he successfully grew the company from 11,000 subscribers to over 450,000, and showcased his relentless focus on customer service. Jim is an avid photographer, and he is excited about having direct access to the industry’s leading pro lab.

The wedding and portrait photography market relies heavily on referrals, and one way to ensure that each referral is just as happy as their family member or friend who sent them to you is to provide an equally consistent experience.

If you’re unsure of where to begin, consider the following:

Products:

• Are you ordering from the same vendors each time?
• Are you creating consistent products, so that two clients would see no difference if compared?
• Are you following the same process for designing albums, with policies to refer to if necessary? 

Pricing:

• Is your price range on your website the same as it is when you send your client pricing?
• Does it all end in .00 or .99? Pick one.
• Are there logical jumps in pricing, and are your packages clear and to the point?
• Are the products listed out in the same order every time?
• How often are you changing your pricing?

Emails:

• Are you direct, clear, and concise in your emails?
• Do you explain your process clearly in a way that a non-photographer can understand?
• Do you reiterate the exact same information they have read elsewhere? (this is good)

Processes

• Do you have a written workflow with dates attached?
• Will each of your clients receive the same experience?
• Can a client refer you to their friend and explain exactly how you operate and what they should expect?

All in all, creating a process and studio system that is consistent and concise can eliminate client confusion and keep a referral engine turning. Understand where they are coming from, offer exactly what they’re looking for, and make sure each of your clients receives your standard level of experience.

About Leeann Marie

Leeann is a Pittsburgh-based wedding, engagement, and boudoir photographer. An avid blogger, she loves connecting with her clients, friends, and other photographers around the world. She holds an engineering background from the University of Pittsburgh, which has led to a love of technology and teaching.

She loves Lady Gaga, champagne, and kettle-cooked chips. She has traveled the world to places such as Russia, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Panama, and believes in living the life you have dreamed.

As we crawl down the rabbit hole and the pursuit of the authentic reaches fever pitch, at some point you’ve gotta wonder how it is that so many authentic selves can look and sound so damned similar. This light, that composition. This kiss, that stare, and oh, those shoes. Do we all love photographing shoes that much? As we see more, do more, and push further, is there room to stand out in the increasingly hot and crowded space we call the wedding industry? Or is authenticity nothing more than a new twist on an old theme? A quick shot of empowerment to be followed by a Tequila chaser to keep us going on the treadmill.

At the heart of it all are two simple words. Trendy and timeless – bookends in the never-ending debate on substance, society, and self. Trendy, the pejorative cousin of stylish and fashionable, is change for the sake of change. Lacking in discipline and devoid of function, it is the diametric opposite of substantive and enduring. Timeless, on the other hand, is insight. Truth made visible, the eternal made tangible. Or so it would seem. Because though opposites they may be, in practice and reality, they are more commonly two sides of the same coin. Twins separated at birth.

The nature of trend is one of corruption. Trend is idea born out of concept and novelty, set on fire by popularity. Early cycles can show innovation and growth, but the relentless repetition of popular acceptance scrapes away at the meaty belly of process. We experience this feeling with regularity. Find a picture you love but haven’t seen before. Stare at it. You’ll notice how it moved you. Return to it one day later. Stare at it. You’ll notice how it was created.

Repeated exposure to similar themes dulls emotional power leaving only the veneer of technique to observe. The life cycle of a trend is complete when the focus has shifted fully from understanding the process and feeling the emotion to simply appropriating the look. A common axiom among poker players is “I’d rather be good than lucky.” Trendiness reverses this to become “I’d rather be lucky than good.” Or, worse yet, it fails to distinguish between the two altogether.

But if trendiness is the process of appropriating a look that is popularly accepted in the present, then timelessness is the process of appropriating a look that is popularly accepted in the past. In truth, the marketplace has performed some clever sleight of hand. It’s a bait and switch, substituting timeless for what should really be traditional. So while the source material may differ and the mileage may vary, the method of the traditional and the trendy is exactly the same: X is appealing and works. If Y looks like X, then Y will be appealing and work. This logic is flawed on two fronts.

