May 13, 2025 • 35 mins
#562 In Today’s Episode of the podcast I chat with YOU as I dive into your most pressing photo questions. I take listener-submitted questions and share advice, stories, and practical strategies based on my own experiences as a photographer. Whether you’re wrestling with when to put a signature or logo on your images, trying to wrangle energetic kids during a family session, or feeling overwhelmed by all the technical settings on your camera, I’m here to help you navigate those common hurdles.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
- Signature & Logo Usage on Photos - Raymond explains when photographers should (and shouldn't) add their signature or logo to images, distinguishing between branding needs and concerns over theft. He notes that landscape photographers may benefit more from signatures due to wider image use, while portrait photographers often don't need them unless for advertising.
- Managing Kids in Family Photography - The episode offers strategies for keeping young children engaged during sessions, such as making games out of posing or incorporating playful pranks to elicit natural smiles and genuine interaction. These methods lower stress, capture better moments, and leave clients happier.
- Tackling Technical Overwhelm and Regaining Enjoyment - Listeners struggling with camera settings (like manual white balance, exposure, or composition) are advised to simplify their process—using presets, prioritizing aspects like “moment” over technical perfection, and even shooting for fun with fewer controls, as with film or point-and-shoot cameras, to restore joy.
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS & CONCEPTS
- White Balance: A camera setting that adjusts color temperature to render whites correctly under different lighting conditions, measured in Kelvin.
- Client Closet: A collection of clothing offered by a photographer for clients to use during shoots.
DISCUSSION & REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Why might you choose to add (or not add) your signature to your images?
- How can playful interaction with children change the outcomes of a photo session?
- In what ways do issues of confidence versus competence appear in your creative process, and how can you address them?
- What steps could you take today to get more photography clients, inspired by Raymond’s strategies?
Learn What Camera Settings to Use in our free guide!
https://perfectcamerasettings.com/
Connect with Raymond!
- Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group
- Get your Photo Questions Answered on the show - https://beginnerphotopod.com/qa
- Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/
Thanks for listening & keep shooting!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raymond Hatfield (00:00):
Everybody wants to be the noun, but nobody
(00:02):
wants to do the verb.
Everybody wants to be aprofessional photographer, but
nobody wants to get in front ofpeople to ask them to book a
session.
Hey, welcome to the BeginnerPhotography Podcast.
I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield,and today I'm answering all of
your questions in this month'sphoto q and A.
So once a month I ask you foryour burning questions in
(00:24):
photography, and right here Ianswer them.
I am a firm believer that if youhave a question about something,
especially maybe photography's anew hobby for you, there's a lot
of unknowns.
There's a good chance thatthere's a million other people
who are wondering the exact samething that you are.
So why not help everybody out byanswering your questions right
(00:45):
here so that everybody can learnand grow.
I mean, we all have the samegoal, right?
To become a better photographer.
That's it, and that's all.
So why don't we go ahead and geton into helping you figure out
your biggest photo hangups.
All right.
The first question here todaycomes from Michael McLaughlin.
Michael asks, when is itappropriate or not appropriate
(01:08):
to include a signature logo onyour photographs?
Great question.
So I think we've all been onInstagram or Facebook and we've
seen photos posted and they havea nice little signature.
even this is just somethingingrained in us as kids.
I remember, in art class, infirst or second grade, whenever
we'd make a painting orsomething, we'd always sign it
with some sort of like, coolcrazy signature, because that's
(01:31):
what like artists did.
So why not bring that intophotography?
Right.
I totally get that.
So, to directly answer yourquestion, when is it appropriate
to add your signature to aphoto?
The short answer is anytime youwant, honestly.
And when is it not appropriate?
Well, I have some rule of thumbsas to when I would either put a
(01:52):
signature or a logo on my imagesand it would, it would just be a
signature.
But the rule of thumb for me wasif it was for advertising
purposes, like I.
Facebook ads.
Maybe it was in print, maybe Iwas creating a flyer or I was
doing a bridal fair, or I wasdoing some sort of sponsorship
and they needed an image.
(02:13):
I would include it, but then Iwouldn't use it any other time.
And my thought really is like, Iwouldn't put them on the images
on my website.
I really wouldn't do it forsocial media.
And I guess my thought is like,I'm not Picasso, right?
People aren't looking toactively come after my images to
steal them.
(02:33):
I don't need to put my signatureon my images, especially with
how easy it is to today to justuse something like AI to create
photorealistic images.
I think that the number ofimages that are gonna be stolen
by other people are going to godown significantly because, if
you're a new photographer, okay,so that, that's who steals the
(02:55):
majority of images, right?
New photographers, they thinkI'm a great photographer.
I just don't have the portfolioyet.
So let me just borrow someimages from somebody else of a
similar visual style and then,like I'll book a view shoots and
then I'll replace those imageswith ones that I've actually
shot.
Totally wrong, right?
Still totally wrong.
But now it's like, why would youdo that if you can just create
(03:18):
photorealistic images in AI andthen claim them as your own?
It's a whole lot less work thanit sifting through websites and
trying to find images and, allthat stuff.
So I'm not too worried aboutputting my signature on my
images.
And plus like a signature or alogo is more for like branding
purposes.
Oh, but I, I guess I will saythat I'm coming from the world
of wedding photography andagain, really the only people
(03:39):
who are going to steal images ofsomebody else's wedding, because
the couple's already paid forthem.
So the only person who's reallygonna steal images is gonna be
another photographer who'strying to grow their portfolio.
So, I will say that forlandscape photographers, it
probably makes more sensebecause your images are just,
they're more places they can berelatable to more people.
(04:01):
It doesn't have somebody whothey don't know who's in these
images might want to use it fortheir desktop wallpaper or,
anything like that.
So, so sharing.
Maybe landscape images onsocial, it might make more sense
to put on your signature so thatpeople understand that it is
your image.
But again, for like portraitsand families and things like
that, I typically, I wouldn'tput it on, but at the end of the
(04:24):
day, I mean, you are thephotographer and you get to make
choices on how your business,how your work is represented as
an artist, and therefore you cankind of do whatever you want.
Those are just kind of my ruleof thumbs, like how I would
approach it.
But again, ultimately the choiceis 100% up to you.
All right, let's move on toquestion, number two, which
(04:45):
comes from Kaya Dorsey.
Kaya asks any recommendationsfor kids to sit still?
When I'm doing familyphotography, I can't really get
kids younger than 10 to focusfor long enough to get good
picks.
Yeah, man, I get that.
I just photograph my own kidsand they're rambunctious enough
(05:06):
and I'm not trying to get themto sit down and pose for like,
anything professional or like,where there's the weight of me
being a, professional andthere's money behind it and like
I have to deliver something,right?
These are just my kids and it'shard enough to photograph them.
So, a few things for you.
One, I would encourage you to goback to listen to my interview
that I did with Philip Bloomabout, his mini sessions that he
(05:29):
does.
Philip and his wife EileenBloom, do family photography and
he shared an amazing trick thatI think, that he says works I
mean phenomenally every singletime.
So what he does is when he firstshows up to a shoot, he will try
to get on the kids' good side.
So the first thing that he'lldo, even before talking to the
(05:50):
parents, when the kids show up,he will take them aside and say,
Hey kids, I have this idea.
I want to prank your parents,but I need your help.
Kids being kids, they want toplay.
So they're like, oh, this soundsgreat.
Like, yeah, what do we need todo?
