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Making Play a Profitable Business

Hi. Thank you so much. You guys were absolutely amazing. And I'm so excited to have you days here and thank you so much to create alive. Um, I don't think that you could be treated better than your treated when you are here. So it's amazing experience all around. Um, so I just wanted Teoh do just a little kind of overview of our day. Um, I'll start off kind of talking about kids. Why? I chose the genre. I chose how I fell into it. We'll talk about even if maybe necessarily. What I do with kids isn't completely what you just said. How to find that specialty, how to find that niche, how to figure out what it is that excites you about photographing them and develop your brand and develop your style around that. Um, we'll also talk a little bit about I don't shoot a ton of families anymore, but it definitely when you're shooting kids. Obviously it brings in. They have baby brothers and sisters born. They obviously have moms and dads. They grow up, they become senior, so it kind of will tal...

k a little bit. How to still keep that same feel of what you're doing, but make it all encompassing if you choose to. There's no rule that says you have toe do it all but just in case So we will be talking about families a little bit today to, um went And we will, um, also be having some interviews over the next three days, which I think will be really fun. They're just gonna be short little snippets. But it's gonna be with, um, other Children's photographers that I hugely admire and dio kind of what I do and it'll definitely what we're talking about. But there's going to show you their angle just to show a better example, since obviously I have my style on what ideo and that's it. I'll be showing you. It'll kind of be a nice little, um, way to see like Oh, that's how you take that and shoot it from a little bit a little bit different way. So that will be what will be covering today. Um, if you have any questions, I know they're gonna be coming in online over there, which will be fun. And then you guys, I'm so excited. You guys are also awesome. So, uh, uh, I've never done this before, so, um, and I'm also gonna get smart on you, so I can actually see all of a sudden I know what I'm talking about, right? Exactly. And we matched. Do right, Um, so, yeah, I'll just I'm gonna talk a tiny little bit just about how I got started. And when I do, I want to spend a lot of time going back. I've been doing this for 10 years. So, um, I got started in 2000 for I think it's a pretty typical story. Um, photographic. My kids and people saw the pictures and we photographed my kids. You photograph my family, I I shot film way back then. That's I'm aging myself. Um, digital was, like brand new. I remember taking like, community photography class, and the teacher had just gotten a digital camera. I remember thinking like, Why would you waste your money on that? Like, film is like everything. So when I, um when I shot him, I didn't build. I wasn't like that great and didn't feel comfortable shooting other people. But I was at a play date with a moment, was a photographer and she saw my work on the walls and very sweetly settle. Wow, it's good processing. Those would be, like, really great in the just Think think, Uh, So she took me under her wing and I bought a digital camera and the learning curve was like, crazy quick, Like all this said. And all these things I have been trying to figure out in the film like Get a whole roll back and it was awesome and trying to figure out, like, What did I do and took took my notes. Now all of a sudden it was, like, right in front of me, and I could, like, check my work. Um, so I started shooting like, close friends kids, and then it went crazy. Expanded within, like, a year. I had, like, a whole time photography business, which I'm sure is a very normal story, probably for all of you here. Um, and I shot everything. I was, like, just so excited to be, like, figuring it out and like, it didn't matter what I was shooting because each shoot I was learning something new. I was learning, you know, um, I pretty quickly started shooting manual. I had really great mentors that quickly told me like you need to know your camera in and out. So, um, that's what all those beginning shoots were about was just so excited. Teoh, learn the craft. And the smile that brought people face is like, there's nothing better than, like meeting with the family meeting like here and there, you know, tears, tears the best, right. Um, so that's what really kept me going. I would be like the first year or two like that was all of that was enough. The excitement of all of that was enough. And, um But what I found was, as I was getting more comfortable, like the challenges were there anymore. Like I knew my camera. I knew when I showed up this shoot, I would get that, Uh, like all the sessions I was getting Repeat clients. Um, I realized that I wasn't really, like, feeling like the whole family photography business like it was just kind of I was getting bored on what I was always gravitating to was like the kids, like I loved like playing. I always call it like I play dress up with the kids and we do all the style I shoot, So I would, you know, getting the kids and I would be fixing up a little bit like let's change your hair a little bit for the second part of the shoot and lets you