First, this notion of replication and result misses the point. The marketplace waits for no one. If X has been introduced into the market before Y, the marketplace is already transformed, altering public reaction. Second, and more importantly, this model robs us of our ability to connect with ourselves. To create X is a wholly different process than to duplicate it. To sweat, labor, and love until an idea sees birth forms an intimate connection between author and craft. It connects us with the thrill of discovery and the nuance of creation. These are activities of constant question and response, and the crux of movement and growth. Copying requires no such commitment. It is peeking into the back of the book for the answers to the odd-numbered questions, then reverse-engineering the solution. Not fully devoid of value, but neither fully committed to the challenge. In the end, it’s not so much about the act of copying, so much as the failure to invest oneself in the details of creation. My father said it right. You’re only shortchanging yourself.

What we’re looking for then, is neither the traditional couched as timeless, nor the trendy. What we’re looking for is the authentic. Not the dime store, low-hanging variety we find steeped in nostalgia and false notions of the simple life. You can’t buy true authenticity by wearing the right clothing, being at the right coffee shop, and listening to the right music. The real stuff is ambiguous and strife-filled. It changes by the day, it never answers, but always questions, and it can only best be described as an enigma. But it is also the type of authenticity that gives back. It pushes and prods us. It forces us to commit. It is the stuff of identity and voice and the foundation of true timelessness.

After all, this is a world where the click, click, click of a million fingers will never stop telling us whether we’re loved, liked, disliked, or downright loathed. It is one where our value is measured in dollars and described only in the simplest terms. Success or failure. So if we are to survive and thrive, we must look inward for strength and clarity. It is the only place for us to turn. Photography is nothing more than an expression of our interests, after all. When we push the button. What we include in the frame. How we react to what’s around us, and how quickly we can process it all and transform it into a vision. Our vision.

To create is to feel the beat of our own hearts and the rhythm of our lives. It is to cut them open and smear them across the lens of life. And to do so, we must re-imagine the timeless. Not as a rule or standard frozen in history. Not as a fixed target. But as something that grows and evolves. Something that stands uniquely out of time, as the singular intersection of occurrence, place, the lives we lead, and the beliefs we hold. It must be unique. If all this sounds daunting or distant, the process is deceptively simple and comfortingly close. Commit to living. Never run. Swallow everything whole, and let the art be the result of a life well-lived.

About Spencer Lum

Spencer is a storyteller with an indelible belief in the raw humanity of weddings. 

With 10 years of experience running Brooklyn-based 5 West Studios, he has developed a style that combines influences from fine art and photojournalism. He has also enjoyed time as a designer, creative director, and filmmaker. 

Spencer is the founder of the industry blog, Ground Glass, as well as a doting husband and father of two beautiful children in Brooklyn, NY. 

Projecting your custom-created portraits for your clients is not new.

Back in the film days, photographers projected slides made from portraits prepared by their lab.

When photography migrated from film to digital, the use of projectors came into vogue, especially now when the quality of projectors has improved dramatically as prices have plummeted.

So while this method is not anything new, it is still considered by many portrait experts (like Chuck Lewis) to be not just the best way but the ONLY way to share your work with your clients.

It may seem old school, or it may seem like an inconvenience to you and your clients. Those were some of my concerns about projecting when I started.

Boy was I wrong!

Now I’m a “true believer” in this method and think you will be too once you try it.

The Why:

Since you are reading this you are looking to distinguish yourself from your competition.

You are looking to create higher levels of service for your clients and finally, you are looking to increase sales to make the work that you do both fun and profitable.

Projection works on improving all three of these aspects.

I’ve been showing my portraits on a large computer screen for years, but recently started projecting with a projector hooked up to my laptop shown on a big screen, and the results have been very worthwhile.

I should have done it a long time ago!

The room is dark, too, so this type of presentation adds to the client’s excitement and makes it an event (don’t forget music – more on that soon!).

By taking it off a computer screen, the experience is more unique and less like work, or less like surfing the web. And, since I’m presenting from the laptop, I control the pace of the show.

