Category: Client Education

23 Feb

3 Reasons Why You Need Professional Headshots

In today’s digital age, your headshot is often the first impression you make on potential clients, employers, or collaborators. A professional headshot can help you stand out from the crowd and leave a positive and lasting impression.

Here are three reasons why you should consider getting professional headshots:

1. Make a Great First Impression:

Your headshot is often the first thing people see when they search for you online. Whether it’s on your website, LinkedIn profile, or social media accounts, your headshot can leave a lasting impression on those who view it. A professional headshot can help you stand out from the crowd and leave a positive and lasting impression.

A well-crafted headshot can convey confidence, approachability, and professionalism, which can make a huge difference in how potential clients or employers perceive you. By investing in a professional headshot, you’re demonstrating that you take your personal brand seriously and are committed to presenting yourself in the best possible light.

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2. Boost Your Personal Branding:

Your headshot is a powerful tool for personal branding. It can help you communicate your personality, values, and professional style. A well-crafted headshot can be used across your website, social media, and other marketing materials to build a consistent and compelling personal brand.

Your headshot should reflect who you are and what you stand for. By working with a professional photographer, you can ensure that your headshot is aligned with your personal brand and the image you want to project. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a freelancer, or an executive, a great headshot can help you build a strong personal brand and stand out in your industry.

3. Show Your Professionalism:

A professional headshot can communicate that you take your career seriously and are committed to presenting yourself in the best possible light. It can also demonstrate that you are approachable, trustworthy, and friendly, which can help you build rapport with potential clients, employers, or collaborators.

When it comes to networking or meeting new people in your industry, a great headshot can be a valuable asset. It can help you make a positive and lasting impression on those you meet and can even open doors to new opportunities.

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Preparation for your professional headshots

Here are some tips to help you prepare for your headshot session:

1. Choose the right outfit:

Choose an outfit that represents your personal brand and fits the style of the shoot. Avoid clothes with busy patterns or logos, and opt for solid colors instead. Make sure your outfit is clean, wrinkle-free, and fits well. Consider bringing a few different outfit options to your session, so you can switch things up if needed.

2. Get a good night’s sleep:

Make sure you get a good night’s sleep before your headshot session. A well-rested and refreshed appearance can make a big difference in your final headshots. Try to avoid alcohol and caffeine the night before your shoot, as they can affect the quality of your sleep.

3. Practice good grooming:

Make sure you’re well-groomed for your headshot session. Get a haircut or trim your hair if needed, and make sure your nails are clean and trimmed. If you wear makeup, apply it in a way that enhances your natural features. Avoid trying out new hairstyles or makeup looks the day of your shoot.

4. Hydrate and nourish yourself:

Drink plenty of water and eat a nutritious meal before your headshot session. This will help you feel energized and refreshed during your shoot. Avoid eating foods that may cause bloating or indigestion, as this can affect your appearance in your headshots.

5. Relax and be yourself:

Remember to relax and be yourself during your headshot session. A good photographer will help put you at ease and bring out your natural personality in your photos. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or share your ideas with your photographer, as this can help ensure you get the best possible results from your headshot session.

In summary, investing in professional headshots can make a huge difference in how you’re perceived by others in your industry. By making a great first impression, boosting your personal branding, and showing your professionalism, a well-crafted headshot can help you stand out from the crowd and achieve your career goals.

Are you in need of professional headshots? Our studio is based in the Vaal, just an hour from Johannesburg. Please fill out our booking form and we will get you booked in.

29 Aug

11 Stylish & Creative Photoshoot Outfit Ideas

11 Stylish Photoshoot Outfit Ideas for your next shoot

Preparing for your next photoshoot can be stressful and figuring out what to wear makes it even worse! Here are 10 stylish photoshoot outfit ideas my clients have come up with to give you some inspiration.

1. The classic jeans and blazer

Jeans and a blazer is always a great choice if you are in the corporate world. The jeans create a more relaxed look so you don’t look to corporate-y.

2. Knitwear

Knitwear for the winter time is a great pick. I love how these 2 sisters matched for their session. If you are doing a family session, choose a colour palette and make sure not everyone wears the same thing – blue jeans and white shirts, I’m looking at you,

3. Eveningwear & Gowns

If your shoot is to celebrate yourself, bring that fancy gown hanging out in the back of your cupboard

4. Get inspired by a theme

For this shoot, we were inspired by the TV show, “Euphoria”. Chanel really got the fashion and makeup on point for this one!

