7 Wedding Photography Tips for Spring Weddings

Ah, spring! The season when nature comes back to life, everything is green and love floats in the air. Many couples choose to tie the knot during spring when the weather is warm enough for a great party yet cold enough to not force men to wear short sleeved shirts. We have comprised a list with the most useful tips for wedding photography for spring weddings and we are now sharing it with you!

Wedding Photography Tips for Spring Weddings

1. Take Advantage of the Natural Light During Spring Weddings

Spring is usually the season when you have the sun on your side so why make the best out of all that natural light? Invite the married couple in a place filled with the natural light coming from the sun and take some amazing shots without having to use any props.

Celebrate nature and the newly wedded couple and emphasize the scenery in the same amount as the couple to create contrast. Keep in mind that both the bride and the groom will eventually grow tired of seeing just plain pictures of them and they will expect something else even if they might not kno that yet.

2. Pay Attention to the Weather Forecast

Although you might have the sun on your side, during spring, showers are also common. If you want to be sure you are prepared for all scenarios, you need to check the weather forecast prior to the wedding and be sure your gear is waterproof if any rain is predicted. Even though you will not have as much natural light as you would during a sunny day, a photo shoot in the rain can be quite astonishing.

If the married couple can also adapt their wardrobe to the weather conditions (for example, they can choose to wear waterproof boots instead of fancy shoes), you will be able to create funny and touching stories through your photographs.

3. Play Around with Colors

You will most likely have a lot of flowers and green patches at your hand if you are the designated photographer at a spring wedding so make sure you include all of them in your photos. Any bride will look gorgeous with a flower crown on her head while the groom can have flowers instead of a napkin in his suit jacket. Use flowers to portray a picture where the groom surprises his wife.

To make the most out of all the freshness spring provides, make your couple put their imagination at work and see how they let their inner child loose in the middle of a green field. This way you will not only capture a wedding photo session, but a story of two people who were lost but found each other.

Wedding Photography

4. Choose a Lively Background

There is nothing duller than a plain background that does not put anything in context, especially when it comes to wedding photography tips. Given the fact that you will probably have an entire sea of green available to use, seize the opportunity and create contrasts.

A great idea is to make the couple interfere with the wildlife. Let them explore the fascinating world of insects such as bees in search for flowers or see how birds begin building their nests. Be careful though! Do not consider dangerous wild animals as pets and do not put anyone’s life in danger.

5. Communicate

Before starting to plan your photo shoot, communicate with the bride and groom. What are they expecting from this photo shoot? Where would they like to go? What do they want to do? These are all questions to which they will most likely not have an answer but that gives you the opportunity to start getting creative.

If the couple is not entirely sure what to expect from their wedding photography session, you have the possibility to juggle around with different ideas and then ask the couple what would they like to go with.

6. Be careful with the Details During your Wedding Photography

Try to find one or more focus points in all of your pictures and do not ignore the simple or small things. Be careful to not overexpose details by using your built-in flash or simply by using too much sunlight. On the same manner, be careful to not underexpose your pictures if you are shooting on a rainy day. In order to make sure that everything is in the right place take a couple of test shots before proceeding with an idea.

The test shots will help you see what settings you need to work with to achieve perfection on your wedding photography tips.

Wedding Photography Tips for Spring Weddings

7. Capture feelings

One of the most important things you can do through photography is to capture the essence of a feeling or a moment. Always advise your subjects to avoid posing and be as natural as possible. Try presenting them a photo shoot idea and capture the moments when they start preparing for your photo.

Another idea is to catch them gazing into each other’s eyes, as eye contact is a true love statement and not only in photography. When two people are staring into each other’s eyes you can almost feel the passion and the love floating in the air. Imagine that if you capture the most perfect moment in the most perfect angle you can make that feeling last for eternity (or at least for a couple of decades until the photo will start decomposing).

As a photographer, it is your job to make sure you surprise every important and special moment, even though you might not consider it special. This is why it is very important to communicate and try to know the people you are about to work with and see what they like and what they are expecting.

Even though your mind might be filled with amazing photography ideas, you must always be aware of the fact that people have different tastes and different expectations and the only way to make sure that your ideas will be appreciated by others as much as they are appreciated by you, is through communication.

