Lessons
Day 1
1Introduction
20:16 2Why Bellies & Babies?
25:22 3The Baby Plan: Newborn to 1-Year
35:19 4Baby Plan Overhaul
28:52 5Creating a Marketing Calendar
18:33 6Social Media
26:50 7Facebook Campaign
06:26Community Displays
33:26 9Customer Loyalty
29:11 10The Moments We Capture
10:55 11Lighting Setup
22:12 12Live Shoot: The 5 Poses
27:06 13Recap: The 5 Poses
25:49Day 2
14Today's Goals
08:03 15Audience Q&A
05:43 16Newborn Boy with Mom (Brady)
29:49 179-month-old Girl with Backdrop (Navia)
15:02 18Newborn Boy w Wicker Basket (Brady)
07:54 19Newborn Girl w Bowl (Eliana)
18:05 20Maternity Session
21:38 214-month-old girl w Blanket (Fiona)
16:59 223-month-old Boy w Blanket (Nolan)
14:55 23Newborn Girl w Hammock (Eliana)
14:33 24Cooper
37:09 25Questions
04:31 26Creating an Efficient Studio
40:31 27Maternity Sessions
10:49 28Working with a Pregnant Body
23:30 29Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
29:22Day 3
309 month old
20:51 31Audience Q&A
17:58 32Becoming a Baby Expert
12:31 33Shy 1 Year Old
25:57 341 Year Old Girl
23:14 35The Miracle Shots
12:49 36Older Ages
21:46 37Consultations
15:16 38Pricing
54:48 39Sales
32:49 40Framing
08:21 41Workflow
15:28 42Closing the Sale
20:24 43Charitable Marketing
13:43 44Family Is...
06:49Lesson Info
Questions
I want to read this great comment from glow photo saying watching with my twenty two month old on my lap and she's repeating everything sandy saying, oh, what happened wider usually shoot wider than you need and you're cropping later for do not I am you actually camera personal family so yeah, you're pretty much going to see what you see is what you get there are times where I'll pull backs I want that whole everything scene um and I know I can see garbage on the side but I'm gonna go for a panel we do a lot of panels but otherwise I pretty much crop to true to form which I prefer because again it's less working the cat after uh work is done so question that everybody that lots of folks were asking you know you said that you use auto focus, but what specifically are you focus on on with the baby was moving around so much focal points in the camera obviously moved and our goal is always center focal point if possible the fastest focus. However, our goal is the true goal of focus is to h...
ave your eyes and focus so we always wanted to hit someone in the eye anybody that shoots camera know that knows that's impossible and so typically when you saw me shooting it was somewhere within the vocal the focal plane of the baby's chest and hopefully on the face, but many of the shots it was actually closer to here or here, so there is a range. They're a focus that you're losing. However, we were shooting over here at f eight. We're totally fine over here at four point oh, it's, borderline but it's not a focus that, you know, somebody's gonna catch unless the baby moves really quick, then you're gonna have something out of focus, but otherwise it's super close and with the moving baby honestly, you have to realize what you're dealing with. This is not like a merit print that you could spend forever hold steel. You know, you are going like this at all times, so you sacrifice a little bit of something for hopefully a cellar image. Uh, do you do mo very much post processing because everything looks so perfect straight out of the camera that we are going to cover a long segment on sales, and I really appreciate that they like it out of camera that yeah, my goal is always to be pretty dead on. I noticed on the monitor it looked a little overexposed. I looked at the back of my camera's dead on we made it, so I feel very comfortable with it, but as far as post processing, I'll give you the ten second version we, uh we show and this is all gonna be covered we showed thirty to forty images per client period gonna give you the soapbox speech for that later and we do artwork on two to six images complete and total artwork and that includes two art products. So although saw that our products I showed you clients will see at least two of those that will see to retouched images and then the rest will be cropped, balanced and color corrected and that's it that they will be basic. And the only time that we break that rule is if it's boudoir and we run a little like softening action because we just feel like that's women like that a twelve point I noticed you said we're going for a sequence here and you took the tickler and you're like click click what was what were the three kind of sick I was looking for four frames I was looking for baby looking down baby looking up baby looking straight out, smiling and baby they're looking away or baby looking serious that combination I can either get a three five by five panel of three eight by eight panel or four eight by eight I could do three twenty twenties I could do for forty by forties I could do a ten foot mural we talked about it so I mean my goal is always to see so I want to sell three twenty inch portrait or for a collection of four twenty its portrait, not everybody's going by that, but I know for sure I could get them out the door with three five by five, so I'm looking for variety, but the idea is something dynamically has to change a baby sitting doing the same thing in my studio with that shot, I probably would have turned the bowl the other way too, so that I would have had it wouldn't have changed the lighting. I just want to keep it a little bit so that everything wasn't same exact shock. Does that make sense? Yes, on the lens that he was asking about cropping after that you're shooting for a square, though, right? You were talking about these? I'm physically show them in five by five and eight by eight, but parents buy them in five by sevens and eight by ten, so it just depends on what their final choices. Artistically I love squares and with a baby, as you saw, if you imagine a little cowboy scene, there's just a whole lot of nothing going on so square makes it it's a combination of a horizontal and vertical orientation, so it eliminates any wasted space, which is why I love square so much.
Class Materials
bonus material with purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
I know so many families with new babies at church and have wanted to invite them to let me create studio portraits, both for practice and for profit. You've given me so many wonderful tips and ideas for posing, shooting and marketing. I've already begun collecting appropriate props. I believe in me, but know that selling will be the hardest thing for me. Sandy makes everything look so easy! I related to her emotionalism--I'm the same way. Today at church, a visitor shared about an expectant mother in Ohio who was diagnosed with Stage 3 brain cancer. Thanks to Sandy's pregnancy portraits and the story about the beginning of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, I emphasized to the visitor the huge importance of that family (already with 4 children) to have a family pregnancy portrait taken. It will mean so much to everyone, but especially the unborn child, who may not ever know its mother. I am also interested in exploring the Now I... training program, if our local hospital needs a special photographer. Thank you for the fantastic seminar I could attend in the comfort of my own home. Cha Ching!
Daniela Moroni
This is my first Creative Live course and I'm very happy with it. I don't have a studio but it was very helpful to understand how to begin a career as a baby photographer. I like the way Sandy explains what she does. You see that she loves her job. I'm glad to have known about Now I Lay me Down To Sleep project. I'm not an english speaker so I'd like there were english subtitles 'cause when she speaks very quickly I miss a lot of words... Thanks Creative Live team!
a Creativelive Student
Sandy is truly an inspiration! Her fantastic photography definitely urges us on to greater things, but I am most impressed by the way she connects with people. Her clients are not just $$ to her, and her job is not simply a way to make money - she feels things greatly, and it shows. This webinar causes me to not only better myself as a photographer/business owner, it inspires me to become a better person.
Student Work
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