5. Wear your profession

My client is a nurse working towards opening her own clinic. She opted for her nurse attire and it looked gorgeous in the studio!

6. Make the skirt the statement

Skirts can elevate your session as they create elegance in an image and also make it easier to pose.

7. Suit up

I love a good suit in the studio! Bright colours or even a crisp white suit look incredible.

8. Embrace traditional wear

Traditional clothing is one of my favourite looks to shoot.

9. Cocktail Dress

Make sure to add a pair of heels to give you the ultimate glammed up look.

10. You can always keep it casual

You don’t always need glitz and glam – when in doubt, tone it back to the basics, Either a well-fitted shirt or polar neck and jeans goes a long way,

11. You can skip the shoes (in some cases)

A lot of people fret about shoes, but the truth is that some outfits can work so well without shoes, Just make sure your toenails are tidy! These usually work really well with casual looks but can also be done with more formal looks..

Final Thoughts and Tips

At the end of the day you need to be comfortable in whatever you decide to wear to your session. If you are completely stuck I always tell my clients to bring the following for a session:

  • A casual look: like look 9 bring a great pair of jeans and a well fitting top.
  • A semi-formal-formal look: you can bring a blazer like look 1 and layer it on top of your casual look.
  • A formal look or creative look: looks 3, 5 and 8 are perfect examples of more formal looks. And if you have traditional wear or a theme you think will work, bring it!

For more photoshoot outfit ideas you can follow us on Instagram and Pinterest. If you would like to make a booking, you can contact us here.

22 Aug

5 Reasons Your Photographer Won’t Give Out RAW files

5 reasons your photographer won’t give out RAW files

So, you want to book a photoshoot and you receive several packages from photographers. Some say you receive all the edited photos from your session, some stipulate no RAW’s are given, and some say that you only choose from a select number of retouched portraits.

You sit and read the term RAW and give it a Google to find out what it means and see that it just means the unedited file that is straight from the camera. You may think, “yes, I want the unedited version too! I can add my own edit maybe or I will receive more photos.”

Let’s debunk RAW files and if they are even worth trying to get.

1. It’s sounds like a foreign concept, so it seems more attractive

Every profession has their own jargon and in the world of photography, the term RAW gets flung around a lot. It sounds cool and makes the file seem way more important. Think about business professionals and when they use their jargon, it sounds impressive!

2. You won’t be able to use the RAW file without software

A RAW file comes in a format of cr2 – it is uncompressed data from the camera. You can’t just open a RAW file as you need editing software such as Adobe Lightroom. You can try to open it on your computer, but it will show a quick preview if you are lucky and then show you this:

3. The photographer knows what they are doing

As an avid retoucher, I turn my RAW files into a beautiful, finished product. I fix the backgrounds, I colour grade it, I retouch skin and create a piece of art for my clients. Look at how I changed this RAW file to a work of art.

5 Reasons Your Photographer Won't Give Out RAW files

If you don’t like the editing style of the photographer, do not ask them to change it. Find a photographer that suits your personal taste.

Your photographer has a good idea of what they are doing and how they want the result to look like. Trust the process!

4. You’re missing out on a finished product

By just giving you all the unedited files, you are missing out on:

  • The service that you paid for (yes, editing is worked into the cost)
  • There might be things in your photos that could be removed (such as blemishes, people in the background etc)
  • A finished product

One of my favourite analogies to use if someone asks about unedited photos is that if you went to a fancy restaurant, you aren’t going to ask for the uncooked ingredients. You want the finished meal so you can enjoy it. Same thing with portraits, you want to be able to get them printed, put them on your phone and show your friends and family.

5. These files are BIG – you will need a lot of storage

RAW files are huge! For example, my RAW data can be anywhere from 20mb-50mb depending on my settings. One of my sessions with all the RAW file’s ranges from 4-10GB. For weddings, you are looking at 100GB plus. You need decent storage if you were to receive them.

My final thoughts and advice

Do you research on your photographer and make sure that their editing style is what you want. Most of the times that I have seen people ask photographers for RAW files is because they don’t like the final edit. If you like dark and moody, book a dark and moody photographer. If you like bright and airy, book someone who can achieve that. Don’t ask a moody photographer to edit bright and airy and vice versa.

Look at their overall portfolio and imagine you in their portraits. If you like that idea, then you have found the one. I wrote a blog post on how to choose a photographer.