know I had kids of my own. So maybe sometimes I would bring like their little accessories and throw scar phone kind of style it a little bit, and I was really having a lot of fun doing that. And I realized that was what I was excited to. Dio. So so began me just discovering that I was a Children's photographer more than a portrait. A general portrait photographer. Um, I'm not exactly sure other than I do love. I mean beyond photography in my second love is like interior design. I love details I love. Like bringing looks together. Um, I think kids are a little bit easier to do that with their little dolls that you can just have fun with. But they're also what I love about the kids is I'm a very like shy, introverted person. Hard to believe I'm here today, right? Panic attacks inside? No. Uh, but for me, it's really hard for me to connect with adults like I connect with kids, um, adults or, you know, they try and come like how they think you want them to be. They are uncomfortable. A lot of them are kind of uptight and grow CI because it has to be there. Perfect. You know, time and day. And kids are just, like, savor the moment like they could totally have a breakdown. And five minutes later, they're laughing and playing. And if it I love it, um, so beyond just the silent I the energy I think that the kids bring, um, to a shoot and the fact that you never know what you're gonna get with kids. I am very 80 D like a. I hate doing the same thing twice. You'll notice that my work I rarely even use the same props like I always have to have it. New idea, new styling, new this new that So, um I think kids that changed so much. I mean, I'll have a kid and I'll see him two years later and there are home different person. It's like you have a whole new ah whole new campus to play with. So that's so as we go into more. I'm gonna have questions throughout this whole class that we're going to kind of touch on, like to kind of ask yourself these kind of questions. But I know for me when I really started, when I really sat down and started, think about thinking about those kind of things easy for the answers I was getting and how I was realizing, like where I needed to be to stay fulfilled and happy. Like I said, I've been doing this 10 years and I think, had I stayed the path, But I was on those 1st 2 years, I probably wouldn't have made it past three or four years just because it's hard to own your own business, especially one that your heart and soul is in. And when someone doesn't like some thing, it's like a personal punch to the gut. It's much easier to go work for someone else and leave the job at five o'clock. Um, so I am very, very passionate about the fact that we need to make what we dio exactly what we want. Like we're so, so lucky. Most of us own our own businesses, so that means you get toe, make your own rules. You get Teoh, you get to do whatever you want to Dio. Yeah, we have clients we have to answer to. But at the end of the day, like if you finish with that client, you never have to deal with them again. If you don't want to, like, I don't think enough of us embrace that fact. Like, I think we feel like we are supposed to do this or we're supposed to that Are we? This is what everyone else is doing. Or, um and that's not the case, is what we what we do. We get Teoh create, like, this little utopia off her perfect world. And, um, I just It's sad to me when I see people that are burnout and not enjoying it like they should, cause I'm like, just a small little changes and you could, you know, be up at night like there's still 10 years later. There's nights I can't sleep because I'm so excited to get to my shoot the next day. And that is the most amazing feeling, Um, to still have have that after all these years. Um, so yeah, kids. That's why I should get. Um, another thing that I'm kind of handy at is crafty things. I love making stuff. So, as you can see, like the crowns, the Ford, the little capes, everything was stuff that I just made. Um, my daughter is the same way. So it's a great time for us to, like, sit down and Bond. And she helps me with pretty much every single shoot ideo, which is awesome. So that was another thing, too, that I kind of played in kind of plays into me just doing kids. There's not too many crafty things most moms don't want little crowns made dads don't want towards own Why, but yeah, so just more and more And it I hate to, like, make it sound like, Oh, you need to sit down, ask yourself these questions and then tomorrow you'll do it because for me, it was It really was like I would say around you're like I said around here to is when I really started figuring out, like, Why am I not excited? Why, I might be like hoping it rains on Saturday so that I can cancel. Um, I would say from that point when I decided that toe when I actually was, you know, 75% or higher what I wanted to do. It was a good, like, two year transition of slowly weeding that out and slowly figure out How do I market myself this way? How do I show people what I'm about? How do I get people to hire me for that? Um so it was a slow transition. And so don't be frustrated. Looking back, it looks like it happened quick. It's just like getting through getting through that, Um so yeah, and I was kind of I was trying to figure out like I was thinking about like, Why is it that I and so into, like this whimsical like, I want every set ideo, like my dream is