Corporate Portraits – Preparing for a Photo Shoot

With any type of photo shoot, you must prepare ahead of time. Before you can be creative with the photography side of your job, you must first consider the business side and the many factors that can influence a shoot. There are several different factors that can shape your business, but in this blog post, I’ll focus on a few of the important ones.

Build a Relationship

Building a good relationship with your client, no matter what type of photography services you are offering them, is very important. When a potential client contacts you regarding your services, your first step needs to be to convince them that you are the best photographer for the job. Communicate to them that you are competent for the task and that your business in particular can best meet their needs compared to other competing businesses. Building this foundation will not only help your success with your initial service, but can also help lead to other services down the road. Meeting face to face can be a very helpful way to communicate to a potential client that you are genuinely interested in them and their vision for the photos as well as help set you apart from other businesses. Ask good questions and focus not just on the job, but on the individual and get to know them as a person.

Figure out Your Client’s Needs

As you are building this relationship with your client, begin to ask questions about the photography services they need. You want to make sure you communicate well and ask the right questions to ensure your client communicates what they need. Get as much information as possible about what they expect and the end product they desire so you can approach the photo shoot prepared. When you come to the photo shoot, you should both be on the same page as far as what you are agreeing to do for them.

Provide a Quote

After communicating about your services and figuring out what the client needs, you can then proceed to provide a quote. Based off of how much work you will be doing, give your client an estimate price for your services. Ask yourself questions like what kind of pictures do they need? How many pictures are they wanting? How much time are you committing to the shoot? How many locations are you using? of these different factors should influence your quote.

Create a Contract

Contracts may seem like a lot of work, especially if you are a new business, but they can help protect you and your business. In addition, contracts will help communicate to your client the services you are agreeing to and what happens in the light of change. Any technical information that needs to be communicated can be written up in a contract.

Set up a Time

After you have discussed with your client the different business factors, work on setting up a time for the photo shoot. It may seem tedious to go through this entire process before a photo shoot, but taking care of these small things will help in the long run. Taking the time to focus on the details will communicate to your client that you genuinely care and will put in the necessary effort towards a photo shoot. Remember that all these small factors will influence your reputation as a photography business and help lead to new services and clients in the future. A little effort can go a long way and create a professional and effective business.