And then that's when he wouldsay, okay, we're gonna pretend
to pose like in this very stiff,happy family photo.
(06:14):
And then when I say three, Iwant you to tickle your parents,
but first you gotta pretend likewe're gonna take a really nice
family photo.
So then he sets everybody up,the kids are all excited.
He gets'em over there and he islike, all right, we're gonna
take our photo here, and theneverybody smile.
Everybody smiles, right?
He takes a few photos and thenhe is like, 1, 2, 3.
(06:37):
And then all the kids starttickling their parents and all
the things.
So now not only did he get thatquote, unquote frame worthy
photo of the kids sitting stillbecause they thought that they
were playing a game.
But now he's able to get inclose and get these fun
interactions between the familyand the kids and laughing.
And that's just more photos todeliver as well.
So I think that that's a greattrick that you can go ahead and
(06:59):
try.
But then also, just rememberingthat like kids.
I'm sure I don't have to tellyou kids want to play a lot,
right?
So, I had another photographeron who talked about doing these,
she'd play like, games withthem, something like peekaboo
where they'd hide their face andthen you'd say, okay, when I
say, peekaboo or whatever, openup your face and give me a crazy
(07:23):
face.
And then they'd give somethingcrazy and be like, now give me a
happy face, and then they'd movetheir hands, and then it would
just be like a regular, happyface, and then you'd get that
photo and then you keep tryingall these variations.
So rather than trying to conformthem to like, okay, sit still
and do exactly what I say, it'salmost like some mind trickery,
some Jedi mind trickery ofgetting them to play games, but
(07:46):
also do so in a way that allowsyou to get what it is that you
need.
So start thinking about thosetypes of ideas and you'll be
able to get kids on your side.
which again, I'm sure soundseasier than what it is, but I'm
confident that you can do it.
Those are some great tricks thatI would encourage you to try and
again, go back and listen tothat episode with Philip and
(08:06):
Eileen Bloom.
Next question comes from ConnorCook.
Connor says, I got my firstquote, unquote real camera in
January.
I'm now trying to work out howto render colors correctly with
manual Kelvin's selection,manual Kelvin selection being,
your Y balance.
He goes on to say, I'm notalways happy with the auto
(08:27):
selection.
I take pictures in all mannersof locations and lighting.
I shoot jpeg just to remove theaddition of learning
post-processing.
For now, I love it.
Great idea.
How do I manage or learn tomanage all of these things?
Meaning moving from focusing, tocapturing highlights and
shadows, to managing whitebalance in addition to
(08:49):
composition and the decisivemoment in a way that lets me
just take the picture that Iwant without forgetting whatever
the last element that I workedon.
Connor, it sounds like you arein the thick of it right now,
ma'am.
When I think back to some of theeasiest times that I ever had
when photographing, it's whenI'm shooting film.
(09:10):
There's a lot less decisionsthat you have to make when
shooting film and, two of thembeing your ISO and your White
Balance, because those twothings were set by whatever film
you chose to load into yourcamera that day.
So if you're shooting inAperture priority, at that
point, all you have to worryabout is composition and moment.
(09:33):
A lot of people don't know this,but film came in two white
balances.
That was it?
Tungsten and daylight.
Tungsten,'cause you were eithershooting indoors or daylight
because you were shootingoutdoors.
Again.
That was it.
When I look at my digital cameratoday and my Fuji XT four, the
camera's white balance in theKelvin Scale goes from 2,500 all
(09:55):
the way up to 10,000.
That's 7,500 differentpossibilities of white balance.
And the thing is, is that oureyes are so good at determining
what is white that we have ahard time understanding white
balance because a white balancein a camera is a scientific tool
(10:18):
that needs a specific Kelvininputted into it so that the
camera knows, well, what colorhere is white?
So, because there's thisdiscrepancy between what our eye
sees, which is white and whatour camera sees, which may be
blue or too blue or too yellow.
I would say that it's next toimpossible to look at a scene
and say, this is the exactKelvin white balance that I need
(10:41):
to set my camera at.
So because of that, I don't, isit nice to have the possibility
of manually selecting my whitebalance for a creative effect?
Yes it is.
Do I set it for every shot thatI take?
No, I don't.
Do I set it for any shots that Itake?
Honestly, no.
Your camera has preset whitebalance options.
(11:04):
Right?
And I would say that even myFuji camera has way too many,
But again, let me preface thisby saying that what I shoot does
not have to be scientificallycolor accurate.
What I shoot has some artisticfreedom in it.
I am not shooting products for anational campaign.
I'm not photographing works ofart that are hanging in a
(11:26):
museum.
I'm photographing life.
So again, there's some artisticfreedom in it.
So I set my white balance to oneof really three things.
It's either tungsten,'cause I'mshooting indoors, or LED
depending on the type of lightthat is indoors or if I'm
outdoors, cloudy and that's it.
(11:47):
I don't want to overcomplicatethings.
I don't want the camera to getin the way of me capturing a
photo.
So since you are not happy withthe auto selections, which I
agree, I'm never happy with autowhite balance either because my
images come in a set of imagesrather than just one-offs and
therefore just those microadjustments.
(12:07):
You can absolutely tell whenyou're looking at a series of
four or five images that, thatthe white balance is all
different for each of them.
So I set my white balance forone of the baked in presets into
the camera, cloudy, if I'moutdoors, tungsten, or LED, if
I'm indoors, depending on whattype of light is indoors.
(12:28):
And again, that is it.
Now, I would say that if youwant complete control over your
image, you need that scientificcolor, accurate color, then
you're gonna have to give upsome control that you know you
can't do all of the things.
(12:48):
If color is the most importantelement of your photograph, if
then you should be focusing onwhite balance.
If moment is the most importantelement of your photograph, then
you should be focused on onmoment and be okay if the color
is a little bit off, if theshutter speed is a little bit
too slow.
(13:09):
If the composition isn'tperfectly within the golden
ratio.
Don't overcomplicate it.
Stick it to one of those presetsand just go out and have some
fun.
So Connor, I really hope thatthat helped.
By the way, if you're listeningand you have a question that you
want answered here on the show,you can submit your question by
hitting over to beginner photopod.com/qa.
(13:32):
Again, beginner photo pod.com/qato submit your question to be
answered here on the show.
Alright, next question comesfrom Deidre Walt.
Dere says, Hey, Raymond.
Hey, dere.
My question this week is aboutclient closets.
One, how do you tell yourclients about the clothing that
(13:52):
you have, meaning phrasing andexamples, and two, how do you
show them meaning pix of itbeing modeled or on the hangar?
Thanks.
Okay, so, before we get intothis, I've never done a client
closet, so take what I say forwhat it's, but you have a
service that you're offering,meaning you have clothes that
(14:16):
look good, that you want tooffer to your clients to wear
during the shoot so that it'sone less thing for them to worry
about and you ensure that youget better photos.
So if this is a service that youoffer, make it a good service.
Make that service known.
Let it be known everywhere.
Make a page dedicated to it onyour website.
(14:39):
Be sure to mention it in thebooking process of your website
on the contact form.
List it on the homepage.
Say that you offer a clientcloset to allow your clients to
pick out something beautifulwithout them having to spend
extra money on something new.
Whatever the reason that youhave it, like let it be known.
(15:00):
Talk about it on social.
If you have a client that isusing something from your client
closet in one of your photos,talk about it there.
Hey, this family lookedabsolutely beautiful and look at
mom's dress.
