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06/13/2004 05:15:12 PM · #1 |
I have a question for those of you who do charge for portraits. How do you get clients? Just by word of mouth? How do you advertise yourself? Once you find someone who is interested (assuming you don't have an actualy pro studio), how do you show them your work? Do you have a hard portfolio you show them? I really don't have much portrait experience and I'd like to get some but I'm afraid that when I approach someone and tell them a photographer they're gonna ask to see my work and if I don't have anything to show, they'll just blow me off. Any advice?
June
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06/13/2004 05:48:04 PM · #2 |
Family and friends can be good guinea pigs. :-)
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06/13/2004 05:54:25 PM · #3 |
I decided to commit to learning portrait photography by trial and error. About three weeks ago I started a project that I'm calling 100 faces in 100 days. My mission is to find a new face to shoot every day. Most people are very willing, and at worst I've had to offer up a free print if any turn out well. After three months I'll have had a ton of practice, and will have built a decent portfolio of faces.
Soon I will be posting the project on the web as well, and people seem pretty excited to see their face showcased when their time comes.
Since I started the project, I've scored about a half dozen paying jobs just through talking about it, and that's only in the last three weeks.
That wasn't really my goal, but it's been a nice byproduct of a really fun project.
Good luck,
Pedro |
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06/13/2004 06:03:12 PM · #4 |
June-
You could try to build a hard portfolio by using friends and family as "guinea pigs". I imagine that you are right about getting blown off with no work to show. It would be good to have a product to show, and you could get some more experience. You could also just approach people, say at a park, or somewhere similar, and try asking them to do some portraits at the park, in exchange for a print, or something like that. Then you would get more print samples, and gain more experience that way. Another thing that you could do is find someone that has a studio and does portrait work, explain your situation, and see if you could watch him/her do some shoots. Or, even better, get a part time job helping at a studio. That would give you some insight into studio lighting and portrait work. Sometimes, you can rent studios from people or businesses also. About getting clients, word of mouth is a good way to start. Tell everyone you know what you are getting into, and let them do the rest! Getting in contact with other photographers (networking) will help, also. It will probably spread like wildfire, and once you get a good portfolio, you should be well on your way! I would read books on portrait work also. About that "person" that may be interested, use them as I said above, offer to do a shoot at the price of a print, until you get more established in the portrait arena. My best advice is to treat it like a business, you are trying to sell a product, and proceed from there.
-Danielle
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06/13/2004 07:51:11 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by Pedro:
I decided to commit to learning portrait photography by trial and error. About three weeks ago I started a project that I'm calling 100 faces in 100 days. My mission is to find a new face to shoot every day. Most people are very willing, and at worst I've had to offer up a free print if any turn out well. After three months I'll have had a ton of practice, and will have built a decent portfolio of faces.
Soon I will be posting the project on the web as well, and people seem pretty excited to see their face showcased when their time comes.
Since I started the project, I've scored about a half dozen paying jobs just through talking about it, and that's only in the last three weeks.
That wasn't really my goal, but it's been a nice byproduct of a really fun project.
Good luck,
Pedro |
Sounds like a cool idea. I look foward to seeing the results.
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06/13/2004 08:42:00 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Pedro:
I decided to commit to learning portrait photography by trial and error. About three weeks ago I started a project that I'm calling 100 faces in 100 days. My mission is to find a new face to shoot every day. Most people are very willing, and at worst I've had to offer up a free print if any turn out well. After three months I'll have had a ton of practice, and will have built a decent portfolio of faces.
Soon I will be posting the project on the web as well, and people seem pretty excited to see their face showcased when their time comes.
Since I started the project, I've scored about a half dozen paying jobs just through talking about it, and that's only in the last three weeks.
That wasn't really my goal, but it's been a nice byproduct of a really fun project.
Good luck,
Pedro |
might i suggest you publish you idea in a book and sell it to others that may be looking for a way to start such as you did. plus that name should be copywrited for your protection incase you do every want to publish it. |
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06/13/2004 10:22:08 PM · #7 |
| I just got a card in my mailbox - Very nicely printed with the name of a photographer, a web link, the type of family portraits he does etc. Very classy. Unfortunately he has attatched a sample photo which just wasn't very good. And his web link doesn't exist. |
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06/15/2004 11:53:27 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by notonline:
might i suggest you publish you idea in a book and sell it to others that may be looking for a way to start such as you did. plus that name should be copywrited for your protection incase you do every want to publish it. |
I've actually considered that. The book, not the copyright. thanks for that. I'll have to see if it's worth printing when it's done :)
I'll post a link once the project commences online.
P |
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