FULL CANDIDNESS ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS, FREE EDITING VIDEO, 50% MENTORSHIPS!
I asked on Instagram and my FB group, “Artists with Cameras” to leave questions for me to respond to the masses via email! I received so many great questions and I will try to answer them all here! Thank you for participating and thank you for reading! Read until the end if you are interested in 50% off mentorships!
Q: Ah! You’re the best! What business decisions do you think has accelerated your growth?
A: Thank you! When I gave up thinking that there should always be a Plan B. THIS accelerated my growth. You will hinder any and all growth if you’re dipping your toes in verses diving head first – you – YOU – may be the biggest block to reaching your biggest desire. Why does it always need to be lined up perfectly for you to see? I started at $25 sessions and now they are at minimum, $900 each. When you are given a desire to create and don’t fulfill THAT, you will be left with a lot of what IF’s and an unfulfilled soul. I believe we were given the innate dream to be what we are intended to be. Don’t get in your own way.
Q: You talked about podcasts you were featured on..can you link them for us?
A: Of course: The Milky Way One + Book More Clients Podcast + Rove Podcast
Q: Do you offer coachings via video chat like 1-2 hours?
A: I DO! I do online mentorships via Zoom for 3 hours! Details here!
(watch a quick edit of this maternity photo above here – using Tricia Victoria presets!)
Q: Where do you get your posing inspiration? Does it come naturally or do you get inspired by prompts from Unscripted/Promptography? How can someone get better at that?
A: Those are great resources, but FIRST always remember you can never re-create an exact image. It’s just not reality – you are not that photographer in that exact stance in that exact light in that exact location with that exact subject..but what you can do, is dissect the FEELING of that image and find out what may of really connected the subjects and the photographer to that moment..and find YOUR own way to bring that to life. For my posing, I put my subjects where I want the best light to be. Once I get them there, I am looking for the connection..naturally, humans are pulled to touch, talk, connect..from there I give the guidance of what would create a beautiful picture but true connection. I do not overly force poses, I use words that would encourage them to come together..touch!
Q: All your families seem so fun and easy going, love playing and just embracing the now. Has this always been the case? How do you attract this type of people or?
A: Have you ever ran into a friend that you haven’t seen in like 5-10 years and then you just start playing catchup – like you start asking how they are, how’s their job going? have they traveled anywhere cool recently (pretend you do not follow them on the gram) you then go ahead and tell them about what you’ve done over the past 5 years and all of a sudden you have a complete recap of life in like 10 minutes? This is what I do. I skip that ENTIRE awkward stage and start asking them about their life. This way we get the whole, “I’m a photographer and everything about you is about to be photographed,” out of the way. I have found that when I make that part of the relationship comfortable it allows them to not feel uncomfortable being photographed and genuinely allows real moments to unfold – because there isn’t an awkward tension between us anymore. Start there and you’ll see that you begin photographing “old friends,” you haven’t seen in awhile.
Q: How do you separate work, life, kids, husband?!? Do you make specific work hours everyday?
A: I haven’t meant one self-employed, working from home, person with a family, that knows the right answer to this. What I do know, is that each day holds its own priority. One day I might have to make the entire day full of appointments because I feel one apt wrecks my entire schedule, so I just try to get them done all in one day. The next day I may edit until I can’t see anymore and the next day may need to be just for my kids and hubs. I feel each day is new and asks something different of me. I try to be as intuitive as I can to the needs surrounding me – including myself, my family and my clients. And generally I can tell which is winning the tug of war and needs my attention the most right then.
Q: What is the best insurance to go with for your photography business? And what should you have included?
A: I personally use State Farm, it covers liability and all my gear..with a bunch of other stuff mixed in. I pay about $45/month for this premium.
Q: What things do you do monthly/weekly to help you prep for tax season..any tips?
A: My CPA (which I hope everyone has!!) has these fancy little 1040-ES estimated tax vouchers that I send in quarterly. This helps me stay on track! I also keep all receipts, use MileIQ to track my miles and PayPal gives me a 1099 every year!
Q: WORKFLOW!