She pulled it right out of ourclient closet.
Couldn't have been a betterchoice.
It doesn't have to be a ton, butjust mentioning it casually
will, again, reinforce thepeople reading that you have the
(15:23):
service to offer.
And then how do you show this topeople?
Honestly, what I would do, Iwould probably just go to Etsy.
I would look for some sort ofCanva template for a client
closet.
I'm sure that there's a million.
In fact, I'm gonna look it upright now and see.com.
Client closet template.
(15:44):
Oh, a hundred options.
No wait.
Does it say exactly how manyoptions there are?
It says a thousand plus itemsare available.
Yeah, and I mean, I'm scrollingdown tons and tons and tons of
options.
So what I would do is I would goto Etsy.
I would search for client closetCanva template.
Buy whatever template looks themost pleasing to you, and then
(16:04):
go ahead and drop in your imagesinto that template.
If you have images of a clientwearing something.
I would show that if you don't,I would show it on the rack.
I mean, people buy their clothesby looking at it on a rack
anyway, so like they're gonnahave some sort of idea of what
it could look like.
So, I mean, just put all thosephotos together in this
(16:24):
template.
You know, it's gonna be drag anddrop.
It's Canva, it's, it'srelatively easy.
And then share that.
Once somebody books theirsession with you, send them that
PDF of all the options for yourclient closet.
Ask them directly if they planto use it, if you're having that
email correspondence, like talkto them about it and then when
(16:47):
they arrive, snap a few photosof them maybe going through the
rack, looking at differentclothes, different options, and
then you can use those photos onyour website.
When you're talking about theclient closet, you can use those
photos on social when you talkabout, Hey, by the way, we offer
a client closet and just let itbe known.
So there you go, dg.
I hope that that helps.
(17:08):
Alright, next question herecomes from re Wolf.
Asks, how can I tell thedifference between lack of
competence and lack ofconfidence?
Ooh, so many other people saythat they love my work, quote
unquote, but after more than adecade, I'm still profoundly
insecure about my digitaltechnical skills that I have
(17:28):
lost any sense of fun or play orsatisfaction.
I shot film for many yearsbefore digital until last week
or so I assumed that this lackof confidence, or this feeling
that I'm feeling was because mytechnical skills were not where
I wanted them to be.
But now I'm wondering, is it mylack of confidence that is
(17:51):
preventing me from experiencingwhat I'm accomplishing?
Hmm.
I want to take more risks byphotographing what I actually
want, but I think if I'mcompletely incompetent, what's
the point?
Wow.
Well re I doubt that you'reincompetent with a camera.
If you've been shooting fordecades, if you've been shooting
(18:12):
since film again, you probablyhave a lot more experience than
you think that you do.
It sounds to me like you justneed to shoot for fun.
You said that you want to takebigger risks and shoot the
things that you want, so why notdo that?
I shoot in a verynon-technically perfect way.
(18:32):
To me, when it comes to animage, for me, the ends justify
the means.
So is the composition a littlewonky?
Is it a bit underexposed?
Is it a bit grainier than,again, is perfect maybe.
But is there a solid moment?
That's what I look for.
What's the most important thingin the image to me?
(18:55):
When I do shoot for technicalperfection, I find that I, I
don't like my images.
There's no life in them.
But also unless you're takingfull control of the image, full
control of the moment, fullcontrol of the light.
You have to give up somecontrol.
It can't be 100% technicallyperfect every time by
happenstance.
(19:17):
You're gonna show up and you'regonna find something interesting
that may be in some open shade,but the background is gonna be
totally blown out because that'sin full sun.
If you're not going to takecontrol of that light, then you
have to be okay with it notbeing, technically perfect.
So I think that that's probablystep one is give up some of that
control, but then you need tobring more fun into your
(19:39):
photography.
One thing that I did shortlyafter getting outta weddings,
where weddings are an area whereyou do want to focus on
technical proficiency on top ofmoment, otherwise, anybody with
an iPhone is gonna be able todeliver just as good of an image
as you're able to do.
You definitely don't want thatwhen the couple is paying you a
(20:01):
good deal of money to, tophotograph their wedding.
So when I got outta weddings, Iwas kind of in a similar space
to where you are, to where Iwanted my photos to be more
technically perfect.
And unfortunately, I lost a lotof moment in those images.
I lost a lot of what I love mostabout photography when I was
just photographing everydaylife.
(20:22):
And my kids.
So what I did was I just boughta point and shoot film camera.
Why did I do that?
Because it took away all of thecontrol for me.
It took away I.
The need to adjust my shutterspeed, it took away my need to
adjust my ISO.
It took away my ability tochange my aperture.
(20:42):
Same with my white balance.
So all that I had left wascomposition and moment.
So within those boundaries, Ifocused on being in the moment,
being in that real world,looking at my kids in a certain
way, waiting for something tohappen and then just being ready
with the camera.
When it did happen, I, I snappedthe photo again.
(21:04):
If the composition was a littlebit off, if the photo was
underexposed, well that wasn'ton me.
That was the camera.
If the composition was a littlebit off, well, the viewfinder
has this weird parallax and Itried my best and that's it.
But I can't go back and changeit.
It is what it is.
But I was in that moment, I waswith my family and I had a great
time.
Once I did that for a bit, aweekend, a month, two months,
(21:29):
whatever it takes for you toactually find that you're having
fun again while shooting isexactly how long it will take.
Once I did that though, itwasn't enough.
I wanted more than justcomposition and moment, and then
that's again, when I brought outmy Fuji cameras, the cameras
that I were used to.
I reintroduced some of thatcontrol.
(21:50):
I was better at seeing themoment, I was better at seeing,
just life happened in front ofme and I was better at capturing
that.
So now I brought in the controlthat I had with my Fuji cameras.
I was able to shut, set myshutter speed, my aperture, my
ISO, my white balance.
I was able to do more things.
I could have a slow shutterspeed to introduce motion.
(22:12):
I was able to open up myaperture to have that shallow
depth of field.
I could do more things, but Ichanged the way that I was
approaching the image to findwhat was most important.
I.
What was it that I loved?
Not necessarily what everybodyelse loved what I loved, and
then I took the tool that I hadbeing the camera, and then built
upon that to be able to bring alevel of visual interest through
(22:37):
my camera settings.
So maybe take a weekend tripsomewhere and just walk around
and shoot whatever your eye isgravitated towards.
Make this place like at leasttwo hours away, someplace that
you're not familiar with.
Turn off your phone and justexplore and honestly, some of us
are more critical of our workthan we are of others.
(22:59):
That's me too.
When I look at some of mywedding work, I think to myself
horrible things about theseimages, despite clients telling
me that they love them.
And that's something that wejust have to work on internally.
That's not a photography thingthat we can improve upon.
That's a personal issue that wehave to work on, but we gotta
try something.
So maybe get yourself that pointand shoot film camera so that
(23:21):
you can remove that ability tooveranalyze yourself.
And go out for a weekend andjust try to shoot and not think
about anything technical.
And I think that you'll findthat even having removed all
ability to technically create aperfect image, you're still
gonna be able to get images thatyou like, which is going to
(23:41):
boost that confidence becauseit's gonna prove your
competence.
So I hope that helps.
All right, our next questionhere, and this is gonna be our
last question today comes fromTracy mc Carrier.
Tracy asks, how do you keep fromgetting discouraged about a lack
of clients?
Oh man, Tracy.
