portrait photography

Happy Thanksgiving from Lush Albums

November 26, 2015 Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends here in the US!

For many, today is a day of reflection, gratitude and giving. We wanted to say thank you for visiting Lush Albums and for your support to building a more eco-friendly and sustainable album, also for believing in our commitment to Beautiful Together and for supporting families of all kinds.

To show you our thanks, we have a few specials to share from our trusted partners Fundy Design Software & Tamara Lackey Photography for the Holiday weekend.

FUNDY DESIGN SOFTWARE

Fundy Designer’s Black Friday sale will be the biggest this year! Get unbelievable deals on Album Builder, Gallery Designer, Blog Collage and Image Brander from 11/26-11/30 only: fundydesigner.com/store

TAMARA LACKEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Kids Posing Playbook is $30 off with code: BLACKFRIDAYTLP30

Family Posing Playbook is $5 off of current sale with code: BLACKFRIDAYTLP5

How Using Email Effectively Can Help Grow Your Portrait Photography Business

November 19, 2015 1 Comment

We, as photographers, might tell our clients’ stories through pictures, but written and verbal communications are also essential to the work we do. Without top-notch verbal communication skills, we couldn’t put our clients at ease to capture them at their best. Those initial emails with a prospective client or the prompt follow-up email to a repeat customer can build and sustain a thriving business.

Connecticut-based photographer, Anna Sawin, has been helping other photographers compose effective emails since her days as a public relations officer, and she took time with us to explain how email can be used to efficiently grow a photography business.

Who are you and what do you do?

After years of writing speeches and letters for executives in higher education and the pharmaceutical world, I now spend my days photographing families and weddings on the New England shoreline.

But with my background in communications, I had become the unofficial go-to letter writer for my photographer friends and their sticky client situations. Penning these kinds of letters on a regular basis told me there was a need for my first product, the Wedding Photographer’s Inbox Solution. Adding those email templates to my own collection of photographer’s marketing materials, workflows, questionnaires and client correspondence grew into the launch of Pencil & Lens.

After launching products aimed at wedding photographers, the portrait photographers got in touch. They wanted their inbox solution too! It was my great pleasure to release the Portrait Photographer’s Inbox Solution, Volume 1 this fall. It’s a digital download collection of more than 30 email templates for the portrait photographer, from first inquiry to file delivery. I plan to follow up with Volume 2 and 3 in the winter months, dealing with some of the stickier client questions we all face as portrait photographers, from pricing to reshoots to RAW files and more.

Why do you think using email effectively can help grow your portrait photography business?

As a business owner, your success and reputation is influenced by the style, quality and grace of your client communication. None of us became photographers so we could answer an endless stream of emails from clients, relatives of clients and wedding vendors, but…they keep coming. And they all need a prompt, courteous and well-written response. Future clients will judge our words before they’ve met us, and in some cases, before they’ve seen a single image.

And if you only photograph pets and you get an inquiry for wedding photography? Well, if you’ve answered them quickly and courteously, they might just remember you and your exceptional customer service when it comes time for their puppy portraits.

You’ve all had the experience of a client saying “Great job today!” before they’ve seen a single frame, right? Because you wowed them with your professionalism, your on-the-spot problem solving and your ability to make it easy and comfortable for them, right? You might not even have had a memory card in your camera, but they’re ready to write you a positive review because of how you made them feel about you and your business. Writing professional email messages is the same thing. Since so much of our communication with clients happens via the written word, well-written words are one the best tools a portrait photographer can use to promote and grow their business.

Can you give us an example of a snippet or a story where email saved a client relationship?

A classic example of how an email can help save a client relationship might be the “more for less” client. You know the one. Perhaps you offer 15-minute mini-sessions designed for that one awesome holiday card photo, and your language clearly speaks to this kind of session as best for kiddos over 2. But then once mom has booked the appointment, she casually mentions she’ll also be looking for “just a few” newborn shots during this outdoor mini-session in November, oh, and the family dog is coming as well.

An email response to her here will do three things:

Manage her expectations about what you can reasonably accomplish in the current terms of the session;
Advise her on her choices to resolve her ambitious goals (i.e., schedule a separate session for the newborn, book a double mini-session or a full session to accommodate the extra requests) and;
Remind her firmly and graciously that you are the expert. In other words, you aren’t willing to wing it, you know how this will turn out if you let her show up with unrealistic expectations, and you are kindly advising her on what will and will not work.

Can you give an example of a tough situation faced by a portrait photographer that may be answered by having an email template?