Image Sources: Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

The Quick & Dirty Guide to Wedding Photography Business Branding

We’ve written about branding at length before, with talk on finding your own niche and sticking to it, as well as several other techniques to help you stand out on today’s complex photography market. Today, however, we’re going to make everything simple and clear for your convenience, with a quick and dirty guide to wedding photography business branding. We’ll be covering all the basics, from getting your reputation off the ground, to putting it to work for you – all outlined in some simple, easy-to-follow steps. Oh, and good luck!

The definitive guide to wedding photography business branding: Newbie edition

1. Making a name and a living at the same time

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Back in the day, when print photography was much more important than it is today, in the digital era, photographers would make a name for themselves by getting gallery exposure, followed up with editorial work. Far be it from us, in our guide to wedding photography business branding, to dissuade you from garnering exposure via exhibitions. But, since they’re less likely to draw lucrative clients today than two or three decades ago, you’d be better advised to get some exposure online first, via curated websites. Promote any exposure you can get on your own social media channels and watch as the work rolls in.

2. Don’t underestimate stock photography

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As many a seasoned photog will tell you, stock photography doesn’t sell nearly as well as it used to, nowadays. However, if you manage to get a bit of reputation off the ground, you might be surprised to learn that stock will provide a welcome stream of steady income. The trick to making this work often entails taking up several assignments at once – the pay isn’t big, but it’s dependable, when you do strike a lucrative stock photography contract.

3. Have the best possible online presence

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In between running and maintaining a blog, several social media accounts (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are nearly compulsory) and setting up a professional website, you might even want to look into hiring an assistant to handle the workload for you. At the same time, even if you do choose to go down this route, it’s important to maintain a personal approach to your online presence. In other words, don’t make your fans and followers feel like they’re been talked at by a company, but by a genuine human being.

4. Consider hiring an editor

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What’s all this talk about hiring someone else do the work for you?, you may ask. After all, the best way to take care of business is to do it yourself, right? Most of the time, yes – but not all the time. If, for instance, editing your work is not your strong suit (which, incidentally, is something that a lot of photographers struggle with), you should definitely think about hiring someone to edit the photos for you. After all, your end goal is to put your best foot forward, as it were, and make sure that the images that get out there with your name on them are the best possible ones.

5. Work on as many projects as possible

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We’ve mentioned this before, in connection with stock photography, but it’s a good rule of thumb to go by, no matter the type of assignment. From shooting weddings pure and simple, to taking on editorial assignments, it’s a good idea to put out as much work as you can. You will thus expand your scope, grow your business, showcase your skill, and make sure you get your name out there, on as many people’s radars as possible. And that can’t be a bad idea, right?

5 Tips on Building the Best Photo Portfolio Website

Say what you will, but building the best photo portfolio website is still important, even in 2014 – the day and age of social media, mobile apps and all other great digital trends. Why does a good website still matter? The answer is simple enough and has a lot to do with one of the most basic principles in marketing: a website for your photo brand is the most comprehensive way for a potential client to sample your work and decide whether or not they want to hire you. They’ll be basing their decision on what they see there to a great extent, so it pays off to know how to best represent your brand and showcase your work. That being said, here are five efficient tips on how to build the best photo portfolio website for yourself.

#1 Getting praise for website design? Think again

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There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a website design that gets a lot of compliments… if you’re a website designer. But you’re not; you’re a wedding photographer and that’s what your site should convey. Forget complex Flash animations and other artifices. Keep it simple and clean, let the photos speak for themselves, keep the number of buttons at a bare minimum, and, if possible, even add an option that conceals them when they’re not being used. K-I-S-S, as they say, and you’ll be on your way to building the best photo portfolio website possible.

#2 Reconsider your views on image theft

This point might turn out controversial, but it bears mentioning. As you may or may not have noticed, more and more photographers with a strong online presence choose to put their images up at full-screen size on their website. They’re also keeping the area of the picture that’s taken up by the watermark at a bare minimum (as do major image repositories such as Getty Images). Of course, you want to protect your images from being stolen, but you also want to see them featured, shared, and admired. It’s easy to protect your full-size images from being downloaded with a right-click blocker, for instance; similarly, too big a watermark might deter your visitors from actually looking at the pictures.

#3 It’s a website, not a brain puzzle

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Another sure-fire way to create the best photo portfolio website you can is to make sure it’s efficient, in terms of user-friendliness. Keep your number of featured categories at a bare minimum, too. Don’t get too creative with naming them, or the labels, tags, categories, and menu buttons you’re using. It might seem fun at first, but you also risk alienating visitors. It should be simple to get to see the pictures – and this involves a choice of wording that your viewers will understand and that is also typical of your niche.