(24:02):
I have been there.
I have had some wedding seasonsthat I thought, how am I going
to make this?
I look at other photographersand think, how are they booked
solid?
And it sucks.
It does, it really sucks.
It sucks to feel like you'refailing.
And I totally get that.
But after one particularlyterrible wedding season, where
(24:24):
the wedding season before, Ithink I had 30 weddings.
That next season had like eightbooked and I was like really
nervous.
It was real bad.
I was driving somewhere and Isaw a billboard for McDonald's
and I thought to myself, arethere people who don't know
(24:46):
about McDonald's?
Like, no, that can't be, peopleknow about McDonald's.
It's been around, what, 70 yearsnow at this point?
So I had looked it up.
And in 2024, McDonald's spent$1.2 million a day just in
advertising.
And here's the thing, everybodyalready knows about McDonald's.
(25:10):
It's a global brand that is onjust about every single street
corner, and they're stilladvertising.
They're spending$1.2 millionevery day to advertise to people
who already know that theyexist.
(25:30):
Why would they do that?
Because they know that onaverage, a person needs anywhere
between five, seven, and eighttouch points before they buy
from you.
Even though you know whatMcDonald's is, you're gonna see
them on a billboard.
That's one touch point you'regonna drive by McDonald's.
That's a second touch point.
(25:50):
You're gonna hear their ad onthe radio.
That's a third touch point.
Probably gonna pop up on yoursocial P.
That's another touch point.
Maybe they're doing some sort ofmarketing stunt and you see
about it on the news, and that'sanother touch point.
Before you know it, you'redriving by another McDonald's
and thinking, okay, it's laterthan I thought that it was
soccer or softball ran over.
(26:10):
I gotta do something for dinner.
I definitely don't want to gohome and cook.
We're just gonna stop heretonight.
Why did you choose thatMcDonald's?
Because they were top of mind,because they were everywhere all
the time.
So since the people runningMcDonald's, advertising
campaigns probably have prettyfancy degrees in advertising.
I'm not going to reinvent thewheel.
(26:32):
I'm going to learn what can Itake from how McDonald's
advertises and apply that to myown photography.
So, be more active on socialpost images multiple times a day
because of the social feedalgorithm.
Not everybody is gonna seeeverything that you post.
So if you think that postingfive times a day is too much,
(26:56):
there's a good chance that onlya fraction of the people see one
or two of those posts.
So again, just be more activepost 10 times a day, you're not
gonna, make anybody mad becausethe algorithm only some people
will see the image.
And then advertise in moreplaces than just posting an
image.
Pay some money to advertiseyourself again.
(27:17):
McDonald's pays$1.2 million aday to advertise itself to
people who already know what itis If you think that you can
advertise your business withouthaving to spend any money,
you're wishing.
But also like be in yourcommunity, sponsor a local
event, and then be there.
Take photos of your name on abanner.
(27:39):
Take a photo of you being there,share that on social.
Ask your previous clients toleave you a review, and then now
you can share that on social.
Talk about how great of anexperience you had with them.
Talk about why you love yourclients so much.
Just share more things, be moreplaces.
Start an email list so that youcan continually be in front of
(28:01):
these people.
That's just another place wherepeople are gonna see you and see
you being active than justsocial media.
I.
So once that's all set up androlling, if you're still not
getting enough inquiries, onething that I would do as a
wedding photographer is that Iwould shoot engagement sessions
for free.
I would market it as, you know,I was testing out a new
technique and I, I needed somevolunteers around Indy.
(28:25):
I would give it somestipulations.
Obviously, you needed to beengaged.
I would ask them some questionsabout their relationship to give
me an idea of how involved theywere in the process.
And then whoever I picked, Iwould give them a great session.
I'd make sure that they knew allthe details, that they felt well
taken care of at the session,that we got some great photos
(28:45):
that they didn't feel superawkward.
And then, you know what, ninetimes outta 10, they would book
me to shoot their weddingbecause they already know that
they like the product.
So why go through the hassle oftrying to find another
photographer who you don't knowif you're gonna like their
product to hire you for theirwedding day, which is higher
stakes than just an engagementsession.
If you're something like afamily photographer or a
(29:06):
portrait photographer, you can,fact, if you're a wedding
photographer, you can, or ifyou're a family photographer,
set up a booth at a farmer'smarket and give away a free
family photo.
Take one great photo, collecttheir email, send them that
photo, and then you can tellthem about your full session and
now you have their email to,send out a monthly newsletter.
Let them know what you've beenup to.
(29:27):
Stay top of mind.
That's another touch point.
If you do head shots orportraits, partner with a
business to give away a freesession.
If you're a family photographeror a wedding photographer, you
could partner with a, a localtoy shop, or a kid's clothing
store, or a a bridal shop.
Meet with the owner and tellthem that you want to give them
(29:51):
a session to give away to one oftheir clients.
All you they gotta do is set upa box, at the checkout register,
where all they gotta do is fillout their name and their email
address, and then that's it.
Put it in this little box, andthen they could win.
It looks great for the businessowner because now they have
something that they're givingaway to one of their clients,
and it looks good for youbecause you're the hero.
(30:13):
You're giving away something ofvalue.
And on top of that, you're gonnaget a box full of, 20, 30 names
and email addresses of peoplewith children, people getting
married, and now you're gonnahave their email address.
So again, add that to an emaillist and now you can send out
monthly email newsletters.
Stay top of mind.
(30:33):
You don't just have to pick oneperson.
You can pick two or three peoplefrom this list of names.
But again, give away a greatsession.
And maybe it's just the sessionthat it's included.
It's not prints, it's notproducts.
Maybe they get just one digitalfile as a thank you for their
time.
It's a high quality digital filethat they can use to print or do
(30:54):
whatever they want, but now youcan upsell them to buy the
entire session.
Point is like growing a businessis a lot of work.
Getting clients is a lot ofwork.
Booking new clients is wayharder than booking previous
clients.
So if you're a familyphotographer, reach out to all
of your past clients and say,Hey, it's time to update your
(31:16):
family photos.
I think you'll be surprised athow many people take you up on
that.
If you shoot portraits orheadshots, hey, it's time to
update those.
If you shoot weddings, Hey, howabout you get an anniversary
session?
Or, Hey, is your family growing?
Do you need a maternity session?
Again, it's a lot of work.
It's a lot of hard work.
(31:37):
The question is, how much do youwant it?
I get it.
Things can get busy.
We have families, we havefull-time jobs, we have
responsibilities that we canonly get to on the weekend.
Like how do we include buildinga business in there?
When it already seems like wedon't have enough time as it is,
you're gonna have to makesacrifices.
And if you want it bad enough,you gotta get out there.
(31:59):
You gotta talk to people and yougotta stay consistent.
It probably took me three tofour years of, I mean, hard work
until I got to the point towhere I felt like.
Okay, I kind of have thisfigured out now.
I know that next year I'll haveX amount of weddings, so how
much more work do I want to putin to book more weddings?
(32:23):
If it were easy, everybody woulddo it.
What's that quote?
Everybody wants to be the noun,but nobody wants to do the verb.
Everybody wants to be aprofessional photographer, but
nobody wants to get in front ofpeople to ask them to book a
session, you know, whatever itis.
And I don't, I, I don't know howmuch work you are putting into
(32:43):
this.
Maybe you are grinding everysingle day.
And if that's the case, I wouldsay stick with it because it
takes time.
