Lessons

Lesson Info

Become a Recognized Newborn Photographer

people say oh marketing marketing marketing it can't market my one move well because nobody knows who you are so what I ask everybody I'm gonna ask you all really quick if I went to your town and ask somebody about the photographer something that you specialize in you know to tell me what your specialty is but I'm a new person in town and I need whatever you're offering would they know who you are yes or no no no no no some but not off I asked the audience that too I'm a new person coming to your town I need photography well they say your name anyone say your name well anyone knew who you are and if the answer is no why why nineteen ninety nine I left new york to go to california and get married I we went out cross country the weekend before we got married I remember my youngest brother going you're never gonna make it in california that's what brothers are for right I keep trying to tell my daughters your brother loves you he does I remember my youngest brother going it's just not gon...

na happen you're a new yorker you talk fast you walk fast like you're just californians are they're slower they vacation a lot it's not gonna work well I can always come home you know I don't think I'm banned from new york forever but I came out here that weekend and then literally I hadn't lived together lived with my husband we lived in separate places moving truck went there when they're put us in one place we went out to sedona arizona got married I went to mexico for our honeymoon and came back and here I am my husband was travelling at the time three weeks out of four so it was like I love you thanks for marrying me bob so I by myself all by myself no girlfriends I did not even know how to pump gas because in new york you pull in and they pump your gas and I remember going on needs home I have to go wake my husband came home to figure it out and so I had a day job and I'm gonna talk to the people that have day jobs to in all of this that our working photography part time because I had a day job and I was very comfortable I was making over eighty thousand dollars a year is a web designer with bonus and I was doing photography as on the side but I have been doing photography for a long time and it was just what I do it was just kind of who I am I'm aunt anna with the camera that's my title that was my title okay so I come to california and no one knows who I am so imagine that you spend your whole life and this I know many of you can relate especially people that are in the military wives and you know you travel a lot I've heard this a lot like you're just dumped in a town good luck and so how are you going to share your talent with the world who who are you and what do you do and why so one of the very first thing I did was personal field trip and I tell you no I mentor photographers I have a private forum the tie open forum where we mentor photographers all over the world and I say this all the time have you went out and done a personal field trip in your town and I'm gonna tell you what it is new also we're going to tell me you're on the hot seat today this is like my last day with you so I'm gonna ask you if you've done this too so think about what I'm going to say so I'm in a new town what's the first thing I need to know I need to know where to get gas I need to know where to buy milk right I need to know why no one gave me a tour and so I went out in my town and I found all the basics once I found all the basics I have my day job and I have nothing to do in my spare time so I started looking where are the photographer's number one where are they and I drove around there was one studio in town and it was this double deck story thing and I remember driving over and over and staring at the studio like wow it might as well been the white house like I'll never know what what I don't even know what's behind those doors I had never been photographed in a professional studio in my life ever I don't even know what you do in there so that was that was big I looked him up looked on the internet that they have a web page they had a web presence they made books wow books they made handmade books with thorne edges with photos I remember going oh my gosh I need a book and I and went to a friend's wedding and my gift to her was a wedding book from that company and it took me six months with negatives and prints I didn't even know how to do above I didn't even know photo books existed and that was like wow I'm going to just make a book many times I talked to photographers I might give you ever made a book know why I don't have enough enough images I don't this sentiment excuses excuses excuses excuses let's get back to my personal field trip so I ended up with giving her this book I sent it to my friend back in new york jersey she was but anyway so I got my part time so I'm looking for the photographers I found one I did not find a soul's another studio that was one then now I'm looking for magazines now I'm not a mom I don't know what mom's read but I know okay moms they have children they have to read children family magazines this is my thought process every store I can think of I'm just grabbing the magazine and the first thing I'm looking for is I go to the back to look for ads are there any photographers in these ads I did that ok that's part of my field trip next my field trip isn't on the internet I'm a web designer I mean I started designing web page I was twenty four years old so is before googles before a lot of what's going on I'm searching I think whatever's thesis search engine was at the time and I'm searching looking for photography groups I found a couple of online was like one online for my love photography dot com I think at the time I also did hand coloring in my spare time I hand color black and white photos so I created a website called hand colored dot com and made my own little presents and started networking with photographers all over the world who did hand coloring and there began began my research so my personal field trip was local where the photographers where the moms where are the mom's shopping for their kids I'm looking for party places I'm looking for baby stores I'm looking for baby boutiques there were no baby boutiques of the time they're only like big box stores I'm going in all these personal field trips and I'm literally like a researcher these air the ads I'm calling the magazines how much do these ads cost and I'm looking up any photographers that I see place ads how much do they cost I'm searching photography groups I joined a woman's photography group I joined p p a I drink peopie o c I joined ppc I joined every california affiliate group I could afford and pay the dues and I paid the payment plan on people that I still do fourteen years later it's still payment by and just stick with it because I needed to inspire