Over the next several months, I will be answering these questions and more in a series of resources I am producing for people who are interested in hiring a photographer but have no idea where to begin. I have already written some of these things (check out the Resources category on my blog.) But I have a lot more to say, too.

This will be a work in progress, but over time I hope to produce several helpful guides for hiring professional photographers to make it a much simpler process for all of the non-Art Directors out there! If you haven’t worked at an ad agency; if you don’t have a degree in marketing; and if you aren’t a professional event planner, then stay tuned for the tips and resources that will soon make their appearance here!

Before the shoot, a great photographer will:

Not all photographers prioritize excellent customer service, so feel free to make your expectations clear up front.  If you aren’t 100% convinced that you’ll receive the level of service you’re looking for (and paying for), keep looking.  Professional photography is an investment and you deserve to have the best.

The yellow and green colors were perfect for a spring wedding.  (My favorite thing was Samantha’s yellow shoes!)  The staff at the Topsfield Commons run such a tight ship – the whole wedding was absolutely smooth and flawless.  And of course, they are a beautiful happy couple!  Congratulations on Sam and Danny!

This is my image for May.  To set it as your desktop, simply right-click on it and choose “Set as Desktop Background.”  The image will appear on your desktop.  Make sure it is centered and not tiled or stretched.  This image is sized for desktops with maximum display resolutions of 1280×1024.

I hope you enjoy this image for the month of May and look for another desktop image as June approaches!

That said, I hear a lot of couples balk when I tell them that I include engagement portrait sessions with all of my wedding packages.  For a lot of couples, the idea of “engagement photos” is too traditional, cheesy and old-fashioned.  I confess, when I hear the term “engagement photos,” I sometimes picture a perfect young couple posed in a Sears studio smiling innocently at the camera.  Try to remember, though, that just like your wedding and your relationship, engagement photos can be whatever you want them to be.

From my perspective as a wedding photographer, there are three real purposes of a photo session before your wedding, which we commonly refer to as “engagement photos.”

1) To get nice pictures of the two of you looking happy and in love.
2) To get to know you better as a couple, your quirks, what makes you laugh, and what kinds of photos you’re interested in so that I can better photograph your wedding.
3) To get you warmed up and comfortable with being photographed as a couple so that on your wedding day, there are no photo jitters!

Traditionally, engagement photos were used to announce a couple’s engagement to the world.  In my business, an engagement portrait session is a private session where I can get to know my clients in a place that they love so that the three of us are comfortable working together when the Big Day arrives.  It’s a valuable get-to-know-you session that goes a long way in getting everyone prepared for a full day of Wedding Photography down the road.  And yes, we get dozens and dozens of wonderful photos, too!

I suggest that if you are uncomfortable with the idea of “an engagement portrait session,” to think of it instead as a chance to get to know your photographer, see her at work, get a sense of her style and sensibility, and have a fun 45 minutes with your sweetheart.  Choose a location that is special to the two of you – a favorite park, a favorite restaurant, your own backyard, the beach or the city.  Throw formalities aside and have fun!  When the wedding day comes, you’ll feel relaxed, comfortable, and ready to be photographed from dawn to dusk with your sweetie’s hand in yours.  And likely, your mother will be thrilled to have a nice photo of the two of you that wasn’t take at a bar

This type of situation makes a lot of parents very anxious.  Here they are with a photographer who they are paying by the hour to get excellent photos of their baby and the baby won’t cooperate by even flashing a smile!  How aggravating.  But I say to such anxious parents, “Don’t worry.”  I assure them that we will, in fact, get wonderful family photos that they will always treasure, whether the baby smiles or not.  (And this goes for uncompromising toddlers, too.)

The fact of the matter is that family photos are a document of your family in a moment in time.  Ideally, you are having family portraits taken by a professional every year or every two years and if not, I hope your snapping away with your own iPhone or point-and-shoot camera at all times!  Families grow and change in the blink of an eye.  And no family is perfect (not even yours – admit it.)  Babies cry and spit up a lot, toddlers throw tantrums, teenagers have braces and acne, parents get divorced and bring new partners into the mix.  But these imperfections are what you remember when you think about your family, when your kids were little, as your parents age.  When you try too hard to control a portrait shoot and make it absolutely perfect, you lose the unique memories that make you a family!