to make every set feel like when you watch like movies like where the wild Things are our never ending story Like I watched those movies and I think, Okay, that's what I want to create when people look at my photos, that's what I want And I think a lot of it I was thinking about because I wasn't a creative like playful child. I wasn't a kid that did crafts all the time. I wasn't, um I was a very like responsible. Like I was always toted as the good girl, like, you know, God could craze. I was responsible. I was the oldest sibling by seven years, So I was very much the mom. You know, I'm revealing nine years old and making dinners and hoping clean up and do things like that. And so my theory, after thinking about it a while, waas I probably get enough of that in that kid. So now you know, in my twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, I want to get that. And that's that's where that's where I'm going. Teoh, fulfill my child. It'll be my midlife crisis with teacups. And, um so yeah. So once I started figuring that out, of course, I started those kind of shoots first with my own kids, cause that's my safe zone. And then it was borrowing my friends kids so I could expand, um, the portfolio. And one thing I kind of want to mention is when I was doing this So this would've been like 6 4007 It was not style like Styled shoots. They're like all the rage. Now you see them everywhere back. I mean, was even blog's when I was doing this like it was photo journalistic, like for you to go shoot a family or kids. It was all about, like, capturing the moment. And if you were posing kids or it was kind of like the non cool kid thing to Dio was pose it or make it seem studio like in any way, like it was definitely about like the photo journalistic trend. And I love that trend. Like when I hired people to do my own family shoes. That's what I hired um, like terror. Whitney did our pictures twice, and she's very like, you know, she just captures you as you're on the beach or I am horrible, horrible at that. Do not actually asked me to capture a moment. I am very, very posed, like I'm very much about, like there's an image in my head and getting it out. Um, luckily, I'm super patient, and for some reason the kids I work with are amazing and seem to come bring it to the table. Um, but it just to kind of give a little bit inspiration of people that maybe feel like they're not doing what they should be doing. I definitely was kind of like on my own on that one, like even at the time, like you have all these like kids magazines and kids brands like everybody has all these adult lines have kids brands down. Back then it was like Gap kids Gymboree maybe, um so gap kids would like my go to like every time, like the new displays came out in the stores. Oh, I need That's what I want to do that that's the pictures I want to take. Um, so yeah, I think I think it's OK. Toe just kind of follow your gut and follow what you're good at because forcing yourself to try and be something you're not. That's another thing that's gonna make this job not so fun. Um, doesn't make any questions or anything. Suffer a couple of notes from the Internet. I just want to let you know that photo shop Girl says. I love that she is creative in the way she approaches her style and her photography. And then Madelaine says, Oh my goodness, I love her Already crafting is So Mi's folks like you've been here for, like, 10 minutes, and they're just loving it, so yeah, So anyway, we'll go over more of that. Uh, today we're gonna kind of concentrate on how I work with kids, Howard with families. But tomorrow we'll get more into, like, my other passions, which is like the styling and the details. I love all of those things, though. I'll bring pictures to show examples of just like how important it is to bring that one little papa color in or how you how arino takes your takes the viewer to exactly where you want him to be in the image and all that kind of fun stuff. So we'll definitely cover all that kind of cool stuff before we, um, finish our class out. So, um, yes, even with my glasses, I can't see. Uh, so I have, like, a few questions that I would love for people Teoh think about as we're going through the class and I actually have is a good time to hand out to our students that so graciously volunteered for us. Um, we are actually gonna have three of our students. Um, do a little project for us that takes these questions. It's not just these questions. There's several questions. I'm gonna kind of have you asked yourself throughout the workshop, um, to kind of start narrowing in that German or you want to be shooting the specialty? What? You're good at how you can bring that all with the table. So what we're gonna do, though? I thought it would be kind of fun to have three of our in studio, um, students. I have little journals for them. I have, um, markers is gonna thank you. I have markers. I have, uh, posterboard. And what they are going to dio, which is so brave of them is I have some questions in here, which I think we had talked about maybe putting up in the chat room the questions that they're getting for their journal because it would be awesome to if everybody at home if they wanted to. Kind of not just think about it, but actually do it. So anyway, there are a few questions here that I'm putting right in the front page of your journal. Feel free to rip him apart, put him on the