RAW files aren’t that cool for everyday people. They are not worth they hype as a client. And if you are a photographer, don’t give your RAW files out ?

11 Jan

5 Reasons to do a photoshoot for yourself

Our studio is turning 2 this year – can you believe it? During this time we have met so many amazing people with all kinds of reasons to do a photoshoot for themselves.

Here are 5 reasons to do a photoshoot for yourself in 2022.

1. Confidence Booster

Having a photoshoot for yourself is not a vain. I think it is more a celebration of yourself and a gift to yourself. Kicking off the new year with a gorgeous set of portraits is such a great confidence booster! It can set the tone of your year to really emphasize that self-love you’ve been meaning to work on.

2. Update your social media

The new year is always a great time to update all of your profile pictures including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and your CV. We can’t be using the same portrait that you took 5 years ago! It’s always nice to give our accounts a refresh with something new – now is your chance!

3. Change out the portraits in your home

There’s this weird misconception with our generation which is, you are vain if you have a portrait of yourself in your home. Well, I call BS on that. Let’s look back about 50-100 years ago – even further. It was common to get 1 professional portrait either taken or drawn of yourself at least once in your life and to hang it in your home. Why not make that a new tradition? If the Queen does it, so can you.

This is also a historic record of yourself. One day when your family looks for portraits of you, what will they find? Does a selfie really justify?

4. You are teaching yourself and those around you about self-value

By investing in a portrait of yourself, you are showing yourself and others that you value yourself. An important step in life is accepting yourself for who you are and the way that you look. You are just as valuable as any celebrity, model or influencer.

5. It’s an opportunity to dress up and spoil yourself

You deserve a portrait, here and now. Not when you drop 5kg, not when you own that certain outfit, or when that special occasion comes around. You deserve a portrait of yourself as you are. Life is short. Now is the time to pull that little black dress hanging in the back of your wardrobe, those heels you would never wear out, to get your nails done and get beautiful makeup done.

No nice outfits? I have a bunch that you can choose from!

I hope that this has inspired you to book a photoshoot with that photographer you have been dying to shoot with.

If you would like to book a portrait session with us in 2022, head to our bookings page. For inspiration on your future session, follow us on Instagram.

22 Sep

Finding perfect photoshoot locations

Easy photoshoot locations

I recently moved back to the town where I went to high school and booked a couple of clients. As usual, this question popped up:

“What location do you suggest?”
“What’s the perfect photoshoot location?”
“Where do you suggest we shoot?”

I’m sure if you are a photographer you’re nodding.

This blog post is for both photographers and clients which will help you to brainstorm some ideas for photoshoot locations in your area. I like to keep a few on hand which I trust.

Okay but don’t get me wrong, it is NOT always about the location at all. However, being a female photographer I can’t just venture off with a model or a family into a dodgy forest. I need locations that are safe, that are functional and I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get into.

I like to ask my clients what vibe they are going for. Do you want something cozy and homely? More of a natural setting? Perhaps their horse like above. Maybe they want to go to a city.

Here’s a list of locations that may be in your area that you may not have thought of:

  • Your local park.
  • Your local reserve. I have an eco-reserve 10 minutes from my office which is safe, large enough that it does not look like the same location everytime and it is beautiful.
  • A local coffee shop. Work out a deal with your local coffee shop such as taking photos for their social media in return that they let you shoot there when needed.
  • A large empty piece of land / field. This might be more of a dangerous one, especially in South Africa. However, you can achieve some beautiful results from it.
Easy photshoot locations
  • An equestrian centre nearby. I recently shot an engagement session at one and it was stunning! It was nestled in hills, surrounded by large trees.
  • A parking lot. Now this may sound a bit odd but if you take a couple or model to one it can work! My local mall has a parking lot on top of the building which has a stunning sunset view. Be prepared for security to chase you away – but just be friendly, they might let you stick around.
  • Home! I think this one is so underrated! Shooting in your home really captures the essence of you in your everyday surroundings. This one is especially perfect for couples.
Photoshoot locations in Sandton South Africa
  • If you’re in the city, the top of buildings can work really well. It is very difficult to find one to shoot in. However, if you have a friend who has access to one, do make use of it. 100% recommend it!
  • The street. Every town has pretty streets – maybe not many but they do have. This is free and no one will chase you.
  • A river / dam / lake / stream. Don’t underestimate the power of water in a photo! Sunset makes any body of water the most romantic location.
  • Textured walls. Have you ever driven passed a building and a certain part of the building was interesting? Use it!
  • A nursery. This one is great! Chat to your local nursery or botanical garden and see if they will let you shoot there.
Photoshoot locations
  • In front of plants. Yep, nothing fancy but your garden or interesting foliage will do here. As pictured above, this was in front of palm-type bushes.
  • Broken-down buildings. Be careful in these but you should get some really moody shots.
  • A hiking trail. It’s also a fun activity to do!