So what if Baby Myles didn’t smile very much on Sunday?  He has adorable little furrows between his eyebrows that lead me to think he’ll grow up to be a Supreme Court Judge.  He looks thoughtful, a little worried, and very smart.  And when his parents looks back at our photos in 1, 5, 10, or 20 years, they’ll fondly remember our photo shoot and what a serious little baby Myles was at 3 1/2 months old.

Every photo and every portrait session is a bundle of memories.  My advice to all of you who worry about whether or not you look good, whether or not the children are cooperating, and whether or not to retouch out Dad’s new girlfriend is to just relax and accept that this is what your family is like today.  Cherish it.  Tomorrow, or next year, or in 10 years you’ll wish you could go back to those wonderful days when you just sat on the front steps and sang “Old MacDonald” at the top of your lungs.

And yes, I am biased when I say that great photos are KEY to a great website!  Remember that we live in an age where photos and videos are king, so while you don’t want to overcrowd your site with unnecessary images and cumbersome Flash galleries, be sure you have plenty of nice photos to attract new clients.

If you don’t have them already, considering adding these 5 kinds of photos to your website:

 

2.  High quality shots of your products.  This is pretty intuitive if your business is a retail store, a restaurant, or if you sell an otherwise well defined product.  We know that clients like to see what they will be buying.  But poor photos taken in bad lighting with an old iPhone won’t do the trick.  Investing in high-quality product photography tells your customers that you care about your image, you care about your products, and that you pay attention to details.

3.  Photos of your products in action.  Particularly if your “product” is a service like dog-walking, legal advice, or consulting.  Even though you don’t sell an object, you still need well made photos to help illustrate what you sell.  A picture of you or your staff in action, a photo of the tools you use to get the job done, or a photo of the space in which you work may help illustrate your product.  Again, we are a visual culture and prospective clients look for photos that say something about you and your business.  I like these photos I took of my friend Carolyn Kraut for her business Hands of Time Concierge Services.  Doesn’t she look busy and efficient?

 
4.  Headshots of your staff; particularly those with whom your customers interact.  Especially for small businesses that cater to local clients, including photos of your staff on your website helps make your business feel human, approachable, and likeable.  And once again, no Facebook profile pictures here.  Show your clients that you care about quality and make sure the photos are presentable, sharp, and uncluttered. I love the way that the Haley House Bakery and Cafe in Boston displays their staff headshots.  They look like a diverse, fun, and interesting group of people – exactly the image that Haley House is conveying to the world.

5.  Photos of customers enjoying your products and services.  When I am a prospective customer, browsing websites of restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and salons, I want to know what it feels like to be a customer.  So why not include a few shots of happy people enjoying what your business has to offer?  If you can afford to, stay away from stock photos here – unique photos specific to your offerings will go a long way in illustrating the satisfaction you provide your customers. For the Cambridge Brewing Company, I photographed one of their annual events to get shots of their beer, food, and ambiance.  Photos like this give your customers a sense of who you are.

I especially hoped that I’d find a woman business-owner who would be my mentor, since I think women face different challenges than men in the business word (and in the commercial photography world.)  I made a lot of phone calls, I had informational interviews, went to networking events, joined groups on LinkedIn, and reached out to as many other women business-owners as I could find.

Unfortunately, nothing really stuck.  I didn’t find anyone who I felt like I truly clicked with – who I really believed would be a “trusted counselor.”  After all, most of the women I met were themselves struggling to keep their businesses going, to navigate the man’s world of commercial photography, and to retain their clients in a difficult market.  After a year of trying really hard to find a mentor, I still had nothing.

Then a friend suggested I check out SCORE Boston, a free program run by the Small Business Administration, in which you are assigned a counselor (or in my case 2) with whom you meet regularly to discuss your business.  My counselors, Paul and Howard, are both retired from the world of commerce, each having achieved great success in their careers.  They help me set goals, analyze my finances, develop marketing strategies, and build client lists.  They have helped me with my website, my pricing structure, my promotional materials.  I meet with them once every one or two months for an hour and their insight has become invaluable.  That makes 2 great mentors.