Maybe audit what it is thatyou're doing to figure out what
am I wasting my time on what'snot important here?
How can I save time?
But you can do this if you wantit and you put in the time you
can do this.
I know you can.
(33:04):
I know you can.
Because I did.
It was not an easy route for me.
I moved to a whole part of thecountry.
I knew nobody, I.
I had to start from scratch,from zero.
I couldn't rely on friends'causeI didn't have any out here.
I couldn't rely on family.
I mean, I had my wife of course,but like, I couldn't ask my
(33:25):
cousins or my siblings like,Hey, ask your friends, like
let's grow this thing.
There was none of that.
So if I can do it, I know thatyou can do it too.
Try one of those things that Imentioned earlier and just make
progress every single day, andthat's it.
I hope that you enjoyed this qand a episode.
Again, remember, if you have aburning photography question
(33:47):
that you want answered here onthe show, just head to beginner
photo pod.com/qa to submit yourquestion.
Until next time.
Remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you'll be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
Everybody wants to be the noun, but nobody
(00:02):
wants to do the verb.
Everybody wants to be aprofessional photographer, but
nobody wants to get in front ofpeople to ask them to book a
session.
Hey, welcome to the BeginnerPhotography Podcast.
I'm your host, Raymond Hatfield,and today I'm answering all of
your questions in this month'sphoto q and A.
So once a month I ask you foryour burning questions in
(00:24):
photography, and right here Ianswer them.
I am a firm believer that if youhave a question about something,
especially maybe photography's anew hobby for you, there's a lot
of unknowns.
There's a good chance thatthere's a million other people
who are wondering the exact samething that you are.
So why not help everybody out byanswering your questions right
(00:45):
here so that everybody can learnand grow.
I mean, we all have the samegoal, right?
To become a better photographer.
That's it, and that's all.
So why don't we go ahead and geton into helping you figure out
your biggest photo hangups.
All right.
The first question here todaycomes from Michael McLaughlin.
Michael asks, when is itappropriate or not appropriate
(01:08):
to include a signature logo onyour photographs?
Great question.
So I think we've all been onInstagram or Facebook and we've
seen photos posted and they havea nice little signature.
even this is just somethingingrained in us as kids.
I remember, in art class, infirst or second grade, whenever
we'd make a painting orsomething, we'd always sign it
with some sort of like, coolcrazy signature, because that's
(01:31):
what like artists did.
So why not bring that intophotography?
Right.
I totally get that.
So, to directly answer yourquestion, when is it appropriate
to add your signature to aphoto?
The short answer is anytime youwant, honestly.
And when is it not appropriate?
Well, I have some rule of thumbsas to when I would either put a
(01:52):
signature or a logo on my imagesand it would, it would just be a
signature.
But the rule of thumb for me wasif it was for advertising
purposes, like I.
Facebook ads.
Maybe it was in print, maybe Iwas creating a flyer or I was
doing a bridal fair, or I wasdoing some sort of sponsorship
and they needed an image.
(02:13):
I would include it, but then Iwouldn't use it any other time.
And my thought really is like, Iwouldn't put them on the images
on my website.
I really wouldn't do it forsocial media.
And I guess my thought is like,I'm not Picasso, right?
People aren't looking toactively come after my images to
steal them.
(02:33):
I don't need to put my signatureon my images, especially with
how easy it is to today to justuse something like AI to create
photorealistic images.
I think that the number ofimages that are gonna be stolen
by other people are going to godown significantly because, if
you're a new photographer, okay,so that, that's who steals the
(02:55):
majority of images, right?
New photographers, they thinkI'm a great photographer.
I just don't have the portfolioyet.
So let me just borrow someimages from somebody else of a
similar visual style and then,like I'll book a view shoots and
then I'll replace those imageswith ones that I've actually
shot.
Totally wrong, right?
Still totally wrong.
But now it's like, why would youdo that if you can just create
(03:18):
photorealistic images in AI andthen claim them as your own?
It's a whole lot less work thanit sifting through websites and
trying to find images and, allthat stuff.
So I'm not too worried aboutputting my signature on my
images.
And plus like a signature or alogo is more for like branding
purposes.
Oh, but I, I guess I will saythat I'm coming from the world
of wedding photography andagain, really the only people
(03:39):
who are going to steal images ofsomebody else's wedding, because
the couple's already paid forthem.
So the only person who's reallygonna steal images is gonna be
another photographer who'strying to grow their portfolio.
So, I will say that forlandscape photographers, it
probably makes more sensebecause your images are just,
they're more places they can berelatable to more people.
(04:01):
It doesn't have somebody whothey don't know who's in these
images might want to use it fortheir desktop wallpaper or,
anything like that.
So, so sharing.
Maybe landscape images onsocial, it might make more sense
to put on your signature so thatpeople understand that it is
your image.
But again, for like portraitsand families and things like
that, I typically, I wouldn'tput it on, but at the end of the
(04:24):
day, I mean, you are thephotographer and you get to make
choices on how your business,how your work is represented as
an artist, and therefore you cankind of do whatever you want.
Those are just kind of my ruleof thumbs, like how I would
approach it.
But again, ultimately the choiceis 100% up to you.
All right, let's move on toquestion, number two, which
(04:45):
comes from Kaya Dorsey.
Kaya asks any recommendationsfor kids to sit still?
When I'm doing familyphotography, I can't really get
kids younger than 10 to focusfor long enough to get good
picks.
Yeah, man, I get that.
I just photograph my own kidsand they're rambunctious enough
(05:06):
and I'm not trying to get themto sit down and pose for like,
anything professional or like,where there's the weight of me
being a, professional andthere's money behind it and like
I have to deliver something,right?
These are just my kids and it'shard enough to photograph them.
So, a few things for you.
One, I would encourage you to goback to listen to my interview
that I did with Philip Bloomabout, his mini sessions that he
(05:29):
does.
Philip and his wife EileenBloom, do family photography and
he shared an amazing trick thatI think, that he says works I
mean phenomenally every singletime.
So what he does is when he firstshows up to a shoot, he will try
to get on the kids' good side.
So the first thing that he'lldo, even before talking to the
(05:50):
parents, when the kids show up,he will take them aside and say,
Hey kids, I have this idea.
I want to prank your parents,but I need your help.
Kids being kids, they want toplay.
So they're like, oh, this soundsgreat.
Like, yeah, what do we need todo?
And then that's when he wouldsay, okay, we're gonna pretend
to pose like in this very stiff,happy family photo.
(06:14):
And then when I say three, Iwant you to tickle your parents,
but first you gotta pretend likewe're gonna take a really nice
family photo.
So then he sets everybody up,the kids are all excited.
He gets'em over there and he islike, all right, we're gonna
take our photo here, and theneverybody smile.
Everybody smiles, right?
He takes a few photos and thenhe is like, 1, 2, 3.
(06:37):
And then all the kids starttickling their parents and all
the things.
So now not only did he get thatquote, unquote frame worthy
photo of the kids sitting stillbecause they thought that they
were playing a game.
But now he's able to get inclose and get these fun
interactions between the familyand the kids and laughing.
And that's just more photos todeliver as well.
So I think that that's a greattrick that you can go ahead and
(06:59):
try.
But then also, just rememberingthat like kids.
I'm sure I don't have to tellyou kids want to play a lot,
right?
