Real Kid Niche: In Living Color Overview
Lesson 16 from: Find Your Niche and Build Your Family Photography BusinessJulia Kelleher
Real Kid Niche: In Living Color Overview
Lesson 16 from: Find Your Niche and Build Your Family Photography BusinessJulia Kelleher
Lessons
Class Introduction
07:11 2Marketplace Analogy for Family Photography
12:28 3Mistakes Photographers Make
08:52 4Benefits of Creating a Niche Family “Look”
02:50 5Create a Unique Experience & Product
17:33 6How to Stay on Brand
12:04 7Defining Your Style
25:58 8Modern Family Niche Shoot Overview
20:43Equipment for Success
05:18 10Shoot: Modern Family on Seamless
09:52 11Shoot: High-key Look for Modern Family
10:51 12Shoot: Low-key Look for Modern Family
10:38 13Soulful Siblings Niche: Black & White Portrait Overview
06:21 14Shoot: Light & Fresh Black & White Portrait
22:10 15Shoot: Dramatic & High Contrast Black & White
30:19 16Real Kid Niche: In Living Color Overview
04:12 17Shoot: Colorful Portrait
14:48 18Shoot: Capture Authentic Children Images
08:19 19Learn From Your Mistakes
10:06 20Marketing and Promoting Your Niche Family Sessions
13:31 21Defining Your Ideal Client
10:07 22What Is a Brand?
08:46 23Top Five Promotion Strategies
20:25 24Create Client Experiences
11:06Lesson Info
Real Kid Niche: In Living Color Overview
So Real Kids is just that, it's kids being absolutely crazy, okay? It's kids dressing the way they want, being themselves, blowing a fan on them and producing a product that has a modern, clean, colorful edge. I typically do these in either metal prints or acrylic. I love the acrylics from Miller's, as a matter of fact, I just started ordering them. They're very clean, fresh, they have the metal post mount around the edges, they float away from the wall, you can light them from behind and they look really amazing. So what I do is I let the crazy fly. I have the child bring in things that are sentimental to them. A fan is great here because they get all kind of excited when the fan blows, they really do, they love it. And of course I fulfill most of this through Miller's lab since they have the products that I love so much, but this is generally free lighting, okay? What is free lighting? Free lighting means it's It's not a true term, it's my term, okay? Just the caveat there, that's wh...
y I put it in quotes. "Free Lighting" is essentially following a child with a large light source so that they're always within the wall of light, does that make sense? What we're looking for here is kinda that crazy connection I call it. It's kids being nuts and just like being the way they are at this time period in their lives. So again the pre-consultation is absolutely critical. I ask my clients: what mood do you wanna convey in your portraits? Do you love color or black and white? What makes your child engaged, what makes them laugh? What TV shows do they love? Any crazy habits? I ask them things like what are they afraid of, what worries them? This is particularly good for the soulful siblings pre-consult. What are those naughty things that your child does? What gets them in trouble? What gets them in a time out? I wanna know these things. Describe instances where you child gets full of emotion. What happens when your child gets full of emotion? What triggers that? What are they attached to right now, are they attached to any lovies, a binky, a pacifier? Is your child naturally shy or outgoing? The key to these sessions, you guys, is the experience for the client. Truly. And specifically the experience for the parents because they're watching. And let me tell you when they see their kid get crazy and have fun, they are emotionally attached to these images. Because their child chose the outfit, their child's lovey, binky, that they're so attached to right now, their child's crazy, and then they see them having fun and getting to do something that's kind of out of the norm. Most of the time when you come for a family portrait, it's the perfectly dressed thing, everybody matching, mamma picks the clothes, yada, yada, yada. Well, no. I am telling parents uh uh. Your child gets to pick. So they come in crazy stuff and that's what's so fun. The key to this is a clean, fresh background. I typically shoot it on a light, mid gray. So in other words I take my white, I light it very gently and then that seven-foot octabank is just all over so we can catch wherever they're gonna be, okay? You can either do a kinda over the head like we've been doing, or you can do it kind of on the side and letting them roll around within that window of light. Okay, the key here is a huge modifier because you're literally making a huge window is what you're doing, okay? You do have to be a little careful when you do it overhead to avoid the raccoon eye thing, the shadows in the eyes. There is a place on the background where things work really well. For this session I'm gonna have Belinda come in and help me a lot more because she will kinda help me place the child. It's a lot of running around, okay? Sometimes it can be, other times kids are a little more mellow, but it just depends on the child. We're gonna get the fan and let the fan blow on their hair so that they and then engage them. Lots of smile, thoughts of fun, lots of faces. Little bit nuts, okay?
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with RSVP
Ratings and Reviews
Courtney Ranck-Copher
I own I think all of Julia's classes. This is probably my favorite. I will say that it's because its exactly the type of photography I have been wanting to focus on. So the information was extremely valuable to me. But I do love all of Julia's classes and you can learn so much from her as a mentor regardless of the type of portraits you shoot. Thanks Julia for a wonderful class I have watched it multiple times!
JennMercille
As always, Julia never disappoints! It has been so awesome to watch her work with such incredible intention, from concept to session to sales. Her energy and strategy are so motivational and very, very creative! This class rocks from start to finish, and is a perfect addition to my Creative Live business arsenal! Five stars all the way!!!!!
Amy Vaughn
My favorite part was seeing how Julia's business evolved over time and transformed into what it is today. Good tips for finding inspiration to develop a niche and practical marketing advice. I'm glad I took this alongside Tamara's business class - the two photographers had very different approaches to their business and shooting family photography in many ways, but it really illustrators how there's no one way to do everything. I learned so much from both of them.