Lessons
Class Introduction
10:48 2What is Meaningful Lifestyle Family Photography?
15:37 3Settings for Shoots
10:50 4Light, Composition & Location
10:47 5Settings Q&A
08:54 6Why Connection is Important
15:11 7Connection Q&A
09:36 8Session Experience
10:43Marketing Strategy for Lifestyle Family Photography
09:34 10Family Preparation
14:11 11How to Get to Know Families Fast
12:22 12The Actual Shoot
08:10 13Considerations for a Photograph
11:43 14The Family Session Workflow
07:38 15Shoot: Start Standing
05:49 16Shoot: Money Shot & Siblings
05:08 17Shoot: Time to be Seated
06:41 18Shoot: Portrait of Each Child
02:09 19Shoot: Laying Down
04:25 20Shoot: Mom & Dad Alone with Child
06:50 21Shoot: Movement Poses & Everyone in The Frame
04:07 22Shoot: Parents Together & Mom Alone
04:40 23Additional Shoot Considerations
04:38 24Review Images from Shoot
07:17 25Shoot Q&A
08:23 26Pricing & Business Strategy
21:15 27My Editing Strategy
04:54 28How to Cull Images
03:44 29Outsourcing Post Production
12:53 30Image Gallery Delivery
08:42 31Pricing & Business Q&A
11:00 32Finalize The Client Experience
05:20Lesson Info
Image Gallery Delivery
When you are an online-based business, like I am, like I'm telling you guys, everything I do is online. So when we were talking about the client education, it's all on my website. When we're talking about communication, it's all on my website. Everything is online for me. Why? It's easy. Okay I don't wanna have to talk to someone one the phone, I don't have time. And I don't wanna be sending out welcome packages that are solid. And I just want it all to be online. So when everything is online, your gallery presentation is really important. So you want this digital experience to be really beautiful, right? So I use, here I am giving you another person that I use and love so very much, I use ShootProof. They are my gallery delivery vendor of choice. They sponsor me too, I will say that. But they are incredible. And the reason that I really love them is because, and we can go to my computer, is because they're very on-brand for me. So oops, I'm trying to. I was learning all these little t...
ricks. Okay so this is my ShootProof gallery. And you can customize this, there's different ways that you can make the gallery look. And then when they get in to see their photos, it is this grid option, is one that they have, so I just wanna show you and this is another opportunity for you to see a full gallery from me, another giant one. This family came all the way from North Carolina to see me and so I loved on them hard. I gave them lots of images, we had an amazing session. But if they're gonna come from North Carolina, right? I was gonna give them all this. I mean can you imagine being all well, I think you should choose this one or this one. Like, no way. Never gonna happen for me. So this is a giant gallery I'm showing ya. And it's very on-brand for me. But this is a very fun and pleasurable experience for the viewer 'cause they can kinda see them all. And then if they want to click on one, they can do this, and the internet may not be super fast in here. And they can start going through it this way. So it's pretty fun. I wanna show you my portfolio online just so you see what I mean. So see this is how my portfolio is laid out, so ShootProof is very on-brand. So it feels like a cohesive experience, like we were talking that session experience. It feels cohesive for my clients. So when they pop-in to their ShootProof gallery, they feel like they're in my website, except it's their family's work. And I really like that because like I said, so often they're like oh I can't believe that's us. And I'm like no this is you. This is actually what you look like. And just talking wardrobe, these people are wearing sweaters and jeans, and yes some people really bring it, and do that, but we're casual here in the pacific northwest. So that's why I really love ShootProof because it's on-brand for me. So whatever you decide to do, if you're gonna do digital files, you do want there to be a beautiful way for them to view the files. I personally think you're selling your clients short if you're just sending them the digitals in a way that isn't presented beautifully. That's just my opinion on that. And at this point, I design my album. So why do I use, why did I start giving albums? I started giving albums, this is my second year doing it. And like I said, I have clients you guys, I'm super blessed. My families, I book fall almost entirely with repeat clients a year in advance, because these are my people. These are my brand evangelists. They come back every year. And I really wanted to do them, in fact this year I think I'm 100% repeat, and I wanted to do something special, something different for them. Just to kinda change it up. We were talking about that location stuff and so I decided to start offering these books. And why did I start offering these? So albums can be super pricey, right? For us, the photographer. That's why you have to charge like $1,000 for them. And so Miller's has what they call the Signature Book. And they are really high quality, they are simple, they're on-brand for me because they are very minimalist. There's not a whole lot going on. They're not fancy, 'cause I'm a very laid back brand. And they're really easy for me to make. So before I show you, I will say again, time is money. And the way that I design these albums is with Fundy Software. And Fundy, they work with Miller's. And so their system is incredible. You just drag and drop and it's just like plop, plop! And it makes the album. And then it is connected to Miller's, so you just right from that design software, you send it to the lab and it shows up at your house. So it's really, really easy, really fast. So I'll show you a couple