To sum it up, almost any location can be worked with.

As a client, think of where you see yourself in. If you hate being outisde and in the wilderness, why would you want to have your photos taken there? Maybe you and your lover are bookworms, it would be more genuine if you did your photoshoot at home snuggled up or maybe a cozy coffee shop or library.

As a photographer, photoshoot locations will become more apparent as you shoot. You will see which location suits which kind of session and so forth.

Keep shooting,

Siobhan

My socials:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sbrazierphotography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sbrazierphotography/

22 Sep

7 Useful Tips For Your First Photoshoot

7 Useful Tips For Your First Photoshoot

From someone who has been in your position, I know how intimidating it can be. Your very first photoshoot can be nerve-wracking! In this blog post, I give you my tips for your first photoshoot and how you can be prepared and make the most of this experience..

Choose wisely who you want to work with

Ask yourself how YOU would want to be photographed. Perhaps you’re torn between a couple of photographers in your area, take into consideration if you see yourself in their photos. Do you like their editing? Their styling? I have a blog post on how to choose a photographer.

Prepare | Body Care

Now, depending on your session, you don’t need to prepare for weeks or months in advance.

  • If you want to get your hair coloured, ensure it’s at least one week before. This gives the colour time to settle, resulting in a more natural look.
  • The same with tanning, ensure it has time to settle. At least one to two weeks before the session.
  • Ensure your nails are neat or done. Trust me, you’ll thank me later on this!
  • Micro-blading also needs time to settle, so ensure you have a 2 week grace period.
  • Moisturize before your session. This will help you have a dewy look.

Prepare | Clothing

Clothing choices can make or break a session. My go-to tips for clothing choices:

As a family or couple, choose a colour palette. Neutrals, light colours or dark colours. Say you want to wear a red dress, get your partner to wear something that will compliment you, such as blues. If you can, sneak that same shade of red in a shirt or accessory.

SummerFamilyPhotoLooks 06
https://justpostedblog.com/2019/08/01/what-to-wear-for-family-pictures/

Do not wear branded clothing! I know Nike shirts are cool, if that’s the kind of session you’re going for, fine. However, in couple sessions or family sessions, it is EXTREMELY distracting and breaks any sort of cohesion. The only time this works is if you are both “twinning”, you’re alone and it’s more of a fashion shoot or the logo is not on your chest. Just skip it for the session.

useful tips for your first photoshoot

Prepare your clothing the day before. Iron your clothes, put them on hangers, ensure your shoes are clean.

Ladies, underwear choices are vital. Black shirts need black bras, especially if they are see-through. White shirts need nude bras or white bras. Same with underwear. If you have a backless dress, stick on bras are a must. Do your pants show underwear lines? Check this before the session!

Makeup & Hair

If you are going to a makeup artist, arrive with a completely clean face. Bring your moisturizer and foundation with you. If you are doing your own makeup, you can apply makeup slightly heavier than usual, especially eye makeup. Ladies, please do not cake on foundation! Most photographers will edit out any large pimples. Caking it on is not always the answer.

If you are getting your hair done, be sure to ask if your hair stylist if you should wash your hair before or if they wash it there. If it’s just being styled, come with clean dry hair. If you are doing your own hair, the natural route is always the best route. If you have curly hair, embrace them! You can always change up the looks with ponytails, buns, half-up hairstyles etc.

Inspiration for your session

If you have ideas for your session, create a shared Pinterest board with your photographer. This will help them get an idea of what you want from the session. Communicate with your photographer your ideas and think of a photoshoot location. Read more on how to find a photoshoot location here.

  • An important note on Pinterest: take into consideration that your images will NOT be an EXACT duplicate of your inspiration images. Your photographer will take it into account but cannot guarentee an exact replica. Take into consideration their shooting style, editing and approach to sessions.

Posing Preparation

I like to send a basic posing guide to my clients – especially solo portraits. Don’t fret too much about it, but run through basic poses in the mirror to see what side you prefer, if you can nail certain poses, where you may be self-conscious and so forth. Your photographer will guide you through posing as well, but it’s nice to be a bit prepared. Also, communicate with your photographer any areas that you may be self-conscious about. We pose you in a way that we think is flattering, but you may be worried about a scar or your arms etc. Be sure to let them know so that they can take that into account.