So, I had another photographeron who talked about doing these,
she'd play like, games withthem, something like peekaboo
where they'd hide their face andthen you'd say, okay, when I
say, peekaboo or whatever, openup your face and give me a crazy
(07:23):
face.
And then they'd give somethingcrazy and be like, now give me a
happy face, and then they'd movetheir hands, and then it would
just be like a regular, happyface, and then you'd get that
photo and then you keep tryingall these variations.
So rather than trying to conformthem to like, okay, sit still
and do exactly what I say, it'salmost like some mind trickery,
some Jedi mind trickery ofgetting them to play games, but
(07:46):
also do so in a way that allowsyou to get what it is that you
need.
So start thinking about thosetypes of ideas and you'll be
able to get kids on your side.
which again, I'm sure soundseasier than what it is, but I'm
confident that you can do it.
Those are some great tricks thatI would encourage you to try and
again, go back and listen tothat episode with Philip and
(08:06):
Eileen Bloom.
Next question comes from ConnorCook.
Connor says, I got my firstquote, unquote real camera in
January.
I'm now trying to work out howto render colors correctly with
manual Kelvin's selection,manual Kelvin selection being,
your Y balance.
He goes on to say, I'm notalways happy with the auto
(08:27):
selection.
I take pictures in all mannersof locations and lighting.
I shoot jpeg just to remove theaddition of learning
post-processing.
For now, I love it.
Great idea.
How do I manage or learn tomanage all of these things?
Meaning moving from focusing, tocapturing highlights and
shadows, to managing whitebalance in addition to
(08:49):
composition and the decisivemoment in a way that lets me
just take the picture that Iwant without forgetting whatever
the last element that I workedon.
Connor, it sounds like you arein the thick of it right now,
ma'am.
When I think back to some of theeasiest times that I ever had
when photographing, it's whenI'm shooting film.
(09:10):
There's a lot less decisionsthat you have to make when
shooting film and, two of thembeing your ISO and your White
Balance, because those twothings were set by whatever film
you chose to load into yourcamera that day.
So if you're shooting inAperture priority, at that
point, all you have to worryabout is composition and moment.
(09:33):
A lot of people don't know this,but film came in two white
balances.
That was it?
Tungsten and daylight.
Tungsten,'cause you were eithershooting indoors or daylight
because you were shootingoutdoors.
Again.
That was it.
When I look at my digital cameratoday and my Fuji XT four, the
camera's white balance in theKelvin Scale goes from 2,500 all
(09:55):
the way up to 10,000.
That's 7,500 differentpossibilities of white balance.
And the thing is, is that oureyes are so good at determining
what is white that we have ahard time understanding white
balance because a white balancein a camera is a scientific tool
(10:18):
that needs a specific Kelvininputted into it so that the
camera knows, well, what colorhere is white?
So, because there's thisdiscrepancy between what our eye
sees, which is white and whatour camera sees, which may be
blue or too blue or too yellow.
I would say that it's next toimpossible to look at a scene
and say, this is the exactKelvin white balance that I need
(10:41):
to set my camera at.
So because of that, I don't, isit nice to have the possibility
of manually selecting my whitebalance for a creative effect?
Yes it is.
Do I set it for every shot thatI take?
No, I don't.
Do I set it for any shots that Itake?
Honestly, no.
Your camera has preset whitebalance options.
(11:04):
Right?
And I would say that even myFuji camera has way too many,
But again, let me preface thisby saying that what I shoot does
not have to be scientificallycolor accurate.
What I shoot has some artisticfreedom in it.
I am not shooting products for anational campaign.
I'm not photographing works ofart that are hanging in a
(11:26):
museum.
I'm photographing life.
So again, there's some artisticfreedom in it.
So I set my white balance to oneof really three things.
It's either tungsten,'cause I'mshooting indoors, or LED
depending on the type of lightthat is indoors or if I'm
outdoors, cloudy and that's it.
(11:47):
I don't want to overcomplicatethings.
I don't want the camera to getin the way of me capturing a
photo.
So since you are not happy withthe auto selections, which I
agree, I'm never happy with autowhite balance either because my
images come in a set of imagesrather than just one-offs and
therefore just those microadjustments.
(12:07):
You can absolutely tell whenyou're looking at a series of
four or five images that, thatthe white balance is all
different for each of them.
So I set my white balance forone of the baked in presets into
the camera, cloudy, if I'moutdoors, tungsten, or LED, if
I'm indoors, depending on whattype of light is indoors.
(12:28):
And again, that is it.
Now, I would say that if youwant complete control over your
image, you need that scientificcolor, accurate color, then
you're gonna have to give upsome control that you know you
can't do all of the things.
(12:48):
If color is the most importantelement of your photograph, if
then you should be focusing onwhite balance.
If moment is the most importantelement of your photograph, then
you should be focused on onmoment and be okay if the color
is a little bit off, if theshutter speed is a little bit
too slow.
(13:09):
If the composition isn'tperfectly within the golden
ratio.
Don't overcomplicate it.
Stick it to one of those presetsand just go out and have some
fun.
So Connor, I really hope thatthat helped.
By the way, if you're listeningand you have a question that you
want answered here on the show,you can submit your question by
hitting over to beginner photopod.com/qa.
(13:32):
Again, beginner photo pod.com/qato submit your question to be
answered here on the show.
Alright, next question comesfrom Deidre Walt.
Dere says, Hey, Raymond.
Hey, dere.
My question this week is aboutclient closets.
One, how do you tell yourclients about the clothing that
(13:52):
you have, meaning phrasing andexamples, and two, how do you
show them meaning pix of itbeing modeled or on the hangar?
Thanks.
Okay, so, before we get intothis, I've never done a client
closet, so take what I say forwhat it's, but you have a
service that you're offering,meaning you have clothes that
(14:16):
look good, that you want tooffer to your clients to wear
during the shoot so that it'sone less thing for them to worry
about and you ensure that youget better photos.
So if this is a service that youoffer, make it a good service.
Make that service known.
Let it be known everywhere.
Make a page dedicated to it onyour website.
(14:39):
Be sure to mention it in thebooking process of your website
on the contact form.
List it on the homepage.
Say that you offer a clientcloset to allow your clients to
pick out something beautifulwithout them having to spend
extra money on something new.
Whatever the reason that youhave it, like let it be known.
(15:00):
Talk about it on social.
If you have a client that isusing something from your client
closet in one of your photos,talk about it there.
Hey, this family lookedabsolutely beautiful and look at
mom's dress.
She pulled it right out of ourclient closet.
Couldn't have been a betterchoice.
It doesn't have to be a ton, butjust mentioning it casually
will, again, reinforce thepeople reading that you have the
(15:23):
service to offer.
And then how do you show this topeople?
Honestly, what I would do, Iwould probably just go to Etsy.
I would look for some sort ofCanva template for a client
closet.
I'm sure that there's a million.
In fact, I'm gonna look it upright now and see.com.
Client closet template.
(15:44):
Oh, a hundred options.
No wait.
Does it say exactly how manyoptions there are?
It says a thousand plus itemsare available.
Yeah, and I mean, I'm scrollingdown tons and tons and tons of
options.
So what I would do is I would goto Etsy.
I would search for client closetCanva template.
Buy whatever template looks themost pleasing to you, and then
(16:04):
go ahead and drop in your imagesinto that template.
If you have images of a clientwearing something.
I would show that if you don't,I would show it on the rack.
I mean, people buy their clothesby looking at it on a rack
anyway, so like they're gonnahave some sort of idea of what
it could look like.