pages. You're talking about B is messy or its creative or ISO CD if you're o c d as you want about it. Um, I brought some markers. I thought the poster board would be easier visual, cause on day three at the end of our class, the three of you are going to come up and share, um, your answers to the questions, some of the things that you process through the class. And I just thought rather than reading out of a journal, it might be a little easier. We have the poster board. If you could just kind of use the markers and I talk, You know, your fears, the mountains, the highs, the lows. A little dreamy place that you want to be at the end of this. Um, so yeah, so we have Janie, does You want to come up and get yours? Sitting markers. Color. Penny went. Oh, thank you. Oh, thanks. Came really e o and Dan. Thank you guys. So much for volunteer. I don't know if I would be grateful. Thank you. So, basically, I'm just looking to find a place where instead of your job being looking at the clock, waiting for the hours to be done. It's more about getting out of your head and like working from the heart. Um, because when you do that, it's just like kids like where they lose hours, you know, they'll be off in a corner playing with their toys and two hours later, like snack time, and they're just lost. Um, that's my favorite thing about doing, uh, What I do. Like what I say when I'm building the cracks when I'm I'll realize it's been an entire Saturday building stuff for a set, and I didn't even care notice it wasn't work. And that's another thing, too. I'll have people, you know, talk to me about what I do and I love you. I love the sets you do, and and But they don't care about like like, for them like building. This isn't something they're interest in interested in or it doesn't sound fun to them. And I just have to say, like if it's not something that you already love and are passionate about, don't even get it so much work. But yeah, so just a couple of the things to think about about what gets you lost and you're in your work is first. Things are easy, just like who or what catches your eye inspires you to create. Like for me, it could be a simple as being like in a line at Starbucks. And the woman in front of me is wearing like this outfit that has just the perfect pops of color or like it could be so simple. Or it can just be driving like a landscape. I mean, I joke all the time. Like, you know, you have beautiful photographs, people take of landscapes, and for me, it's always about like we're kidding, kid in their like I'm always framing it like, Oh my gosh, that's gorgeous. Now where does the kid fit? Um, what are like hobbies and things you do when you have free time? Normally, Like I said, for me, it was like doing those crafty things and building things and making things. Um, so, yeah, you want to touch on stuff like that? What do you naturally good at? And the funny thing to me is, sometimes we don't realize what we're actually good at, Like Like I said, I wasn't a creative. I wasn't an artsy student. Like I went all for school offer high school, and I considered myself more scholastic, Like I was gonna be an attorney, and I was gonna get a lot agree. Like I was all about the book, the book Smart. Um, and it wasn't until I got out of working. Um, after I had my son and I was home that I think that mentality started to fade Coast playing. And I was like, opening up that side more. And all of a sudden I started doing creative things and I realized, Wait a second. I'm okay at this. Like I could I could do creative things. That's interesting. And people were like, Oh, wow, that's that's cool. How did you make that, or how did your word you buy that? And I'm like, God, I made it like so I think sometimes I mean, I know family and friends, like obviously they have are best interests at heart, and they care. But I think also, sometimes we have our little personas. We are with them. Um so I think branching out. Or maybe I asked, asking people what they see to like. What do you think I'm good at, Like ask close friends and family. Um, what was the last activity that you got lost in, Like, think about the last time that you in? Probably not like a movie. I don't know how I would hope. You know, Actually, it does. I am a huge proponent. I watch so many documentaries, like, had said before like, but never any story where the wild things. And when I saw that in the theater, I was like, Oh, my gosh, How do I turn that into a picture? Beautiful light. Like so get lost in it. That's good, but yeah. So that's Ah. 01 more question. Sorry. Are these things that you can incorporate in or do for your job? Quote unquote job. So I think kind of journaling those earliest thinking. I'm not a big journal. Er, I'm not a big person that writes down my thoughts, but I think thinking on these things, talking it out with a great friend talking out with your spouse. I think having discussions on the these things you'll start to narrow in and figure out what you're good at. Um and like I was kind of talked about before, like being in the business world and, you know, being a student and I was kind of locked into that box. It's also a different idea of success when you're an artist. Um, I think it's interesting, like when you go through school when you're in a job, it's all about following the rules. It's all about you hear it this time you do this at this time. Here's the