Create a playlist

I like to ask my clients if they have any music requests as I like to play music throughout the session. This keeps you relaxed and you get to groove out during your session! I have some fun playlist on my Apple music such as this one for studio work.

I hope that these tips are helpful! I hope you have a great session and relaaaaaaaaaax. Do you have any other tips for fellow clients? Leave them below! If you would like to see more of me and what I’m up to, follow my Facebook and Instagram.

Until next time,
Siobhan

22 Sep

How to Choose a Photographer to Work With

How to choose a photographer to work with

Choosing a photographer to work with can be tricky – especially if it’s your first time hiring a professional photographer. These days everyone knows or knows of a photographer, however, there is a considerable amount of factors to take into account when trying to pick a photographer to capture your memories.

Let’s break down some factors that you can take into account:

  1. What genres they capture

This is my number 1 beyond anything else! If you are getting married choose a wedding photographer. If you want your family to be captured, find a family/lifestyle photographer. Photographers niche their work. Yes, we are capable of capturing photos in general but when it comes to spending you need to take into account the photographers speciality. With most services, businesses aim to only work within their niche. From what I’ve seen in the past, clients can be let down by not getting a photographer with skills in the “field” they want. For example, my strengths lie with portraiture and weddings. While I can capture families and new-borns, it’s not my niche.

2. The photographer’s editing style

Not to be confused with their genres. If you like bright and airy photos, you don’t want to choose a photographer with a moody editing style. Similar to their niche, their editing strengths usually lie within:

  • Creative edits
  • Moody edits
  • Bright and airy edits

There are hundreds of editing styles! However, if you choose to hire a photographer with moody editing, don’t expect your images to come out bright and airy. This is a common occurrence with clients & photographers.

3. THEIR PORTFOLIO

Depending on what your session entails, you would want some sort of a portfolio from the photographer. If a photographer is still in their early days, they may have a limited portfolio – we all start somewhere. However, be sure that they have a portfolio of some sort. This will help you get a feel for their work and if it’s something you see yourself being a part of. You should be able to see some previous work through their social media or website.

4. REVIEWS

I love using reviews to ensure my potential clients feel safe and want to ensure that they can trust me with capturing them. This isn’t a must – but if the photographer does have them available on their social media or website it’s always good to read! If they have Facebook reviews, that’s also a good way to find out if clients enjoyed their session. Reviews aren’t always the be all and end all!

5. PRICING

The “controversial” topic. Basic psychology plays a role in this – usually the higher the price, we perceive it as more valuable and of higher quality. Lower prices usually mean cheaper, not of higher quality. Keep in mind this is not always the case. The pricing ultimately comes down to the photographer and how they price themselves. Some photographers base their pricing on their personal cost of business, while others base their prices on their competitor. While some people don’t care about pricing, others do and that is why it’s a factor.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My final advice to you, is if you ADORE a photographers work and you see yourself in their photographs, then that’s the one to go for. If their portfolio resonates with you and makes you smile and excited, go with them.

What other factors do you take into account?

Siobhan

22 Sep

Photography 101 – my tips and tricks

Photography 101 – the lowdown on what you need to know

Today I will be discussing all my tips and tricks when it comes to photography – photography 101. From shooting, to editing, to working with clients and delivering images, I’ve got my top tips for you!

Your camera

  • Learn manual ASAP. It becomes like second nature and you won’t even have to check your settings in the future. I now just look at the weather and know what my ISO needs to be. But still double check the settings! By working on manual, you have full control over lighting, depth of field and being able to capture that perfect moment.
  • My favourite mode of focusing is the spot metering. I love this one and I never change it.
  • Another nifty function is your Kelvin temperature. I only learnt this last year from a friend! So, this can be found in your white balance settings. I used to just leave my camera on auto white balance (it does a great job). Basically Kelvin changes the balance to warm or cool. Higher being warmer and lower being cooler.
  • Forget manual focus. I’ve had a few younger photographers ask me how do I shoot so fast on manual focus. I don’t. I think one should perfect manual focus for tricky shots but if you are busy with a session, the client won’t be patient while you sit there trying to get the perfect focus. If it’s a wedding or event, there is no time to manual focus. Your camera knows how to focus, let it do its job.