of my albums. They have these different cover options, this one is linen, obviously this is leather. Am I on the right camera there? Here's a new seal on that. Okay. So again it's very much on-brand for me. Pretty simple but I love seeing it in an album like this because this is just kind of, reiterates my philosophy of being all-inclusive. I am all about this collection of images. I also happen to know that wall space can be at a minimum, and maybe they don't want a 16x20 of their family on there. I don't have big stuff like that, that's okay. And so I love this option, that they have this tangible piece from their session. And I try to include a few images from each part, each posing area that I was, something that I was doing. And this is done in Fundy, I would design these in about 10 to 15 minutes. Really really fast. Full disclosure, because she's probably watching, my amazing assistant, Gabby, designs them for me now. But when I was doing it myself, she's probably faster than me actually. I'nt he cute? So here is, oh I'll get there in a second. Hold on, I was about to get ahead of myself. So I try to include, from every part of the location that we went, I try to include some of the images. There. I can pass that around and I'll go ahead and open up this one. And show ya. And it's this really beautiful paper, it's like this matte paper. Another one. So. So the way that we just kind of go through and pick some of our favorite. We try to get down to about, there's probably about 40 or 50 images that end up in the gallery, sometimes more, just depending on how rockin' the session was going. Some of my galleries are ginormous, you guys. I'm totally gonna admit it. But like, there's no way I'm not including that in their gallery. And if I was being really picky, I might not. But that's so precious, such a sweet moment. And so sometimes the albums end up a little bigger. What's great about my assistant, is she keeps them at our price point, where I tend to be like well, I'm just gonna make it a bit longer and end up spending more money than we need to. So this is another one. So when I started doing this my clients were so happy. Their minds are blown. They love it. They feel like it's a gift. Like it's not part of, it's almost like something I'm giving them extra. Oh there something on that one. So okay. Pass that guy around too. So one thing that people are really surprised about. So I'm talking about time is money, I'm talking about how being in control, I do not give them the option for revisions. At all. They get no say, here I am being control-me again, but they get no say in what their album looks like. And I tell them that right up front. I say what's included in your session is a pre-designed album, we will be the artistic director, or we will be the artistic designers of your album and we promise to include a good variety of images. I have literally not have one person complain. I've had people thank me for doing that for them because what was happening is they were like oh I'll make my own album, and then five years later, their stuff is still on their hard drive. Yeah, that happens to me. I have family photos taken once a year with my family, and many of them are still on my hard drive. So it happens. So this has been a really great thing, a really great part of my client experience. It doesn't cost us very much money, we spend about 40 or 50 dollars per album. It doesn't cost us very much time. And so it's just a no-brainer for me. That's why I do it.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Armstrong Su
is super knowledgable, yet down-to-earth and relatable. I love how he explains the exact gear he uses but also describes ways to accomplish the same look using DIY and less expensive alternatives. The segment where he demos a live shoot in multiple, difficult lighting situations is worth the cost of the class alone! Bonus: He's super funny. He could probably double as a comedian on the side, but I digress. This class was informative, funny, and very practical for any photographer that wants to increase their profit and expand their business into the professional world. He gives all his prices and workflows so you can get up and running in 2 days! :) Awesome class overall, and it's a great sequel to his professional headshot class (which I also bought and loved.)
Sandra Kay Hayes
I am totally in tears watching this, and think that every person going into Photography should watch these. She is a great teacher, and helps us to understand our "why" so much better. I also LOVE that she helps one feel confident with the non-perfect, (or so called) shots, Thank you so much for giving me more confidence to shot what I love and not worry about "rules!!". Best class I've taken I will recommend her to every group I am in!!!
Julia Khris
Elena is a great presenter. Delivers information in a very fun and engaging way. This course would be good for a beginner photographer. She shares the basics, but unfortunately doesn't quite provide advice on the more tricky questions. She shares a lot about her current state of business (10 years in and making enough profit to afford hiring staff). This is great to know what to aim for, however, it would be more beneficial to hear more about HOW to get to this stage. The main idea that I took from this course is: outsource as many processes as you can. Elena doesn't have a very distinctive style (no offence, but there is a huge competition in the style and editing that she works with), I would love to hear her advice on how to win in such high competition, how to convince clients to choose you and pay higher price tag for an equal quality of work. This is a fairly inexpensive class, so I would recommend it to the beginners, but not to the more experienced photographers.