Still in my quest for a female mentor, though, I stumbled upon Ali Brown who is an uber-successful business coach and, although occasionally a little too self-aggrandizing for me, a great inspiration.  To work with her directly costs thousands of dollars (she lives a luxurious lifestyle in Southern California), but to access lots of great information on her website is FREE!  She offers positive, realistic advice to women entrepreneurs.   Her resources help keep me on track and keep me going.  Even though Ali doesn’t even know I exist, I still consider her one of my mentors.

Additionally, along my way, I joined the ASMP, an association for professional photographers (again desperate to reach out to people and build my network.)  Though I hadn’t found much of interest from ASMP, this winter they launched a mentoring program (um, hello!) called Mutual Mentoring Groups.  You’re assigned a group of 5 other photographers – all different from you – with whom you meet twice a month.  During those meetings, everyone gets the chance to talk about a challenge or a success or whatever is on their mind and get feedback from the group.  I am in a wonderful group with a diverse range of talent.  We’ve had 3 meetings so far and another one on Monday.  It’s so comforting to know that I have a dedicated group of people, within my industry, who I can talk to.  These people get it, they have been there, and they have new ideas for facing the same challenges.

Finally, as I continue to grow as an event photographer, I have begun building a relationship with one of Boston’s premiere event photographers.  He actually approached me after attending an event that I was photographing.  He complimented me on my work and said that he’d like to help be get better.  Um, okay.  I said, “Yes, I will show you my work and accept your feedback if it will help me become a better photographer, reach more clients, and cover larger events.”  I can tell that he is going to be a great mentor and will offer a lot of insight specific to event photography, which is exactly what I need.

So here I am, in my third year of business, finally finding myself surrounded with talented, experienced, and professional mentors.  I have different mentors for different aspects of my business.  I have people I can call, email, websites full of resources, and regular opportunities to discuss the challenges of having your own business.  Like I said, if you don’t already have a mentor – no matter what field you’re in – consider reaching out to some people and finding one.  Finding great mentors does take work, but it truly pays off in the end.

I am so proud to be part of this campaign and so proud to be promoting the value of diversity.  And, while I don’t talk about my personal life much on my blog or even with my clients, I am very happy to be including a self-portrait of my wife and I for the Wheelock exhibit.  Below is a shot of our little family of 2.  Stay tuned for the exhibit to open at Wheelock in April.

The best part of the last three years has been seeing how my business evolved – and continues to do so – as I learned new things, met new clients, garnered new assignments, and found new passions.  After hundreds of photo shoots with dozens of clients, I have learned that I am most comfortable and happy and successful when I am photographing events.  Large ones, small ones, sappy ones, corporate ones, mission-driven ones. It really doesn’t matter to me what the event is, but I love that I get to interact with people all day and evening long.  I get to be part of a really big and important day – whether it’s someone’s wedding, an organization’s annual fundraiser, or a long-planned conference.  I get to learn new things; while I shoot, I listen to speakers, watch performances, hear about fabulous organizations and their work around the country.  I love the fast-pace and every-changing nature of event photography.  And I love working with clients to help them tell the story of their big day through beautiful photos.

This, in 2012, my goal is to shoot more corporate and non-profit events, to follow this passion, and build this sector of my business.  I’ll still be doing lots of weddings, food and restaurant work, and lots of portraits, too!  But the one thing you may NOT see on my website is family and baby portraits.  This is a piece of my business that I have decided to downplay for a little while to make room for more event work.  I still love working with families – and especially little ones! – and will gladly take the jobs when they come along, but for the next 6 months or so, I will be devoting more marketing space and time to event photography.

Of course, you can still find my family portrait photographs here.  Please let me know if you’re interested in family photographs and I can gladly send you more information, more samples, and a price list.  In the meantime, though, if you know of anyone looking for an event photographer, I hope that you’ll send them my way!

Thanks for reading and for being part of this journey of my business!  Can’t wait to see what comes up next…