There is a learning curve, and while the tools are not free, the results are so worth it that I can’t  encourage you enough to incorporate it into your business.

You could also use a large, flat-panel television to present, although I think the projector is an even better way to go because it gives you the flexibility of projecting at a client’s home.  If you don’t have a dedicated studio or presentation space, then going to your clients’ homes to project can be another level of superior service you provide.

Misconceptions and Changing Beliefs:

I used to think that I would need a very expensive projector to do this correctly. And while the premium projectors are incredibly nice, I don’t think that they are necessary to make this work.

Add an Epson Duet screen, which expands to a viewing area of 40 x 60, and you’ve got yourself a portable setup!

Over the holidays I took the show on the road to a particular client and I am convinced that creating an experience with the projector and screen made the difference in the sale. I knew the clients loved it when they clapped and cheered at the end of the presentation! The total sale was around $4000!

Isn’t In-Person Selling a PITA?

While it might seem easier simply to “shoot and burn” a CD or post images to a web gallery to allow clients to pick and choose at their leisure, using projection selling helps you control the timeframe of the order and truly benefit your clients.

They get your expertise in helping them select images that they love the most and you can offer advice on the best ways to display and share the photographs. You go from being simply an order-taker to being a portrait expert. That difference increases your perceived market value.

This level of service and creating an inviting and exciting event adds importance to your process. And this creates a win/win experience. It has to be a win/win experience to be truly successful!

Presentation Software:

Presentation software is a real boon to the process and I highly recommend Pro Select for this (I receive no compensation for mentioning them,  I merely think their product is incredible).

In the latest version of Pro Select, the use of ‘Rooms View’ is worth the price of admission. When I go to a clients’ home for a session, I photograph the rooms and areas that they’re considering for display (including a tape measure for scale). Then, when they come back for their presentation, I show their portraits on the wall in various sizes.

For the client who thinks “an 8 x 10 is big enough,” this process can really dispel that notion. You can show their favorite portrait at 8 x 10 size and they see how it’s dwarfed on the wall versus the impact the portrait has when displayed at an appropriate size for the particular space.  You can also create multiple image wall groupings for display.

You can download a 30-day trial of ProSelect here. If you don’t want to invest in ProSelect, you can always project from Adobe Lightroom v3.

Adding music is a key component to this because powerful images, projected large with a soundtrack, create an even richer emotional experience. 

Moviemakers have known this for decades and have used all three of these elements to create a visceral experience for viewers.

Why don’t you?

The Tools:

• Laptop to project (perhaps in the not too distant future we’ll be able to project ProSelect from an iPad2 – wouldn’t that be awesome?)
• Epson Accolade Duet screen
• Projector Vivitek D511 LCD  $500 (one of the nice features about this projector is the HDMI compatible hook up, making connection from my MacBook Pro a breeze)

You can find out more about projectors from sites like The Projector People and Projectors for Photographers.

Good luck and let me know how projection changes your business?

P.S. If you’re a wedding photographer, you can do projection selling to your local clients too. Using the same tools, you can create a slideshow experience that your clients are sure to love! 

Disclaimer: With a speculation sales business such as portraiture, there is no guarantee of success by using this or any method. Results vary based on your experience, your artistry and finally your ability to believe in and sell your products. Though I believe that projection selling is the best way to be profitable when it comes to speculative portrait sales. Good luck!

About Paul F. Gero

His daily journalism career spanned nearly 20 years and he worked for both The Chicago Tribune and The Arizona Republic (during which time he photographed Presidents, politicians, athletes, business leaders and regular folks) before launching Paul F. Gero Photography in 2002 and moving to Southern California.

Paul now photographs commissioned events and portraits for clients in California and around the world.

His work has also been published in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Time, People, and Fortune — this editorial background shaped his distinctive approach to weddings and portrait photography.

He is the author of the book Digital Wedding Photography and has taught photography courses at betterphoto.com, Shootsmarter University, private seminars and has taught twice at the MARS school in Cape May, NJ.