Sure—a really common one that comes up with repeat customers is when you’ve raised your prices. Having a graceful way to say it can make things go far more smoothly with your future relationship with this client.

Another scenario would be about dissatisfaction—perhaps the client doesn’t like how he or she looks, or how the children look in the photos. Addressing and validating their concerns with both email correspondence and verbal communication can go a long way towards solving the problem.

Thank you, Anna, for these very insightful and thoughtful points!

If you’re ready to answer all those emails clogging your inbox or you need to reach out to a prospective client, check out Anna’s email templates for download on her Pencil & Lens website.

And feel free to contact us for your album needs, we love to communicate by email as well! 🙂

Fun Photo Manipulations – A Guest Post from Monica Day

November 10, 2015 1 Comment

We are so honored to have Monica of Monica Day Photography share her fun photo manipulations tutorial on the blog today!

Have you seen these crazy caricature photos around? I posted one on my social media accounts and people went crazy! I decided to share how I did this. This is something fun I like to do every now and then. As with anything, there are TONS of ways to do this. I’ll show you my way which I think is super easy. Have fun!!

The first thing I do is start with a good, well-lit photo. You want the background to be free of distractions as well. I shot both of these photos. One is my husband that I took while he was helping me test light. The other is my passport photo. I took my own passport photo…lol. I have to say it but you should already know…use only photos that you took. Don’t manipulate another photographer’s photo unless they’ve given you permission. Also, if you’re doing this for a friend, tell them to refer to the US Passport site to figure out how to take a decent photo for this.

Here’s what these 2 photos looked like to start with:

Yes…that pic of me is awful…lol.

1. The first thing I do is open the image in Photoshop. Yes…I know you may have figured that out but I am one that likes to be thorough. I go in and remove any major blemishes. Since the final product is going to be really smooth I don’t mind going overboard on the blemish removal. I remove lines, wrinkles, etc. You also want to make sure the background is cleaned up nicely in this step. Notice that I changed the color of my background in one of the images. I do that last.

2. Now I work on my contrast. Look for highlights and shadows in the face. Your goal is to exaggerate these. Use your curves and levels to do this. Create a different layer for darks and a different layer for lights.

3. Now I smooth out the skin. I go overboard here. If you have software that smooths skin then feel free to use it. If you use actions, go for it. If you like using frequency separation then go for it. You can also do a surface blur. That’s my favorite to use in these types of photos. I like to do a surface blur after I’ve done my normal skin smoothing.

4. Here’s where the fun part starts. There’s really no rule to it. Note that if you make a fun expression you can get more dramatic effect. I like to start by enlarging the head and slimming the neck. That gives it a real cartoony caricature look. I also manipulate the eyes and the head shape.

5. Crop your image and save.

We love it! Thank you again, Monica, for sharing with us!

Did you create some fun caricatures with Monica’s tutorial? Share them with us on our Facebook page!

How to Help your Clients Choose the Right Album for Them

November 5, 2015 Leave a Comment

Purchasing a photo album as part of a professional photography session can be overwhelming for many clients. Usually, you, as the photographer, need to help guide your clients into seeing the value of having such an heirloom-worthy keepsake—especially as it exists to tell their personal story at the moment you captured.

Luckily, clients, particularly moms, are becoming more knowledgeable about the importance of getting more than just digital files. There is a meme floating around on various social media sites:

“The most photographed generation will have no pictures in 10 years.”

We think it helps clients to understand the consequences of not having printed images.

To help build your album-selling toolkit, we have 3 tips to help you find the right album for your clients.

Color Swatches

We can’t stress how important it is to have a set of color swatches on-hand for the line (or lines) of albums you will be selling. Having a printed card from the manufacturer is vital, because just printing colors off of a website may result in inaccuracies that can disappoint your client when the actual finished album comes in a shade off.

Bonus point for having a swatch set that includes actual fabric type samples. Having a tactile object for your clients to touch and handle is invaluable. You can find the full Lush Albums swatch card here.

Sample Albums

Going beyond just the swatch by having an actual sample album on hand may make the difference between a sale or not. While we highly recommend in-person sales sessions, sample albums are portable enough that you can bring them on your actual shoots. That way, when you are off spending time with part of the family, Mom can be browsing through the books to see what they look like.

Sample albums with your images are the most effective, but if you are just starting out or cost is a consideration, having a pre-designed sample album on hand still has tremendous value. Lush Albums offer pre-designed sample albums with images by Tamara Lackey for 33% off, as well as a 25% discount on ones you design yourself.