So, I mean, just put all thosephotos together in this
(16:24):
template.
You know, it's gonna be drag anddrop.
It's Canva, it's, it'srelatively easy.
And then share that.
Once somebody books theirsession with you, send them that
PDF of all the options for yourclient closet.
Ask them directly if they planto use it, if you're having that
email correspondence, like talkto them about it and then when
(16:47):
they arrive, snap a few photosof them maybe going through the
rack, looking at differentclothes, different options, and
then you can use those photos onyour website.
When you're talking about theclient closet, you can use those
photos on social when you talkabout, Hey, by the way, we offer
a client closet and just let itbe known.
So there you go, dg.
I hope that that helps.
(17:08):
Alright, next question herecomes from re Wolf.
Asks, how can I tell thedifference between lack of
competence and lack ofconfidence?
Ooh, so many other people saythat they love my work, quote
unquote, but after more than adecade, I'm still profoundly
insecure about my digitaltechnical skills that I have
(17:28):
lost any sense of fun or play orsatisfaction.
I shot film for many yearsbefore digital until last week
or so I assumed that this lackof confidence, or this feeling
that I'm feeling was because mytechnical skills were not where
I wanted them to be.
But now I'm wondering, is it mylack of confidence that is
(17:51):
preventing me from experiencingwhat I'm accomplishing?
Hmm.
I want to take more risks byphotographing what I actually
want, but I think if I'mcompletely incompetent, what's
the point?
Wow.
Well re I doubt that you'reincompetent with a camera.
If you've been shooting fordecades, if you've been shooting
(18:12):
since film again, you probablyhave a lot more experience than
you think that you do.
It sounds to me like you justneed to shoot for fun.
You said that you want to takebigger risks and shoot the
things that you want, so why notdo that?
I shoot in a verynon-technically perfect way.
(18:32):
To me, when it comes to animage, for me, the ends justify
the means.
So is the composition a littlewonky?
Is it a bit underexposed?
Is it a bit grainier than,again, is perfect maybe.
But is there a solid moment?
That's what I look for.
What's the most important thingin the image to me?
(18:55):
When I do shoot for technicalperfection, I find that I, I
don't like my images.
There's no life in them.
But also unless you're takingfull control of the image, full
control of the moment, fullcontrol of the light.
You have to give up somecontrol.
It can't be 100% technicallyperfect every time by
happenstance.
(19:17):
You're gonna show up and you'regonna find something interesting
that may be in some open shade,but the background is gonna be
totally blown out because that'sin full sun.
If you're not going to takecontrol of that light, then you
have to be okay with it notbeing, technically perfect.
So I think that that's probablystep one is give up some of that
control, but then you need tobring more fun into your
(19:39):
photography.
One thing that I did shortlyafter getting outta weddings,
where weddings are an area whereyou do want to focus on
technical proficiency on top ofmoment, otherwise, anybody with
an iPhone is gonna be able todeliver just as good of an image
as you're able to do.
You definitely don't want thatwhen the couple is paying you a
(20:01):
good deal of money to, tophotograph their wedding.
So when I got outta weddings, Iwas kind of in a similar space
to where you are, to where Iwanted my photos to be more
technically perfect.
And unfortunately, I lost a lotof moment in those images.
I lost a lot of what I love mostabout photography when I was
just photographing everydaylife.
(20:22):
And my kids.
So what I did was I just boughta point and shoot film camera.
Why did I do that?
Because it took away all of thecontrol for me.
It took away I.
The need to adjust my shutterspeed, it took away my need to
adjust my ISO.
It took away my ability tochange my aperture.
(20:42):
Same with my white balance.
So all that I had left wascomposition and moment.
So within those boundaries, Ifocused on being in the moment,
being in that real world,looking at my kids in a certain
way, waiting for something tohappen and then just being ready
with the camera.
When it did happen, I, I snappedthe photo again.
(21:04):
If the composition was a littlebit off, if the photo was
underexposed, well that wasn'ton me.
That was the camera.
If the composition was a littlebit off, well, the viewfinder
has this weird parallax and Itried my best and that's it.
But I can't go back and changeit.
It is what it is.
But I was in that moment, I waswith my family and I had a great
time.
Once I did that for a bit, aweekend, a month, two months,
(21:29):
whatever it takes for you toactually find that you're having
fun again while shooting isexactly how long it will take.
Once I did that though, itwasn't enough.
I wanted more than justcomposition and moment, and then
that's again, when I brought outmy Fuji cameras, the cameras
that I were used to.
I reintroduced some of thatcontrol.
(21:50):
I was better at seeing themoment, I was better at seeing,
just life happened in front ofme and I was better at capturing
that.
So now I brought in the controlthat I had with my Fuji cameras.
I was able to shut, set myshutter speed, my aperture, my
ISO, my white balance.
I was able to do more things.
I could have a slow shutterspeed to introduce motion.
(22:12):
I was able to open up myaperture to have that shallow
depth of field.
I could do more things, but Ichanged the way that I was
approaching the image to findwhat was most important.
I.
What was it that I loved?
Not necessarily what everybodyelse loved what I loved, and
then I took the tool that I hadbeing the camera, and then built
upon that to be able to bring alevel of visual interest through
(22:37):
my camera settings.
So maybe take a weekend tripsomewhere and just walk around
and shoot whatever your eye isgravitated towards.
Make this place like at leasttwo hours away, someplace that
you're not familiar with.
Turn off your phone and justexplore and honestly, some of us
are more critical of our workthan we are of others.
(22:59):
That's me too.
When I look at some of mywedding work, I think to myself
horrible things about theseimages, despite clients telling
me that they love them.
And that's something that wejust have to work on internally.
That's not a photography thingthat we can improve upon.
That's a personal issue that wehave to work on, but we gotta
try something.
So maybe get yourself that pointand shoot film camera so that
(23:21):
you can remove that ability tooveranalyze yourself.
And go out for a weekend andjust try to shoot and not think
about anything technical.
And I think that you'll findthat even having removed all
ability to technically create aperfect image, you're still
gonna be able to get images thatyou like, which is going to
(23:41):
boost that confidence becauseit's gonna prove your
competence.
So I hope that helps.
All right, our next questionhere, and this is gonna be our
last question today comes fromTracy mc Carrier.
Tracy asks, how do you keep fromgetting discouraged about a lack
of clients?
Oh man, Tracy.
(24:02):
I have been there.
I have had some wedding seasonsthat I thought, how am I going
to make this?
I look at other photographersand think, how are they booked
solid?
And it sucks.
It does, it really sucks.
It sucks to feel like you'refailing.
And I totally get that.
But after one particularlyterrible wedding season, where
(24:24):
the wedding season before, Ithink I had 30 weddings.
That next season had like eightbooked and I was like really
nervous.
It was real bad.
I was driving somewhere and Isaw a billboard for McDonald's
and I thought to myself, arethere people who don't know
(24:46):
about McDonald's?
Like, no, that can't be, peopleknow about McDonald's.
It's been around, what, 70 yearsnow at this point?
So I had looked it up.
And in 2024, McDonald's spent$1.2 million a day just in
advertising.
And here's the thing, everybodyalready knows about McDonald's.
(25:10):
It's a global brand that is onjust about every single street
corner, and they're stilladvertising.
They're spending$1.2 millionevery day to advertise to people
who already know that theyexist.
(25:30):
Why would they do that?
