By helping empower people to step in front of your camera, you yourself become higher value as a photographer.
Photography is a gift, and photographers who show effort are the ones who tend give the gift of photography to more clients.
After booking this couple for their wedding, the bride let me know, she's her excited to take engagement photos, but she’s very worried her about her partner’s participation.
During our first planning meeting, we reviewed my style guide. Turns out her groom has very stylish ideas, but also very shy, but doesn’t feel photogenic.
HOLD UP…
I asked him if he already had an idea of what he wanted to wear. He said yeah, I wanna wear a tie that matches her color… but nobody wears ties anymore. Everyone is casual for their engagement photos.
Then I asked him what’s the resistance? He let me know he’d been working from home for a year and hasn’t dressed up since. Not even for date night. He said he would feel like a fraud and try-hard getting all dressed up all nice for photos.
OH WOW…
I asked him next, what if you wore your every day clothes? He immediately started laughing and said, then I’d just look dumb next to her in my pajamas. I agreed.
Finally I asked, what if we got ready, put on the outfit feeling like a fraud, and just try the session... "trying hard"? If you end up having an awful time, and hate the photos, we can throw them away and do them over with pajamas instead?
He laughed again while agreeing. His partner was very thankful for talking him off the ledge.
He found the photos to be acceptable and he genuinely looks great. During and after the session he thanked me multiple times for being patient with him. He said he was just feeling insecure and needed a push.
I related to him a lot.
Anyways… Heres’s a bunch of photos from their 80 photo engagement gallery.
Of course I hope you love the photos.
But I hope the story of dealing with “difficult” clients inspires you to see opportunities we have to become a high value photographers.
Gear breakdown:
Body: Canon 5D MK IV
Lens: 35mm 1.4L II, 50mm 1.4 Art, 85mm 1.4L IS, 135mm 2L
Edited in Lightroom Classic with JY POP Signature Dark and Moody Presets
Settings variance:
1/100, f/2.8 ISO 1600 - ISO 4000
1/40, f/2.8, ISO 320
1/20, f/2.8, ISO 2000
The easiest way to instantly add value to your client experience is by making things stress-free, simple and clear.
For couples photographers who value their time, don't already have a style guide, and want to deliver a truly stress free experience, The Photo Session Style Guide has been a no-brainer.