A: Oh man, I wish I was a total creature of habit but I like to try new things and ways so I will share my CURRENT way of doing things. I am assuming this meant post-session workflow:
1. Use Photomechanic to ingest photos and put into primary and secondary location.
2. Flag and cull images to drag into it’s desired catalog in LR for editing.
3. Pick a few sneaks from the culled images that I may of flagged with it’s own special color to edit and send to my clients via text! (they always get to see the first edited pics first!)
4. I use Pixieset to upload galleries and I am starting to love using the phone app that Pixieset has to share images!
IF you were interested in my PRE-Session workflow, I just did a course over here on it!
Q: Where do you get your prints from?
A: I get this question a lot and I do not answer it. I believe there is a lot of work that goes into printing, sampling and trying out labs from around the world that match each style of photography. I always recommend sampling from all of them to see how you like them – do they match your brand, who you are..would you hang them? Put in that work and I believe you will love YOUR outcome!! XO
Q: Next workshop opening?
A: Actually..I have a waitlist for all workshops, so please respond with your email if you’d like to be put on it..but I JUST got notice of an opening for the Big Island Workshop in February!! Info can be found here!
Q: Would love to do mentor sessions for other photographers – any advice to get started?
A: Just do it, charge less..ask them a lot of questions that would help you navigate on what they are wanting to know from you and then in turn get at least 10-15 questions from them. This will help identify what they are seeking and how to approach your mentoring sessions. Then you will get a rhythm of most asked questions and how to make it more and more solid for each one!
Q: How to grow Instagram?
A: Instagram is like a billboard in my opinion, you want to capture attention – then direct them to your website where they can see more of your work and get in contact with you, find out about you and your pricing, etc.. I started years ago with creating a pattern of posts (warm color, cool color, b&w, detail, landscape..repeat) this also attracts a viewers eye. The colors, patterns, esthetic of the feed. Do this too! And PUSH YOUR CREATIVE WORK into your feed..get those scroll stoppers to gain speed and get people curious about your work!
Q: How do you deal with clients who are difficult to work with? From styling, to location, to every detail..
A: Let them, if you take away that control from them completely they will be more than likely be disappointed with the outcome. If they don’t already go into the session trusting your creative control, you’ve already lost it. Fighting over it would ruin it completely for you and you still need to show up with the energy to create.
Q: I’m curious, do you offer different packages for local as opposed to out of town clients?
A: I live in a very touristy beach, so I was doing a tourist package for them during the summer. But now I have hired an amazing associate who takes them on and I pay her to shoot these sessions. Most of them are googling photographers and not necessarily looking for “my style,” but just quality photos. But if you do not do that, I would keep the two different approaches to their sessions..
Q: What lens do you find yourself shooting with the most?
A: Mostly my 35mm! Because I can crop if need to.. but I love the bokeh of my 50 and 85mm..so those and my 24 are always in my bag!! I also shoot with a Canon EOS R! Mirrorless is the WAY TO GO!!
Q: Best way to build clientele?
A: Show them what they are missing..do creative shoots, over and over and over and over again.. this will show your creativeness and make your potential client wish they were in those pictures. If you’re not shooting for yourself, who are you shooting for?
Q: Do you send thank you gifts or Christmas gifts to your client?
A: I wish I had a plan to do that..sounds awesome. That would be a lot of gifts though, so I would have to budget per session on what the gift costs and go from there!
Q:What’s your favorite houseplant? Plants are my passion!
A: I love waking up to my fiddle leaf every morning.. I also give it showers once a week or so! But, I have this gorgeous one in my living room that I do not know the name of it. She was my first and is doing SO well. OH!! And I had a client give me one of hers that she has had for 3 years and I found the perfect corner for and she’s thriving!! I am at 19 houseplants, so I am still learning!!
JANUARY MENTORSHIPS!!!
The first of the year is my absolute favorite. I get to think of new ideas for the year – that whole Resolution thing, – it’s real. DO IT! Set your year up for SUCCESS… no joke. Make plans, mentor, create, shift.. So for the first time! I am going to off 50% off ONLINE mentorships for the month of January! BUT, only to 10!!! If you want to be on the list to get the sign up for these, please RESPOND with your EMAIL!!
Read about my 1:1 sit down mentorships here!