#4 Go mobile

This is 2014 – everyone and their grandmother is browsing the web off a smartphone, tablet, or another type of mobile device. These devices have smaller screens and they also react differently to usage patterns. As such, make sure you’re investing into the development of a mobile, responsive design version for your website. The best photo portfolio website you can build is definitely not one that looks the same on a computer screen as it does on an iPhone.

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#5 You are your own worst editor

It may sound harsh and it could even be too much to stomach for some photographers, but the truth is that you’re better off hiring an editor, when trying to build a website. They will do a far better job than you at selecting the pictures in the first place, since they’re not as emotionally attached to them as you are. And, as they say, a photographer’s portfolio is only as good as the worst picture in it.

7 Useful Tax Deductions for Photography Businesses

tax-deductions-for-photography-businessesLooking forward to filing your taxes on Tax Day? Well, to be earnest, who is? The good news is that, if you own and run a photo biz, there might just be several tax deductions for photography businesses that you are eligible for. Of course, take our advice below as just what it is: friendly advice, dispensed with the best intentions at hear; understand, however, that such advice is not meant to replace professional consultancy from your accountant and/or lawyer. That being said, provided you’ve kept good records of your spending throughout the past fiscal year, here are seven such deductions you should probably look into.

1. Car costs

It’s likely you drive to get to your clients or move around the area, from one shoot to the next. You may be able to pass off your automobile expenses as one of the tax deductions for photography businesses. You can track the mileage on your car, when using it for photography and apply the government’s per-mile rate to each mile driven for photo purposes (the current rate stands at $.565). Alternatively, you can work out the percentage of time that you drive your car for photography business purposes and deduct the costs for that span of time from your overall car maintenance costs.

2. Travel costs

Similarly, you can count all travel expenses that are accounted for and were incurred for your art as tax deductions for photography businesses. Of course, this means you will have to start storing and filing plane tickets, car rental receipts, taxi fare and public transport receipts, restaurant bills, hotel bills, and just about any piece of paper that proves you spent money while away traveling for a shoot.

3. Housing expenses

This one is probably going to come in handy for any photographer that runs a studio or office right out of their own home. You need to calculate how much space inside your home is allotted to your photography business, work out the costs for maintaining that particular amount of space and then file for deductions from your mortgage, home insurance, bills (for electricity, water, and anything else).

4. Office/studio costs

This is one of those tax deductions for photography businesses that’s mutually exclusive with another one – namely, the one listed above. In other words, you can’t get a tax deduction both for a home office/studio and for such a space that you’re renting out elsewhere. However, if you don’t operate your office and/or studio from the comfort of your own home, you will be able to file for a deduction for these separate business expenses.

5. Phone lines

In order to get tax deductions for photography businesses for phone lines, you need to have a separate line that you only use for your photography business. Also, it goes without saying that you need to keep a clear record of the calls you’re making, be they local or long-distance, in order to talk with clients or arrange other aspects that have to do with your business.

6. Internet and site bills

No, you can’t get all your internet bills written off as business expenses, but if you own a site dedicated to your business (and we can only hope that you do, given the fact that this is 2014) a fraction of those costs become deductibles. Figure out how much bandwidth you use for website maintenance, then file for a deduction.

7. Training

Photography is one of those fields in which an ongoing education really goes a long way. That’s why the government sees photography workshops, seminars, and courses as potential tax deduction areas. Keep good track of those expenses and make sure to include them  all, when you file for taxes.

5 2014 Wedding Photography Trends to Watch out for

The year is well underway, yet many in the field of wedding photography are wondering what the most relevant 2014 wedding photography trends are. Read on to see our picks, which include online advertising, printed albums, and a whole new esthetic, in terms of actual picture-taking.

2014-wedding-photography-trendsFine-art photojournalism is in, vintage is out

‘Fine-art photojournalism?!’, you might exclaim. What’s that? Just what it sounds like: a blend of styles that brings together the candid quality of photojournalistic shots with just a dash of the impeccable style you would expect from fashion and editorial shoots. In other words, it’s the type of photography that manages to look both glamorous and unscripted. The vintage style, popular a few seasons ago, is reportedly falling out of grace with an increasing number of photographers, who are striving for a timeless look, instead of one that just looks dated from the get-go.