Because they know that onaverage, a person needs anywhere
between five, seven, and eighttouch points before they buy
from you.
Even though you know whatMcDonald's is, you're gonna see
them on a billboard.
That's one touch point you'regonna drive by McDonald's.
That's a second touch point.
(25:50):
You're gonna hear their ad onthe radio.
That's a third touch point.
Probably gonna pop up on yoursocial P.
That's another touch point.
Maybe they're doing some sort ofmarketing stunt and you see
about it on the news, and that'sanother touch point.
Before you know it, you'redriving by another McDonald's
and thinking, okay, it's laterthan I thought that it was
soccer or softball ran over.
(26:10):
I gotta do something for dinner.
I definitely don't want to gohome and cook.
We're just gonna stop heretonight.
Why did you choose thatMcDonald's?
Because they were top of mind,because they were everywhere all
the time.
So since the people runningMcDonald's, advertising
campaigns probably have prettyfancy degrees in advertising.
I'm not going to reinvent thewheel.
(26:32):
I'm going to learn what can Itake from how McDonald's
advertises and apply that to myown photography.
So, be more active on socialpost images multiple times a day
because of the social feedalgorithm.
Not everybody is gonna seeeverything that you post.
So if you think that postingfive times a day is too much,
(26:56):
there's a good chance that onlya fraction of the people see one
or two of those posts.
So again, just be more activepost 10 times a day, you're not
gonna, make anybody mad becausethe algorithm only some people
will see the image.
And then advertise in moreplaces than just posting an
image.
Pay some money to advertiseyourself again.
(27:17):
McDonald's pays$1.2 million aday to advertise itself to
people who already know what itis If you think that you can
advertise your business withouthaving to spend any money,
you're wishing.
But also like be in yourcommunity, sponsor a local
event, and then be there.
Take photos of your name on abanner.
(27:39):
Take a photo of you being there,share that on social.
Ask your previous clients toleave you a review, and then now
you can share that on social.
Talk about how great of anexperience you had with them.
Talk about why you love yourclients so much.
Just share more things, be moreplaces.
Start an email list so that youcan continually be in front of
(28:01):
these people.
That's just another place wherepeople are gonna see you and see
you being active than justsocial media.
I.
So once that's all set up androlling, if you're still not
getting enough inquiries, onething that I would do as a
wedding photographer is that Iwould shoot engagement sessions
for free.
I would market it as, you know,I was testing out a new
technique and I, I needed somevolunteers around Indy.
(28:25):
I would give it somestipulations.
Obviously, you needed to beengaged.
I would ask them some questionsabout their relationship to give
me an idea of how involved theywere in the process.
And then whoever I picked, Iwould give them a great session.
I'd make sure that they knew allthe details, that they felt well
taken care of at the session,that we got some great photos
(28:45):
that they didn't feel superawkward.
And then, you know what, ninetimes outta 10, they would book
me to shoot their weddingbecause they already know that
they like the product.
So why go through the hassle oftrying to find another
photographer who you don't knowif you're gonna like their
product to hire you for theirwedding day, which is higher
stakes than just an engagementsession.
If you're something like afamily photographer or a
(29:06):
portrait photographer, you can,fact, if you're a wedding
photographer, you can, or ifyou're a family photographer,
set up a booth at a farmer'smarket and give away a free
family photo.
Take one great photo, collecttheir email, send them that
photo, and then you can tellthem about your full session and
now you have their email to,send out a monthly newsletter.
Let them know what you've beenup to.
(29:27):
Stay top of mind.
That's another touch point.
If you do head shots orportraits, partner with a
business to give away a freesession.
If you're a family photographeror a wedding photographer, you
could partner with a, a localtoy shop, or a kid's clothing
store, or a a bridal shop.
Meet with the owner and tellthem that you want to give them
(29:51):
a session to give away to one oftheir clients.
All you they gotta do is set upa box, at the checkout register,
where all they gotta do is fillout their name and their email
address, and then that's it.
Put it in this little box, andthen they could win.
It looks great for the businessowner because now they have
something that they're givingaway to one of their clients,
and it looks good for youbecause you're the hero.
(30:13):
You're giving away something ofvalue.
And on top of that, you're gonnaget a box full of, 20, 30 names
and email addresses of peoplewith children, people getting
married, and now you're gonnahave their email address.
So again, add that to an emaillist and now you can send out
monthly email newsletters.
Stay top of mind.
(30:33):
You don't just have to pick oneperson.
You can pick two or three peoplefrom this list of names.
But again, give away a greatsession.
And maybe it's just the sessionthat it's included.
It's not prints, it's notproducts.
Maybe they get just one digitalfile as a thank you for their
time.
It's a high quality digital filethat they can use to print or do
(30:54):
whatever they want, but now youcan upsell them to buy the
entire session.
Point is like growing a businessis a lot of work.
Getting clients is a lot ofwork.
Booking new clients is wayharder than booking previous
clients.
So if you're a familyphotographer, reach out to all
of your past clients and say,Hey, it's time to update your
(31:16):
family photos.
I think you'll be surprised athow many people take you up on
that.
If you shoot portraits orheadshots, hey, it's time to
update those.
If you shoot weddings, Hey, howabout you get an anniversary
session?
Or, Hey, is your family growing?
Do you need a maternity session?
Again, it's a lot of work.
It's a lot of hard work.
(31:37):
The question is, how much do youwant it?
I get it.
Things can get busy.
We have families, we havefull-time jobs, we have
responsibilities that we canonly get to on the weekend.
Like how do we include buildinga business in there?
When it already seems like wedon't have enough time as it is,
you're gonna have to makesacrifices.
And if you want it bad enough,you gotta get out there.
(31:59):
You gotta talk to people and yougotta stay consistent.
It probably took me three tofour years of, I mean, hard work
until I got to the point towhere I felt like.
Okay, I kind of have thisfigured out now.
I know that next year I'll haveX amount of weddings, so how
much more work do I want to putin to book more weddings?
(32:23):
If it were easy, everybody woulddo it.
What's that quote?
Everybody wants to be the noun,but nobody wants to do the verb.
Everybody wants to be aprofessional photographer, but
nobody wants to get in front ofpeople to ask them to book a
session, you know, whatever itis.
And I don't, I, I don't know howmuch work you are putting into
(32:43):
this.
Maybe you are grinding everysingle day.
And if that's the case, I wouldsay stick with it because it
takes time.
Maybe audit what it is thatyou're doing to figure out what
am I wasting my time on what'snot important here?
How can I save time?
But you can do this if you wantit and you put in the time you
can do this.
I know you can.
(33:04):
I know you can.
Because I did.
It was not an easy route for me.
I moved to a whole part of thecountry.
I knew nobody, I.
I had to start from scratch,from zero.
I couldn't rely on friends'causeI didn't have any out here.
I couldn't rely on family.
I mean, I had my wife of course,but like, I couldn't ask my
(33:25):
cousins or my siblings like,Hey, ask your friends, like
let's grow this thing.
There was none of that.
So if I can do it, I know thatyou can do it too.
Try one of those things that Imentioned earlier and just make
progress every single day, andthat's it.
I hope that you enjoyed this qand a episode.
Again, remember, if you have aburning photography question
(33:47):
that you want answered here onthe show, just head to beginner
photo pod.com/qa to submit yourquestion.
Until next time.
Remember, the more that youshoot today, the better of a
photographer you'll be tomorrow.
Talk soon.
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