Short Stack: Prepping Clients for the Engagement Shoot
Good morning & Happy Pancake Day!!
On our way up to Nantucket yesterday, I was emailing with our bride Jamie, whose wedding we'll be shooting up in Maine later this year, about scheduling their engagement shoot and what all they should do/bring. We've sent a lot of emails just like this to get our couples ready for their engagement shoots. And at this point, we've SHOT a lot of engagement shoots, so we've learned what really helps make for the best shoots. So a while back (sometime last year) we finally just put together an email signature of everything, so we could make sure we were getting all that same info to each of our couples.
Because what we realized is that if we were getting couples who were just showing up without putting a lot of thought into what to wear or bring, in part that was our fault for not at least planting that seed. We're a lot more experienced in engagement shoots than they are, and as the experts it's our job to help them out with some recommendations and a little inspiration. So in our email signature we address things like what to wear, what to bring, "golden hour" and what time to show up, leaving extra time for getting there, and the possibility of getting hair & makeup professionally done.
So for this Short Stack, I thought it would be helpful to go ahead and share the exact language of the email signature we put together to help get you guys started! Feel free to use/adjust as needed! :)
Hey {Bride}!
Oh that's awesome! We'll put you guys down for the 16th then! What we'll do is have you guys meet us at our place before we head out, so we can help style everything. Here is our addy:
Justin & Mary Marantz
700 Nikon Lane
New Haven, CT D4D4D
Also, here are few of our tips for having the best shoot!
In general for clothes, gray, navy, light blues, cream and pink paired with brown leather make for the best pictures. Stay away from anything with patterns or colors too heavy in the red/orange range b/c they don't register as well on camera. We recommend one "dressed up casual look" like a sundress & cardigan and one "fancy" look like a cocktail hour sort of dress. Would love to see {Groom} in a button down & vest/ blazer with dark jeans or gray pants. But above all we want these pictures to feel like you guys, so think of it as your style just dressed up a little. We've included a board for a little inspiration! And finally, think about a few of your favorite things that you could bring with you like wine, maps for travel, a picnic basket, desserts, books, records, etc. Just whatever feels like you!
What we'll do is have you guys meet us at our place first with a few different options for outfits, and we can help you style it! To be able to get the best light (the hour leading up to sunset which right now is around 8pm) we'll have you meet us at 6pm so we have plenty of time to style it before we have to head out. To get that golden, pretty light we do have to time it right....so be sure to leave extra time for traffic and hair emergencies in getting here! :) And finally, speaking of hair, my last tip is that {Bride}, you go ahead and get your hair & makeup professionally done on the day of the shoot. I know it's an extra cost and more to think about, but in our experience it makes a HUGE difference in how the pictures turn out/how confident you feel during the shoot. And you can also use it as your makeup trial for the wedding day! Let me know if you need any recommendations for someone!
We can't wait to see you guys!
xo
M:)
PS: If you can find a horse to bring, that would be AWESOME! :) j/k!!
As always, we hope that was at least a little bit helpful to someone out there! And if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment box! Or just say hi!
Today we are off for a birthday adventure with some of our closest friends (you can follow along on Instagram to see what all we're up to!). But before we take off I wanted to share some images from last week's J&M Lighting Intensive in Rochester!
First of all, I have to say that our group in Rochester was of of my favorites of all time! I have never seen a group of more kind, welcoming, and just excited to be there people. These guys were on fire, asking all of the right questions and just really rocking the light. I am SO excited for what this year holds for them!
Before we get to the pictures, I did just want to say one thing. It's become a pretty common misconception that the Lighting Intensive is only for people who want to get into more studio/editorial work. And I could totally see where that comes from, since the pictures of our models are almost always in front of Justin's hand-painted backdrop. But the fact is, nothing could be further from the truth! We do shoot our models in a studio set up, mostly because the gray background really helps show off what the light is doing as we teach (and Justin worked really hard on it, so he loves to break it out!). But the whole day is really all about how to light and shoot on the fly at a wedding day or portrait session.