Truly professional photography

It was bound to happen, wasn’t it? On the one hand, we’ve seen a virtual boom of DSLR ownership among non-professionals over the past few years. On the other, an increasing number of photography hobbyists are going pro. These two factors combined bring us to one of the most interesting 2014 wedding photography trends. The experts predict this to be the year when the professionals will need to learn to set themselves apart from the non-pros. What’s the best way to do that? By finding a niche all your own and catering to the tastes of clients who know that a friend armed with a DSLR (no matter how expensive) is not quite the same thing as hiring a professional photographer.

Spectacular wedding albums2014-wedding-photography-trends02

In terms of 2014 wedding photography trends, one thing is for sure: much like in 2013, high-quality fine-art printed albums will continue to rule. Yes, yes, we know: these days everyone and their grandmother has Internet access and is dying to share digital wedding photos on social media. However, while providing your clients with a DVD of pictures taken on the big day will remain the standard, what will truly set the professionals apart is the energy they invest into creating a beautiful book of hard-copy mementos.

Stagnant pricing

The economy is ever so slowly recovering, but while this doesn’t justify price increases, the afflux of hobbyists turned professionals in the field of wedding photography warrants that prices will stay the same. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it means the clientele is getting used to the idea that access to professional wedding photography services is something that comes at a price. In brief, the clients are becoming educated – and this is happening thanks to a handful of professional wedding photogs who are standing their ground, even in the face of economic sluggishness. What they’re doing actually benefits the entire field, since it means that emerging photographers don’t have to start out from the very bottom, in terms of fees.

2014-wedding-photography-trends03Wedding photography blogs

They’ve been around for just about as long as high-speed Internet connections, but the experts in 2014 wedding photography trends say that they’re here to stay for this year. It’s all thanks to the increasing weight and importance of online advertising. Social media has a lot to do with it, but so do the hefty prices that photographers are expected to pay, in order to have their work exhibited in bridal shows. Print advertising overall is declining and that’s obviously because there’s no comparing online publicity to what money can buy offline. As numerous professional wedding photogs are saying, these days a massive part of their business is coming in from their blog – so if you don’t have one already, you’d better get to it.

6 Common Mistakes for New Wedding Photography Businesses

common-mistakes-for-new-wedding-photography-studiosSeasoned photographers, who have been in the niche of shooting weddings for several years now, will come to you at various points in your career, with advice that’s more or less welcome, valid, or solicited. Now, most of them mean well and should be taken at face value, as well as with a pinch of salt. But, occasionally, you will also come across the revelation of committing common mistakes for new wedding photography businesses. There are those errors which are part of the learning process, and which you probably need to go through, in order to evolve. And while the list below does not, by any means, aim to be exhaustive, it is meant to save you at least some of the trouble these mistakes come with. So read on and try to take some of them to heart.

Common Mistake #1: You don’t use the manual mode

Don’t get us wrong – it’s not like using the Aperture and Shutter Priority modes is wrong. They do serve their purpose, when there simply isn’t enough time, or the situation is too complex to set your camera right on Manual Mode. However, if you’re serious about becoming a professional wedding photographer, this is one of the foremost common mistakes of new photography businesses you’re going to want to avoid. If you don’t use Manual Mode, there’s no way you’re ever going to learn anything about lighting, as well as about your camera in general.

Common Mistake #2: You’re only a photographer

That’s also one of the more serious common mistakes of new photography businesses. You see, when you go into this business, you should walk in assuming that you’re going to be doing so much more than just taking pictures. You’re going to become, in turn, a social media expert, a marketing expert, a treasurer and accountant, a PR person, a secretary – and just about any other business running role you can think of.

Common Mistake #3: You believe success will come quickly

Get that out of your head pronto. It’s going to take years before you start making a comfortable amount of money. That’s because, no matter how much your heart is in it, there’s still a lot you need to learn – and not just about wedding photography, but also about all those other skills and lines of work we mentioned before.

Common Mistake #4: You have no people skills

Photography in general, but wedding photography in particular, is all about knowing how to work with and relate to people. People are your clients, prime material, and everything in between. Without them, you have no business to speak of, so if you really want to turn your pipe dream into a success, then you’d better get cracking at honing those people skills – it will pay off tenfold, time and time again.

Common Mistake #5: You spend a lot of money on gear

Yes, we know – it’s hard to hold back from buying that one lens/tripod/case you’ve always dreamt of. However, if you don’t control your purchases, especially in the beginning, you risk running yourself into debt and a very sad case of business failure. And that is just about the opposite of what you want to do, especially since it’s never just that one purchase. It’s a vicious circle and you know it, so practice some restraint.