Predesign Album Pages

The hardest part for a client to translate a session into an album is when they are faced with a few hundred (or thousand) images on a computer screen. We recommend using a tool like the Fundy Album Designer to predesign album pages to show during your ordering session or before delivering full client galleries if you choose not to do an in-person (or Skype) ordering session.

Seeing the possibilities, with the understanding that they can make changes where they see fit, can solidify the desire to have this in their homes to display.

With these tools, you are equipping your clients to make the most informed decisions about whether an album would be right for them, and you can show them just how beneficial that physical reminder of their memories can truly be.

Feel free to reach out at anytime, we are happy to help you create the best way to showcase your work in Lush Albums.

Discussing Online Proofing Galleries for Photographers

October 29, 2015 1 Comment

When it comes to designing an album for your clients, one of the best ways to put it together is by giving your clients some power to decide which proofs they want. Online Proofing Galleries are great tools you can use for this task, because you and your clients can easily work together without even needing to be in the same room. We caught up with blogger, photographer, educator, and speaker Scott Wyden Kivowitz to get his take on using online proofing systems. Scott is also the “Community and Blog Wrangler” for Imagely, which creates WordPress products such the NextGEN Gallery plugin and the Photocrati Theme.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Online Proofing Gallery for Photographers”?

The first thing that comes to mind is a simple way for photographers to gather “picks” from their clients. Simple is the most important word in that statement, because there are many proofing solutions, but not all are easy or pretty for the photographer or the client.

Do you feel that online proofing is now standard and expected for photographers to offer?

I’m still an advocate for online galleries to be used in conjunction with in-person sales methodologies whenever possible. For example, wedding photographers can easily offer both in-person and online proofing options. However, with commercial and landscape photography, in-person sales sessions are far less common. No matter the genre of photography, clients expect something online. So I guess you can say it’s a standard.

What options are available?

There are two platforms that pop into my head right away. The first is for WordPress users and it’s the NextGEN Pro plugin which is made by the company I work for: Imagely. With it, photographers can offer password protected (or not) proofing galleries for clients to pick from. The photographer then receives a very easy list of the images to be found in their photo catalog software, like Lightroom.

For photographers not using WordPress, I recommend checking out ShootProof. It also offers an easy solution for proofing galleries. ShootProof is among the most popular non-WordPress solutions for proofing, and it’s easy to see why.

How are clients best served by photographers using these programs?

The best part of proofing solutions for clients is that they can do it on their own time, from the comfort of their couch or bed. They don’t have to rush into a meeting somewhere, or drive far away.They can choose what they want the photographer to do and potentially send any custom requests or notes. That’s an amazing thing.

How does having online proofing help design better albums? (Assuming you think it does!:))

Many photographers will go ahead and create an album proof for clients before the client even looks at the photographs. That’s a great tactic to sell more albums. When adding a gallery for clients to pick from, the photographer then has an opportunity to improve the album proof that was created, because the client might prefer a different photo over what was already chosen for them.

Where do you think the future of proofing for photographers is headed?

I see the proofing process getting easier and easier. I also see many photographers leaving third-party services in favor of self-hosted solutions. That’s for multiple reasons like full ownership and branding and less associated fees for the photography business to pay for.

If you want to learn more about Scott, check him out on his website at https://scottwyden.com. For more info about Imagely go to www.imagely.com.

Want more information about Lush, and how we can help you create beautiful portrait albums for your clients? Visit us on our website here!

Legal Considerations for Photographers – An interview with the LawTog®

October 15, 2015 Leave a Comment

Being a photographer isn’t always as easy as focus and shoot. We have lots of business concerns, and conflicts can arise in the course of creating and designing lasting memories for our clients. We can’t necessarily foresee all the legal problems we might have to confront; however, photographers’ legal matters are always at the top of Rachel Brenke’s mind. As a lawyer and business-school grad, Rachel is well-versed in those legal issues. She runs TheLawTog®, the only comprehensive legal resource for photographers. She met up with us recently to dispense some really great legal advice for running a creative-focused business.

What do you think is the biggest legal consideration that photographers are missing?

Three layers of protection: Contracts, business formation and insurance. Each of these tools do offer some protection, but they work best in layers.

First, having proper lawyer-drafted contracts help inform customers of policies, provide hurdles to any issues a customer may have, and will provide a legal document to reference in situations.

Next, you have a layer of a liability insurance. By having this layer, you can hand-off clients to the [insurance] company to resolve any liability issues that arise. This frees you up to focus on your business and (hopefully) reduce costs to extinguish “fires.”

The core layer is business formation choice. For example, choosing a limited liability company divides the business and personal assets for protection. With the formation at the core, if customers get through the last two layers, they must engage in a legal transaction, such as court or mediation, for a resolution.

