This Weekend: Presenting Engagement Photos; Shooting Family Portraits

Told ya things were going to get crazy! As the winter celebrations grow nearer, clients are starting to see photographs as great options for holiday cards, family portraits and parties.



This weekend, I will be presenting photos from my first engagement session to Kim and Michael. I thought the shoot was a success, and Confluence Park near the South Platte River was a wonderful location. It was important for me to be able to capture this active couple as well as some of their favorite things to do together. They spent most of their time courting while skiing and bike riding, so I wanted my shots to be able to remind them how their romance progressed.



This presentation will be the first time I use music to highlight a slideshow of the images that my MacBook Pro can create. I hope it's not too cheesy, but I've been told that music, even food and drink, can set the tone for the presentation and make it a more enjoyable experience. I also plan to have several of my favorite images already printed up in hopes that I can get some immediate sales during the presentation. I will also have a new proof book available for the couple to take with them so they can chose which images they want printed.

A few hours before my presentation, I will be shooting my first outdoor family portrait session with the woman who owns my dogs' daycare center. Cristal and I worked out a deal in which she would exchange free daycare for the cost of the photo shoot and prints. Again, I think exchanging goods and services instead of paying out money is a good idea during the troubled economy, and day care is just expensive enough that I think it's a great trade option! I loved Confluence Park so much that I suggested we shoot the portrait session there again. Cristal said she wanted to take advantage of the fall colors, and the park is bursting with reds, golds and cinnamons.

Growing Pains: Portrait Sales During Event A Big Hit

As I mentioned earlier, Jason and I came up with this plan to try to make some additional print sales from our last gig at Crystal and Jaime's wedding reception. You guys already know I hate taking "grip and grin photos" where everyone stands together, puts on a smile and says "CHEESE!" But I know full well that those are the kinds of shots everyone seems to want! So I asked Jason if he could set up an impromptu portrait session with some constant hot lights during the reception, giving people the option to go take single or group shots while I shot candids and reception highlights.



I think our first time doing this was a great success! Jason made about $150 in print sales that very night and would have made more if we would have had a printer on hand. He was able to quickly edit photos on his laptop with Lightroom, show the customers what the images looked like and take orders for print sizes all during the same event. I think having this service available gave the added dimension I was hoping for, and created the possibility of even more clients for us in the future. While I walked around the reception, I made sure I told everyone Jason was on hand to take portraits, and soon people started lining up. Because I couldn't afford to pay Jason for shooting this event, I told him he could have all the money from whatever print sales he made. He had his images edited and up on the web in three days, and I've already heard from clients at the reception say they couldn't wait for their photos to arrive in the mail. Nice job Jason!



One of the things we really need to do is get a compact printer to take with us on location. And Jason needs some quick and easy backdrops to set up because we can't always be certain the location will give us a good background to work with. I think I'm going to contribute a smaller gray backdrop that came with one of my lighting kits. It can be easily hung and taken down, plus the neutral color works well with just about all skin types and clothing colors.