His charity book project called The Kids of Orange County has raised nearly $40,000 for Children’s Hospital of Orange County by the 100% onation of the session fees since starting that project in 2008. During that time he has photographed around 500 children.

Paul and his wife Nicki along with their daughter Kate and son Matthew, make their home in Ladera Ranch, CA where they have lived since 2003.

One commonly accepted concept in the wedding photography industry is that in order to be successful, you MUST aspire to be a high-end photographer, pushing your prices higher and catering to an affluent clientele. There’s a definite distaste for photographers who don’t charge “enough” and who don’t aspire to serve affluent clients.

Our chosen business model is shoot more to make more. Instead of targeting high-end weddings and affluent clients, we target mass-market brides with average budgets. Instead of projecting exclusivity, we aim to be the company that event planners see every weekend and that brides see on every vendor list.

How Our Studio Shoots More to Make More:
Life Long Studios was a standard husband-and-wife company, photographing about 40 weddings per year. My wife and I took a long, hard look at where we wanted to be and what we wanted our studio to become. We knew we wanted a company that could outlive us. At some point we wanted a family and we would need to provide for them.

We decided to split into two photography teams and hire second shooters when needed. Our theory was that we could NOT raise our prices and increase profit and market presence by shooting more.

Dramatically increasing the number of events we shot meant everything else dramatically increased too – the number of phone calls and emails, the hours editing and burning discs, etc! It was a logistical nightmare that we were severely unprepared to face. It crippled us. After the first spring season functioning as two teams, we were so behind.

Realizing we needed help, we hired someone to do basic image adjustments and office work. This freed us up to be photographers again. More growth happened during the Fall and we dedicated one staff member to editing and another to office work. We weren’t paying much back then, maybe $1 over minimum wage. We waded through a ton of applicants, but when we found one with the personality we were after we did as much training as necessary to make them amazing!

Fast forward a few years…

Life Long Studios shoots more than 300 weddings every year. We have four shooting teams, plus a fifth team ready to be released in the second quarter of this year. We have two editors for weddings, an editor for engagement and portrait sessions, and an office manager who handles daily operations and workflow management.

Each lead photographer is responsible for shooting the engagement session and the wedding for their assigned clients. That specific photographer picks their clients’ images to be edited. Our editors get paid as we get shoots. Their responsibilities include cropping and moderate Lightroom adjustments. My wife, Buffy, and I manage marketing, pricing, sales and vendor relations.

The principles behind being successful are the same if you are “high-end” or “mass-market.” You must run a business efficiently and you must know your numbers.

When your business model is “shoot more to make more,” efficiency is especially important.
Here’s a tip for photographers hoping to outsource:

You Can’t Shoot More to Make More All Alone!
How many hours do you spend from the initial email to shipping the wedding disc for each client?

What takes you the most time? What do you love doing? What do you hate doing?

I realized that outsourcing Lightroom was essential for me to have time to meet with clients and vendors. A friend realized that for her it was uploading proofing and reprint orders. Another friend got a mental block every time she tried to design an album and realized that it was important to outsource that process.

When you identify what energizes you, do that as much as you can! Now that you’re focusing on what you love, work on outsourcing the rest!

I’m most effective when I’m meeting clients, shooting and leading the company. So, that’s what I do and I focus ONLY on those things. Of course, I’m tempted to jump in and control every aspect of the office, but that’s NOT good for my business.

The hardest part is giving your team control of areas of your business. They’ll never do it better than you think you can do it – get over it! Sure, letting a third-party handle album workflow is scary, but it frees you up to focus on making more money.

What parts of your business can you outsource?
To answer that for your business, start by creating a workflow that fits your clients and your company. Then, examine each piece of your workflow and decide whether it can be handed off to someone else.

Sample Workflow Tasks:
• Pricing inquiries
• Email string leading to consultation
• Online proposal & contracts
• Client Bookkeeping – collecting payment
• Thank you emails / Letter with ‘What’s Next’ information
• Scheduling engagement session
• Shooting engagement session
• Picking & editing images
• Burning & shipping
• Uploading to online proofing
• Email client link to proofing site