What legal questions do you get asked the most from photographers?

What type of contract do I need? How do I register a copyright? How do I deal with clients not wanting to sign a model release?

Are there legal considerations to think about when designing and selling an album?

Albums are an extremely expensive cost and should be protected as much as possible. I recommend an album design agreement that will give the client expectations and control within your desired business policies. Album design agreements set the requirements for the number of images included, how long the spreads will take to design, client proof approval, and the scheduled delivery of an album for approval.

Are there legal considerations to think about when conducting in-person sales?

There are legal considerations when conducting in-person sales sessions. These include protecting your sale with final-sale verbiage. While in-person sales aren’t typically subject to cooling-off laws, clients might still end up with buyers’ remorse, and final sale language on an invoice can force a client to make the decision there, instead of committing to a purchase and then changing their mind.

What do you think is the most important thing for portrait photographers to consider before working with clients?

Photographers need to be mindful of what is included in the portrait contract with their clients.There are photography-specific provisions that need to be addressed. At a minimum, your contract should include the specifics of the transaction, including parties’ names, your name, the monetary exchange and the promised product to be given in exchange for the funds. If someone is a minor, you must have their parent or guardian sign the document or else the contract is null.[As for] a cancellation policy, this works to protect yourself and your time, and it informs your clients ahead of time of their options if they need to cancel. Informing someone of this policy after the fact can lead to a bad taste in their mouth; we don’t want to mess with word-of-mouth marketing.

Same with cancellations, let clients know your late policy. There’s no right or wrong policy. Just be consistent!

Outline all expectations, including turn around time, guarantee of quality of product, how and when products will be delivered, and how long they have to order.

For ”Do not edit/reproduce,’‘ this section can probably go under the “copyright” section; however, I find it important in today’s technology age to break it out to emphasize importance. Everyone has editing programs at their fingertips, and even changing a Facebook profile picture and using the crop tool constitutes editing a photograph and compromising the integrity of the photograph as the artist intended it. Many clients confuse copyright/print release and may honestly (or dishonestly) believe they have the right to edit their photographs because they are in them. Maintaining copyright ownership and explicitly spelling this out will nip any potential issues in the bud. Further, outlining that scanning a photograph also violates copyright law may prevent this situation.

Your copyright clause can release the copyright from you to the client. If you transfer the copyright by contract, the photograph no longer belongs to you. In fact, in these cases the photographer can technically never use the photographs without the client’s permission! It is important to ensure there is a provision to protect your artistic property and keep your copyright intact.

The Model release is signed by the subject (or parent or guardian) of a photograph granting permission to publish the photograph in one form or another, typically for marketing and portfolio materials.*This is especially true for minors.

The Substitute Photographer clause is imperative – mostly for wedding photographers — because life happens! You want to have a second or substitute shooter take your place in the event of an emergency. I personally emphasize this to my brides.

Interested in learning more about Rachel, or maybe getting a little legal advice? You can find her at www.thelawtog.com.

Need help with the other stuff, like creating a beautifully designed album? Contact us on the Lush website!

How Sample Albums can help Kick-Start your Busy Season

October 2, 2015 Leave a Comment

The crazy season for photographers is fast approaching, which means you’ll have plenty to keep you busy during the family holiday portrait rush. November and December photo sessions are usually focused on clients who are looking to create holiday cards, but those sessions are also a good time for you to sell albums.

Having sample albums on hand to show when you meet with your clients is a great way to inspire them to turn these photo sessions into yearly keepsakes where they can commemorate their growing families in a tangible and beautiful way.

Having sample albums to show means that your families can see and feel what an expertly arranged and beautifully designed finished product looks like. But we know that, with the upcoming holiday rush, having extra time to put together a totally original sample book can be a formidable task. With this in mind, we have options that will speed up the process so that you’ll have sample albums ready for your clients to see when they arrive at their shoots.

If you don’t have enough images to create a sample album yet, don’t worry. Lush has a ready-made sample option for you:

· Already designed

· Features photos by Tamara Lackey

· Ships within 24 hours

· 33% discount

The second option is a sample album you design yourself, which is perfect if you already have lots of images you’re ready to display for clients.

· Use the Fundy Design software.

· Arrange your own images.

· 25% discount

· Get the sample in about two weeks.

· Each book has the word sample imprinted on the back cover.

It’s not too late!

Having a Lush Album sample album in hand to showcase during the session or when the client is ordering will go a long way to further your sales. Check out the Lush Album sample page for more information about ordering, or contact us with any questions. We are happy to help!