Common Mistake #6: You don’t have referrals to rely on

In entrepreneurship, getting business to come your way is all about word of mouth, references, and referrals. Yes, paid advertising can help to, but there is no publicity like the one a satisfied client can provide. So always make sure to encourage referrals, or even ask for them upfront.

6 Common Mistakes for New Wedding Photography Businesses

5 Tips to Prepare Your Clients for the Photo Shoot

prepare-your-clients-for-the-photo-shootPortraiture and wedding photography may seem a bit like alchemy – and that’s because of the artistic ingredients involved in the process. However, there’s also a lot of science behind taking great pictures of people in formal settings. We’ve covered a lot of the essentials of this part-art, part-science endeavor before, but today we’re going to approach the issue from a wholly different angle. You see, no matter how skilled you are as a professional wedding photographer, or how much you know about lighting and compositions, there’s one ingredient without which all your photos are going to seem less than genuine. That ingredient is collaboration and it has everything to do with how you prepare your clients for the photo shoot. Now, especially for beginners this may seem like a daunting task, since talking to people you barely now can be difficult – all the more so when there’s a lucrative connection at stake. But with our bare essentials list of tips and tricks, we’re going to try and figure out the secrets of the photographer-client collaboration, one step at a time.

#1 Know what to tell your clients

Let’s break this down: you’re a professional wedding photographer, while your clients are mere normal people. They are effectively paying you money in exchange for your expertise. That’s why it’s vital to have that expertise, your very own handbook of style, laid out very clearly in your head. In fact, it’s even more useful to write it down, in accessible, layman terms. Know how much information they’re going to need at each step of the process – you don’t want to overwhelm them. The goal here is to create very clear expectations about what it’s like to work with you and to make them want that.

#2 Know what you’re about

This essential point, which you need in order to prepare your clients for the photo shoot, is inextricably linked with the one above. In fact, it’s difficult to tell which one comes first. Regardless, the point is that your clients expect you to have a philosophy, a concept behind your work – and they will keep asking you about it, in various forms, each step of the way. Needless to say, as a professional, you need to have the answer to this question ready, even if a potential client were to wake you up in the dead of the night.

#3 Know where to shoot

Though for a photographer setting the precise location right away might not be the main priority, it always is for the client. If you want to best prepare your clients for the photo shoot, expect to be asked this question early on in the process and know that you get to have the final say. If you only work outdoors, or, conversely, in a studio, do stand your ground and explain this from the get-go. Explain how you select your wedding shoot locations and sample your arguments with illustrations from your previous work.

#4 Know how to handle fashion choices

It requires no explanation, since this is wedding photography we’re talking about, but we’re going to lay it out for you anyway. It is vital to prepare your clients for the photo shoot with tips on what to wear. Some wedding photographers actually choose their clients’ outfits, others join them in their quest for attire, while the more relaxed set simply comes with a set of handy guidelines. Decide which approach you’re more partial to and prepare to stick with it.

#5 Prepare your clients for the photo shoot per se

This final point on our list involves actually running them through a description of what’s going to happen during the actual photo session. Tell them what they’re going to do and explain what you’ll be doing to. Don’t limit yourself to descriptions – tell them about the whys, too. The more they’re comfortable with your reasons, the easier it will be for you to work with them.

The 1-2-3 Marketing Mistake Most Photographers Make And Why It Kills Business

Have you ever done this?

You get excited about blogging. So you create a blog and start writing content for your posts. You write the first month because you are excited. By the second month it’s getting a bit tedious, but you do it anyway. By the third month you are really questioning why you’re writing and you begin limiting your posts. You slip from every day to three times per week. No results. Month four is cancelled.

Or maybe you’ve decided to send postcards to certain zip codes to try and drum up business. You spend time creating a postcard and figuring out how to make it a powerful campaign. You’re excited about its potential and you ship the first month issue out enthusiastically. With no bites on the first go around, you’re a little more hesitant about month two, but you’re still dedicated to the concept. Month two’s postcards head out your door and into the mail. By month three, you’re very unsure about the whole thing. You may have had a call or two, but really no clients yet. Do you really want to do this and incur this expense? Maybe one more month; postcard three heads out the door. Month four – no sales, no great leads – it’s over.

This is what I call the 1-2-3 Marketing Mistake.

No matter what marketing tool you try, online or off, nothing will work spectacularly on its first go. (Okay, I’m sure you can find some case studies that show instant phenomenal results, but they are the case studies, not reality.)