Editing

Using Lightroom

Lightroom is great for batch editing! If you get the Adobe photography plan you can use Lightroom and Photoshop. When it comes to my portraits and I want to do a bit more editing such as retouching, I first start off by importing the whole gallery to Lightroom.

I’ll then cull the photos down and go through and do my usual editing – brightness, tone curve, temperature, clarity etc. I then right click on the image and “edit in” Photoshop. So you could just do your basic editing in Photoshop’s Camera RAW but let me tell you why I do it like this.

Not every image I edit goes to Photoshop. When you edit a Lightroom edit in Photoshop and finish it, it keeps your original Lightroom edit and the Photoshop edit. I then can see, maybe I over edited in Photoshop. Or I can make changes or just prefer the Lightroom image.

Should I do a full editing tutorial?

Using Photoshop

My biggest tip as portrait photographer is to learn Photoshop. I started to learn in January 2018 and 1 year later, I’d say I know my way around enough to make insane edits. It’s also very helpful when you need to take out something in an image such as a piece of litter or a sign.

Learn how to Dodge and Burn! This makes an insane difference to your edits. Watch a few videos, get a few photos of contouring and learn where natural shadows fall on the face. It definitely makes an image pop.

Presets

Forget buying presets. I might get backlash on this! I think presets are unnecessary and yes, they do contribute to a cohesive theme. However, it takes out the uniqueness of your craft. Rather learn your style. Get a list of your favourite photographers. Rather try add little bits of their editing style to your work than buying a generic preset that 200 other people use.

Working with Clients

Your clients are probably nervous about their shoot – especially if it’s a couple. They will most likely tell you, “hey we suck at posing etc.”. THAT IS OKAY. It is YOUR job to make them comfortable. You need to be laid back but still professional.

My biggest tip here is to buy a speaker. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just a small Bluetooth speaker. I used my JBL Go. I would create a few playlists depending on your client base. For my models, I use some more sexier, empowering music (more for females) such as Ariana Grande. Throw in some house and some trending music. For couples, go for that lovey dovey romantic music – you know, Ed Sheeran.

Prompt your couple to dance to the music and let them get lost in each other while they get all loved up. Get your model to think she’s the main girl in the music video. It works wonders – TRUST me.

A few questions for when you’re first meeting your clients could be, how did you meet? Where are you from? What do you study? What is your love story? Share your side of your story too. Relax and have fun!

Delivering Images

So I have used a bunch of ways to deliver my images to my clients. I did CD’s, Google Drive, DropBox etc. But I have officially found the site I will always use and that is www.pixieset.com.

Their galleries are presented beautifully, user-friendly, has a gallery assist option, easily accessible and a massive amount of storage! This is not sponsored.

Why CD’s didn’t work:

I was spending a lot of money on packaging and CD’s are quickly become obsolete. They wouldn’t work or the client didn’t have a CD-drive.

Why DropBox and Google Drive didn’t work:

If you aren’t tech-savvy, you won’t know how to download the images correctly. These resulted in clients screenshotting images which lead to bad quality images.

Why flash drives didn’t work:

These work for weddings and I will always use them for weddings. However, for a quick portrait session, it is not cost-effective.

Your collections / packages

As a South African photographer – times are tough. A lot of people do not have the money to spend on a luxury service. I live in a student town and the university constantly has events going on which need photography services.

Most Students cannot afford my hourly rate so I have halved my hourly rate and introduced 30 minute packages for half the price. This way I cater for more target markets. I find 30 minutes sufficient enough for a session and I can easily get enough images.

There are quite a few tactics on creating packages. A well-known one is to have 3 packages. Your first package should be the absolute basics. Your second package should have the most value for it’s price. Your third package should be priced a lot higher than the middle, a bit more out of the clients reach. This tactic gets bookings for your second package – the one you will find most rewarding.

Social Media

Be careful with which photography groups you join. There are a lot of bullies out there who give terrible comments. I agree that constructive criticism is very important but a lot of the bigger guys downgrade the younger photographers. So scope the group first before you join and post your work.

Go and watch YouTube videos! There is so much free content out there waiting to be absorbed. You can learn all the necessary editing skills. My favourite YouTubers are Julia Trotti, Sorelle Amore, Jessica Kobeissi, Peter McKinnon, and Mango Street.

I have more social media marketing tips on this post.

That’s it for this week! Let me know down below what you would like to read about!

Keep shooting,
Siobhan

Photography 101
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