Friday, October 25, 2019

Communicating with your Client

As a photographer or any small business its our job to make sure we communicate to the client/customer so they have full understanding and no confusion in any way.

I like when I receive messages thru email, Facebook messenger or even text.  Having it all written out to me is very helpful so they can go back and read over your answers and have everything in writing. Even if someone calls me I will do a follow up of what we talked about in writing so they have the discussion in text form to refer to.

Being clear on "What they get" for the price your asking is very important.  How many photos are included, Do they get digitals, do they get prints, will it be emailed, is it flash drive.  All of those things should be very clear and discussed with your customers.

How many outfit changes do I get?  I'm one of those that I don't care if they change clothes 20 times, it's their time slot if they book me for 1 1/2 hours they can change clothes over and over, that their time to do as they wish.  They need to know the more they change clothes the less photos I am taking but I feel if they want to change thats up to them and I want them to be happy.

I often scout or ask for photos of the location so I can have an understanding of the area, where is the sun coming from, are there props for us to use to help pose them.  Those things help when planning a session.  I often write a script based on the location and the outfits, horses, dogs or just the people; that way we can utilize our time wisely and they will get the most for their money.

I do my best to deliver 50 to 75 proofs that might be a 15 digital package; I want to make sure I capture a variety of backgrounds so they don't have the same boring background photo after photo.

When I finish a session, I also hand the customer / client a "Whats going to happen next" page that they keep.

I go over my process and tell them when I get home this is what happens, they know exactly they will be seeing their proofs by a certain time, they get a free photo to share immediately, their photos are ordered, I touch up and do. my best to enhance the photos in a certain way, what edits are done, when they will be finished, where to order their prints from.

They shouldn't have any questions after they finish a session with me, moving forward I plan to move that process into the next level and I'm excited at the changes that are coming up for Jo. H Photography to make the customer experience a quicker and more efficient process.  Speed and accuracy is a must and thats something I am always working on.

Make sure as a business you discuss everything, don't assume anything, explain, type it out, say it over and over so you are doing your job of letting the customer know that their money is well spent.

www.johphotography.com to book your session


Friday, October 11, 2019

Your Ah-Ha moment

Photography is kind of confusing when your first staring out.  There wasn’t a lot of youtube on photography back then and you had to read articles and try to learn from other photographers.

Well we are kind of a weird bunch when it comes to learning, a lot of photographers just won’t help you because they are afraid you will get there clients (theres only a bazillion people on earth believe me there are plenty of clients to go around).  I was told large amounts of money to work with me and the articles I didn’t understand.

I remember reading over and over the same articles to try to understand camera settings.  ISO, F stop, ISO, Shutter Speed all of that is very confusing to a new photographer.  I remember when I was first learning rodeo photography I belonged to a camera club (no longer a club) and a few of the members helped me out.  I wanted to freeze action, I wanted you to look at a photo and think “Wow how did she do that”.  My Ah-Ha moment was practicing in my front yard on a very small sprinkler and trying to stop the water droplets in the air.

I spent so much time practicing on that water sprinkler, uploading photos, adjusting settings (I had no idea what I was doing or why) and then seeing how things looked then again uploading photos re looking at them.

It took awhile for me to make sense of all those camera settings, but that practice time in my front yard on that little water sprinkler was my ah-ha moment that helped me be the photographer I am today.  Mainly learning my camera, not shooting on auto and adjusting settings to make the most of my photos.

When a new photographer messages me I always recommend a lot of practice like the one I used to do, its the best way to learn.  Shoot, download, look and edit, reshoot, download, look and edit.

Your an work with the best in the world but if you don’t practice you won’t improve and you won’t have your ah-ha moment

Www.JoHPhotography.com