policy. Here's the, you know, policies. You have to follow your intro like school, especially like cracked the whip if you're not doing exactly were you doing when you're doing, even if it's your not do anything bad, if you're off, task it all. It's bad, Um, or with what we dio like, almost the whole goal is to get outside all the rules, all the policies, all the that. I think the greatest artists are the ones that forget it all. Um, and I think that's really hard for a lot of us because that's not how most of us are raised. I mean, there's some people I know amazing parents that are likes, you know, allow their kids to be totally who they are and support them in all their. But I know a lot of times, too. Like when you go just the traditional route through life. It's very easy to get caught up in this, like, this is what I want to do now this supposed to do now. And I think, um, kind of letting that go sometimes realizing it's OK to rock the boat and it's okay to scribble outside the lines. Um, it all allows you, I think, to be a better artist and allows you to, um, make your work fun and play and playful rather than just a job. That's, um, So I took a little bit about how Teoh kind of gather all your inspiration. I am very much a tactical person. I like the hands on nowadays. Gosh, there's so much interest, all those kind of fun things. Um, I am definitely like I have binders full of magazine terrors. I even print out, which is kind of counterproductive print stuff out off the Internet. Um, but, um, and I'm always keep I have, like, a folder on my desktop that, like any time I see anything inspiring at all, I keep it all, and I keep it organized because I think that's such a huge thing in what we do is keeping that inspiration. It's I like to kind of comparatively working out, like If you're working out every day, it becomes natural, and you, if you don't work out for day, you feel it and you miss it. But then, like you know, you hit Christmas vacation and skip it for a week and give him the next week and then all the sudden, like a month later, you're like, I don't want to go do it. I think what we do is very much the same thing. If you don't constantly keep inspiration like I keep it on my desktop so I can't ignore it. It's always there. Um, I think it's the way you keep it exercise. You have to exercise the creative part of you just like you have to have exercise, Um, everything else and also for me, it's a great rate to remind me what my focus was, what my goal like so I'll even make lists of, like, shoot so that like I'll be driving and I'll come up with a shoot idea that I want to dio. I put those down like on my desktop. It's like shoots to do and they're listed. Um, so I think that's a That's when people ask me, How do you come? Applauded ideas? How do you always, you know, be doing something new? And I 100% say that it's because I don't let myself ever not have it in front of my face? Um, so, yeah, then in the great thing about that, too, is that I think it also keeps you, keeps you focused on doing the chutes that are inspiring and not falling into the red of because I know it's so easy as a photographer to get hired to do things, and all of sudden you realize you're doing all these chutes that are just like a like they're not, exactly. I mean, we all have toe make money, like that's why we turned it into the job. And it's not a hobby. Still, um, it's Yeah, it's one of those things that when you're busy, it's easy to forget to make yourself go out. I to this day I mean, I've been doing this 10 years. At least 25% of my shoots are still on my own time on my own dollar. Um, I'm just doing it because I have to get what's in here out onto, I guess, a screen. Nowadays. It's not a prince anywhere. Um, and I really credit Teoh the fact that I even fell into the hole editorial commercial thing because actually, when I was doing this back in 2000 I thought you had to be, like in New York or L a, like, interning for a huge commercial photographer. Like I didn't realize I could do that. It just didn't cross my mind. I thought I had to be a portrait photographer like every body else I knew. Um, but because I was doing this because I was creating these images that looked editorial looked commercial all of a sudden that people how people viewed me because my portfolio started. And like I said, it was a long It was couple of years to where the portfolio was actually reflecting when I was inside. Um, so okay, brought the work to me like people are asked, How did you get that? It came to me because people just assumed because that's what I had out there. Um, so one of the smartest piece of advice is I that I ever got with you like you already have the job and I think sometimes we forget to do it. Like I said, when we're caught up in the business of it all in, um, and making money. And that kind of comes Teoh when it is when it is your business, how do you still keep? Because it's a hard juggling act, Teoh make money, but always make sure that it's doing things that you like because I'm not gonna like there's tons of jobs that come my way that I'd rather not take. But Christmas is coming. The mortgages dio got to do it right. But I think if you sit down and figure out where that falls in line, like obviously it comes up, we're gonna need money for different things. But is that at the top of my list? Not at all. Like if making money was the top of my list