Today’s Topic Tuesday is about making the switch from weddings to seniors.  Not that you can’t do both, but if you are looking to switch read this awesome article by guest blogger Catie Ronquillo.  Catie is a senior photographer in Dallas, Texas.  Thanks for sharing Catie!

Making the Switch from Weddings to Seniors

When I started out in photography, my goal was to be a wedding photographer. I saw other photographers shoot fabulous weddings and I thought it would be the perfect job. You get to be around people celebrating a happy occasion and there was wedding cake. Total win! But then I learned the reality of wedding photography. All the behind the scenes stuff that no one tells you about: hours of editing, album design, and client correspondence; giving up your Saturdays and running around for eight or more hours with your only break being of the bathroom variety; and if there’s bad weather, you have to make it work, come rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

If you’re a wedding photographer and absolutely love it, hats off to you, friend.

I decided that weddings were not for me. My husband works in IT, with a 9-5 job, and is only off on the weekends. I missed spending time with him during his time off. When I would shoot on a Saturday, I would spend Sunday recovering. And, honestly, I hated how my feet hurt at the end of the night. I knew that I needed to find something else.

But what was I going to do when all I knew was weddings? That’s when I thought about senior portraits. It seemed to be the perfect blend of age (an age group that listens!), style, and flexibility (shoots can be rescheduled if needed). Plus, I’ve always had a heart for encouraging confidence and positive self-esteem in girls.

I just had one problem. I didn’t know any seniors. I didn’t know anyone in high school! But I didn’t let that discourage me. Instead, I made it work. I asked friends, fellow photographers, and wedding vendors if they knew any high school students. I photographed my first “test” shoot with some high school students back in December 2011.

When people ask me about getting into photographing senior portraits, I always tell them that it just takes one to get the ball rolling…

Are you ready to specialize, add senior portraits, or make the switch from your current genre of photography?

Top 5 Tips for Getting Started in Senior Portraits

1.  Build a portfolio:  You need to have something to show prospective clients, right? If you’ve been photographing other genres such as weddings or kids, you’ll need to build a portfolio. It doesn’t need to be a huge portfolio, but enough to show that you know what you’re doing. What if you don’t know any high school students? Ask around! Ask friends, family, colleagues, someone is bound to know a high school student. Especially when it comes to portfolio building, you don’t need an actual high school senior – they could be a sophomore or junior.
2.  Ask for referrals:  Once you’re ready to start taking senior portrait clients, tell everyone! Tell your family and friends, let your past clients know, let your industry colleagues know, too. Ask if they know any high school juniors or seniors who need senior portraits or who would be great as a senior rep/senior model. After you’ve photographed your first client, ask them if they have friends who haven’t taken their senior photos yet.
3.  Launch a senior rep/senior model program:  One of the best things I did for my senior portrait business was launch a senior model program. There are several different ways of running a program, and I won’t go into it here, but if you’re just starting out and want to gain some momentum, a senior model program can be the way to go.
4.  Offer an experience:  If you’re like most areas of the country, there are photographers everywhere. So how do you set yourself apart? Offer an experience unlike anyone else is offering. Perhaps that means including hair and makeup in your session, or having a set of signature locations you take your clients to, or maybe giving your clients a swag bag at the end of their session. Perhaps it’s a pre-session wardrobe consultation, a product planning meeting, or image reveal session. Whatever the case may be, create an experience that is both tailored to you and what you value as well as what your ideal client values.
5.  Do your own thing:  It can be both exciting and overwhelming to see what everyone else is doing. Sure, you can gain some ideas or inspiration, but my biggest piece of advice is this: don’t copy! You don’t know someone else’s business model or sales goals, and you can easily get lost in a sea of comparison (I totally have!). Just because Photographer X is doing this and that doesn’t mean you need to. That’s the beauty of owning your own business: you make the rules for your company. Perhaps you offer an all-inclusive session for one fee, offer destination shoots, or incorporate the senior’s favorite music into the session. Figure out what works best for you and rock it out.

Are you ready to get started with senior portrait sessions? Ever since changing my specialization to seniors, it’s completely changed my photography world. I have more fun, I play a small part in impacting the lives of teen girls, and I get my weekends back!

 

 

Catie Ronquillo Photography
Email: catie@catieronquillo.com
Website: www.catieronquillo.com
Blog: www.catieronquillo.com/blog
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