myself and into motivate myself I had no vision for where I was going to me I was right then there and now nobody knows who I am no one knows who I am so how do they find out who I am is it because I think I'm so great everybody needs to know who I am no it's because I have something I have to offer not that I want to offer I have to offer I've been telling you over these past two days I have to do photography with every core of my being I have to do it what does that mean that means as you do every step it takes to lead you in that direction who's done a personal field trip keep in mind that my personal field trip did just not stay in huntington beach california which was where I well first let extended into newport currents omar laguna beach and in extended within about I think I went about forty five minutes I didn't go too far because I was kind of scared to drive from california on get lost I mean times my husband like where are you anna I don't know he goes you're almost to mexico okay I will turn around I didn't know that the five freeway went to mexico let me turn around he's so happy now that we have the phone because he contract me on the phone because he's routinely like I'm like I don't know him divider why are you in the divider anna you can't sit in the divider on the highway between the five and the four if I can't do that personal field trip have you done it no it's killing me yes yes yes well yes I've been mentoring this one sort of sort of yes yes bravo I don't know that I've called it a field trip but I am a researcher by nature good so I have been researching that good and you've done it locally by foot means you get your car and you get out walking stores it's not quite fair I've lived in this area all my life so so you know yeah I know it good and you well I just moved from boston to new hampshire is so it's a much smaller community yes I've been to consignment stores and places where kids here salons and just kind of exploring good good I wouldn't talk about the network and be everywhere real quickly and tell you uh to second story zan if you're watching zan was one of my very first assistance forever ago and I remember when she was working with me and she knew I needed I just feel like it had to be everywhere infor started working with me she was working in my spare bedroom I remember her cutting wallets on the bed going are you ever gonna get a place of your own probably not just let's cut while it's on the bed so you don't need a studio to have an assistant by the way I've had assistance sit on the floor organized photos so I remember she knew I was obsessed I have to like just be everywhere and she she left thiss the studio that I didn't have and when and worked for a local lab and I remember her calling me have going you're gonna love this I'm like yeah and she goes so she's working behind the counter at the lab and she knows your name keeps coming up keeps coming up now I had moved at this time we moved from huntington beach to tustin what happens no one knows who I am in tustin now I'm twenty minutes inland I'm starting all over again you know if you know anything about california but if you're at the beach you have no idea what's going on in the wind and if you're in lee you've no idea what's going on on the beach even though it's twenty minutes away and so I'm starting all over again but it had only been like not even two years so I'm still in my mode and I'm like I gotta go I gotta go intestine I gotta do my field trips in tustin I was obsessed I'm like every store that camera store was a little dinky camera store intestine every place I'm in consignment you name that place I'm in there and it's very important to say that they're already photographers in there and I never step in another photographer's toes ever so just I just want to let you know if you go in someplace there's another photographer talk network mingle take a back seat say if something ever happens that photographer's unable I'm your girl have said that about five times each time I've gotten the call can you please help me out we had many sessions of our photographer bailed it was from hush baby can you please help me out baby style we need to go you know with the photographer in the store and the other ones you know so you khun b there is a backup but don't ever overstep okay so she says every time someone comes in there like anna brandt thing I this photographer comes in she's a local photographer tested her turf and she like put her things in the counter she's like I see that girl's name everywhere and sands like just wanted you to know it's working and I was like yes and the photographer wasn't saying in a very nice way she's like damn that girl she everywhere and apparently the first studio I had gotten she had wanted and I think she looked at it but I signed the lease I didn't know and so it was just like I think I was like two steps ahead of her each time and every time she went to go see something off course anna's there because I was not sleeping it was everywhere I was everywhere and network I networked I joined those women's groups it was so intimidating the first the first meeting I went to everybody had easels and they have there biggest sample of their work I've never printed anything bigger than an eight by ten just for my portfolio I didn't need thio besides for my house I mean I never really professionally and I remember seeing being in a room and seeing things like this and going oh my gosh how do you do that and I remember wanting to touch I would be like this like what is that made off because I didn't know and I was afraid to ask and I was so scared and I was just so quiet I just and I remember being in this photographer studio they'd studio shares every month it was a meeting in another person's studio and I had never really been in any and I remember looking at this photographer's students had a thing like this and I remember shoes in laguna beach looking and I was touching and everyone was mingling and this was me and I was like wow and then I looked up and I panicked because there was a loft and someone was watching me and almost started crying and I left early I just couldn't take it I needed to know more but I was so afraid to ask them so afraid to network and so afraid to talk to people so I just showed my meaning I would say I went back and I would just listen everything and I would just go home my husband say did you meet any friends many friends no one only friends wanting friends and my friends back home I don't have any friends but that's okay I'm just gonna absorb but I'm just gonna keep learning and my friends came out and visit me and my family came and visited me and didn't really have any friends except for my my husband's college friends wise and so my cups okay I'm good me need photographer friends I'm good I'm just consent the corner and just try and touch things