of this photography thing, I wouldn't be doing another job, Probably that paid better. And like I said, I didn't have to like where my heart on my sleeve when I did it. Um but yes, it just think about what's important to you in this in this job, Is it making money? Is it creating their relationships? Is that having fun? Is it fulfilling these passions? Um, I think that's really important and put it in order of what is the most important to you. And then you can figure out what to make your focus when you're doing this. Um, for me, it's having fun and making sure my clients have fun. Um, like I said, sometimes the list changes, depending on the time of year, depending on how often I've been hired in the last couple months, that money part might pop to the top of the list for a little bit. Um, but I think that keeping that in front of you and even making it part of who you are, like I try and keep my bio, I try and keep things like that about the fun aspect. Like I don't necessarily like my bio doesn't talk about, like, this is the job I did, and this is who I shoot for, and this is because, to me, that's not the important part in it. I think we're minding yourself in reading it yourself is really important. Um, so you know what's at the top of list? Uh, what's the most exciting part about what you dio? What's the most exciting part about your job? Um, for me, besides working with the kids, it's the details. It's a styling it. So I know for me that's gonna be top of the list when I am taking on jobs. That's That's the kind of jobs I wanted I want to take. Um and what are you good at? That helps you achieve these things. Um, we'll talk a little bit more about it later. But collaboration, um, it's huge to me because we aren't all good at everything. And you can be really good at some things that can get you to the place you want to be. But maybe you fall short in just a couple little little areas. So, um, I think knowing your strength and knowing your weaknesses are just are just is, uh are just is important. Um, getting how do your clients on board? That was one thing I really struggled with when I first started switching to the more commercial editorial looking things, because that wasn't what was expected of portrait photography. Um, so for me, I started folks. Like I said, I started focusing more on the kids for each of the chutes. And in order for me to, like, tap in to make sure that what I was bringing because I don't want a stylish shoot. And I don't want a theme shoot and just make a family fit that mold, like I'm not gonna style something. And then just, like, have a family show up and be like, Guess what, guys today you guys love the forest. Um, so I have a question. I have questionnaires that I will either send out or phone conversation. Or however it it works with that client. Ah, questionnaire. So for the kids, all have the parents. Ask them things like, where is their favorite place to go? Have their picture taken? Er what is the most What's the most fun you ever had when you have your picture taken like What was it you know? Was it because of who did? It was a place with what you got to. Where do you like to dress up? Do you like Teoh? You know, make your like create a make believe type thing. What kind of adventurers would you pick if you could? I like to get into the kid's mind and just figure out how adventurous they are. Or maybe they're more quiet. And they want something more introspective because when you give that to the parents, even though in the beginning they don't know that they're just thinking we want family pictures. But when you actually bring all that stuff to to them at the end in the pictures and they see their kids shining through, it's like magic. It's amazing. So one of the Chatwin was talking about goose pimples and how, where that comes in with you and your work. So you you just That was great. You hit it on the head so wonderful. And I also want to mention that your questions that you ask to the family as well as the Children are being provided to people that purchase the class as pdf. So I just want to let you guys out there know that if you purchase the class, you will actually get Shannon's complete list of questions that we're talking about. Yeah, I have questions for parents and kids So these were like the stuff that we try and get into the kids. But then, for the parents all, it's a little more like, Is there special momentos or heirlooms or that special little you know thing that maybe you could bring and incorporate it? Um, I I like to ask him about, like, quirks or unique things about their kids. Like for me. Um, I don't mind kids literal, little bit crazy, quirky, like actually love that they're a little bit harder to get, like in front of you in frame. But at the end of the day, it's so much more fun because the pictures are so much more animated and there's just so much more personality s. I like to find out kind of beforehand if the kids have little quirks or funny things, or are things that the parents love, you know, you know, you know, one parent may love this about their kid in another, even though I think it's adorable. Maybe parents like, you know, or they'll see something that's like means a lot to them that I would have no no. So I tried to ask, likes dislikes, because I also want to make sure that everybody's having fun, and I wouldn't want to do anything that people are like, Yeah,