People today want instant results. We can solve cases in one hour, thanks to television. We can see an entire generation move from birth to death, thanks to Hollywood movies. We know everyone can get rich overnight thanks to many of today’s marketing tools – just look through your email or watch an infomercial.

So why shouldn’t our marketing methods work just as quick?

We are exposed to so much content, so many ideas, so many messages, its almost impossible for the average person to understand your offer with one contact, especially if they don’t know they have a need yet.

Lets go back to our two examples.

If you’ve decided to set up a blog, there is only one thing you should be doing on a regular basis. Blog. [Read more…]

4 Steps To Turn Prospects Into Clients With Your Website

As a photographer, what is the one thing that motivates your prospects to convert to clients? Your photographs?

Nope.

It’s actually your words.

Don’t believe me?

Head out and Google random photographers’ websites. You’ll quickly find the majority of photographers online today create a site driven by their photography.

Sure they say, “welcome to my site”. And they have a bio – very small that doesn’t really say much. And they may list their services with pricing and inclusions.

But then it’s on to the gallery. And it becomes a “best of” festival, showcasing whatever the photographer deems to be representative of their finest photography. 50, 100, 200 images – they take a few best shots from each clients’ file and upload them to a gallery.

No matter how beautiful the photography, the value of it starts getting lost as people go from one site to another, and they all pretty much look the same.

And its’ not just the photography. Even the website designs begin to look the same. It’s enough to leave any potential customer confused.

Which is where your words become more important than ever. Take a look at these two examples.

Example 1:

In this example, all your prospect sees when visiting your site is an image. They build their opinions strictly from the image you provide.

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Example 2:

Instead of choosing a “best of” image, you put a selection of images from a past shoot and talk about the shoot:

Brent and Amanda’s Engagement

I was so excited when I booked Brent and Amanda’s wedding. I knew right away they were going to be a fun couple to work with. They wanted something different for their engagement setting, so I started asking them what was important to them. Amanda started telling me about the picnic lunch they shared right before Brent popped the question – all down by city park. I knew then where we had to photograph their engagement.

 

I met them there and instant magic started happening. With a little direction, they began having fun, and the photographs turned out exquisite.

They wanted a series of images to display at their reception site, so we didn’t take the standard images – instead we had some fun. Here are a couple of my favorites.

I’m SOOOO looking forward to their wedding in October up at the Ritz!

As a prospect, the first image is nice. But there is nothing that allows you to get “inside” what the clients were feeling; what the photographer’s intentions were.

With the second, the story unfolds. Even if you don’t know “Brent and Amanda”, you feel like you do. You get this happy feeling just by reading what transpired.

So ultimately, its in your words. Which is why I always recommend blogging. With every post you make, you can get into the details of what your last shoot was. It doesn’t take a novel or hundreds of words. Just a simple story like the one I wrote above. It’s 142 words.

If you HATE writing – I have a lot of people tell me that – here is a quick way to get your story out and on to your blog.

Outline

Pick your favorite images from the shoot. Not a ton, just 2 or 3. Why do you want to share them? What makes them special? Write down on a piece of paper three reasons why these mean something to you and how they best represent your client.

Freewrite

Take those three points and write. If you hate writing, speak. Dragon Software has a great product that allows you to talk while it takes notes. Or if you have a Mac with the new operating system, Mountain Lion, it has a dictation program that allows you to do the same. Just let yourself go without editing or concerning yourself with your language.

Read Aloud

Now start at the beginning and read it aloud. Things sound different when you speak them and it will help you discover hidden errors. Correct things as you go along to make it sound better.

Post

When you’re comfortable with your message, post it with your images. Don’t overthink this. Just do it. Your first try won’t be as good as your tenth. And that’s okay. The important thing is to let people see your work and your personality.

Why A Blog Filled With Client Posts Is The Best Way To Sell

How many clients will you be photographing this year?

Maybe you’re a wedding photographer. Your 2012 looks like this:

  • 35 weddings
  • 22 engagement sessions
  • 10 trash the dress sessions

Maybe you’re a portrait photographer. Your 2012 looks like this:

  • 50 family sessions
  • 35 baby plans
  • 100 high school senior sessions

Maybe you’re a commercial photographer. Your 2012 looks like this:

  • 3 commercial jobs every month – 36 jobs for the year

Every single one of these sessions should be more than just the session. They should be made into a blog post to showcase your work and show other potential customers exactly what you can do. [Read more…]