THE BUSINESS BEHIND BEING A PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER

It is important to know this. Spend time researching people who do the type of work that you want to do and figure out how they do it. Read about photography and settings and situations. Go into the job with a plan. If you are an introvert like me, interacting with subjects to get them in the right mindset will make you nervous.

If you treat your image making like this and put the work into it, even if you are not currently ready, you will be soon. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be when going into jobs and marketing yourself.

Turning Portraits Into Profits: How to Run a Portrait Photography Business | Shutterbug

All of the information is out there for you to prepare yourself, it is just a matter of doing it. Everyone had to start from somewhere and it is the prepared and thoughtful photographers who ultimately become successful. Pricing is an artform based on experience. At first it can be scary because you will not have any experience with it. Also, if you are not confident in your work or your ability, then how can you be confident in pricing your work?

If you are entering the professional world you have to understand that you are starting a business. You need a business plan. You have to charge enough to make a living.

If you are making the commitment to do this, even if you are not fully comfortable yet, you still have to make a living. Create a pricing structure based on this and raise your prices as you become more experienced. Some jobs you will lose because you are too expensive. Do not let these people affect your opinion of what you charge. Other customers will pass you by because you are not expensive enough! Some jobs will be much easier than others but always plan for the worst.

How a Bad Client Consultation Changed My Portrait Photography Business

They would not want to risk hiring the cheaper photographer for the most important day of their lives. Also, if people tell you your prices are too high, educate them on why you charge what you do. Many people who hire you will not understand photography.

That is so, so far from the truth.

Explain what you will be doing for them, the time and knowledge that goes into the job, and why it is priced where it is. Some people will understand, be happy that you explained it to them, and will then hire you. Do not be afraid to lose a job because of price. That will inevitably happen and it should not dictate your pricing strategy. This one scares the heck out of me. What if something breaks while I am on a shoot? If you are creating a photography business, you need to have backups in place. When I popped my SD card into the computer and started culling through the photos, I had a strange sense of deja vu.

I looked through the last session that I had shot of this family, and there it was. Same location, same poses, heck, the dad was wearing almost exactly the same outfit as last time. It dawned on me then that in a way I had lost control. By having no discussion with my clients about their expectations or desires, I was in fact leaving every decision to them. Most of the time, they are not going to want to rock the boat or throw out suggestions, so they are going to go on what little they have from you, the professional photographer, and neither of you are going to be happy with the results.

Planning through consultation is the absolute key to creating portraits that your clients are going to treasure and more importantly, spend money on. Yes, a good client consultation will give you the tools you need to push your business to the next level in terms of value and how much money your clients will spend with you.

8 Tips Every Beginning Portrait Photographer Should Know

At the very least, you should communicate with them through telephone or messaging, but face to face is always best. They need to know and see some of your amazing ideas before they will even know they have those options. And once you know their expectations, you can design your shoot down to the last detail, so that there will be no surprises to trip you up in that precious time you have to spend with them.

Find out what their dream photos would look like.

Myth #2: If I charge $75 for a 1-hour shoot, I'll be making $75 per hour!!!

Are they looking for light and airy, dark and dramatic, or even fun and silly? Ask them what they will use the photos for?

Are they just for holiday cards? This is something I have been working on for at least 15 years. I have reached out to various creative organizations and we are still working on a business model for photographers to get paid the way musicians do, getting their proper licensing fees. There are three parts to this: All of this is about running your photography business in a strategic fashion. Photographers should always register their images because you really cannot deal with theft without properly registered copyrights.

A good service to use is called ImageRights International imagerights. Photographers are the only businesses to feel themselves to be litigious if they ask for licensing fees from companies that steal their images. This is a business like any other—so you should be collecting the money owed to you for image usage.

Something for our readers to learn from your experience. I can tell the one about Martin Landau. I had a shoot with him for Entertainment Tonight and we lit for color the majority of the assignment. My assistant accidently stepped in front of one of the strobe packs and the color turned out to be muddy and horrible but when we got the black-and-white images they looked wonderful and powerful.

1. Is my work good enough? What if I’m not experienced enough for a job?

These images got published everywhere and, since it was the same year Landau won his Academy Award for the movie Ed Wood, it turned out to be a huge success. Sometimes you need to be open to accidents. What advice do you have for those looking at portrait photography as a business—pitfalls to avoid and opportunities to pursue?

It depends on whether they are looking to get into the fine art, retail, commercial, or editorial aspect of it. I think editorial is dead, magazines have no budgets and are dying every day. I have heard stories of some of the most successful consumer portrait photographers working as big retail companies doing many school districts, although this is the least glamorous side of the business because of the lack of creativity involved. Your personal work can be a great opportunity. I look at my Urban Landscapes Project, which are panoramic images that chronicle my travels around the world while on assignment, as my personal work, but it is also where I am known for my lighting and composition.

I use the personal work to communicate what I can bring to a shoot—a critical aspect of marketing and business. How to Build a Portrait Photography Business: Log in or register to post comments. Latest Trending Photos Videos. How to Choose a First Camera for New How to Go from an Amateur to a Professional How Photographers Can Make Low Light Photography Tutorial with Peter