It's about studying and learning from the greats in studio/editorial portraiture, and learning how to use the light like that in the snap decisions we have to make at a wedding/portrait shoot when things are happening a mile a minute. And I truly believe that when you learn to use light like that, it's one of those game changers that sets people apart in a saturated market and makes it really hard for anyone else to catch up!
In addition to studying the different ways to use light and how to make that go to work for you, we also just spend a lot of time getting people comfortable (ahem, not afraid anymore!) of their flashes! You'll see in that first image below that we had a big studio set up with an octo & full length scrim. But several of the pictures in the post, we got with just one on-camera, bounced flash. Who knew on camera flash could be this pretty, right?? If you & your flash aren't friends like that yet, we'd love to see you at one of our upcoming Lighting Intensive in Chapel Hill, NC or Minneapolis!
We also want to give a HUGE thank you to Tim Toal for allowing us to use his studio for the workshop, as well as getting us our gorgeous models Mary & Kat . Tim was the first photographer to give Justin a chance right out of college, and he second shot with him for a year and a half before moving to CT to start his own business. I might not be typing this to you today if it weren't for Tim....we owe him so much!
So there was that one time when we drove up to Rochester to see the Lilac Festival.
And being the good tourists that we are, we of course wanted to get our picture taken in front of a lilac bush right?? That's what you do! So we asked one of our fellow tourists, a kindly looking little old lady with a gray bun on top of her head if she would mind snapping a picture of us. Justin had already picked the spot for her to stand and dialed in all the settings when he handed the Olympus over to her, so she was all good to go. But then....she went to WERK!!
She backed up twenty feet so she "could get the light good." At one point she was standing behind a bush and shouting out for us to get closer to each other. She turned the camera every which way, including once, I'm pretty sure, upside down. She would point the camera at us for entire minutes at a time before snapping a shot, while we stood there with frozen smiles, poking each other & trying our best not to laugh. And then...it got REAL y'all!
Because that was the moment when she asked us to stand IN a lilac bush.
It started off innocently enough, with her directing us to stand on either side of this one little itty bitty bush in the midst of all the huge ones. So we did. And we smiled. Then she said "no, no, no...BACK UP!! Really get INTO the bush! This is going to be so COOL!" So we took a baby step back and a baby step in, still smiling the whole time. "NO! Closer! Really get in there!" At which point this itty bitty little old lady came over and MAN-HANDLED me into a plant. Let me tell you, she may have looked small, but she was strong. Then she backed up to her original spot and said, "Now look at each other! Hold hands in the middle! This is going to be great!" But we just kept smiling until she finally, finally, took the picture.
Then she came over and said, "Now let me show you what I did!" We ooohed and ahhhed the appropriate amount and thanked her profusely for her time as we sent her on her way. But just before she walked away she said, "In case you couldn't tell, I consider myself a bit of a photographer."
So Justin just smiled his Justin-y smile and said, "Yes ma'am, I could totally see that."
Happy Friday friends!
xo
M:)
***And I think it's high time for another birthday giveaway don't you! This week, we'll do a $25 gift card to Yankee Candle so you can get your choice of one their lilac scented ones or something else! Just leave a comment in the box below & we'll announce the winner next week! And....GO!!
**Happy Thursday you guys!! This week & next, Justin & I are off on some fun adventures (wine tasting in the Finger Lakes & the Lilac Festival this week & then something EXTRA fun next week for my birthday!) so we thought it would be fun to have some of our past Walk Through a Wedding attendees guest blog for us so we could check in & see where they are now. First up, we have the amazing & super sweet Alicia White! Alicia came to our April Walk Through last year, and at the end of the night on the second day we sat talking in the corner about where her business could be. A year later, I am SO blown away to see that Alicia has accomplished everything we talked about and MORE! She just launched her new brand last week that fits her to a T!! And she's here today to share how she got there!
Oh, Hello There Everyone! Let me start off by saying that it’s such an honor & treat to be guest blogging today! I have learned so incredibly much from Justin & Mary and am extremely grateful for their openness to share and strong passion to help others succeed & grow in their businesses. I cannot believe it has already been a YEAR since I attended Justin & Mary’s Walk Through a Wedding Workshop. It’s hard to imagine that two days can make much of a difference in the direction of your business, right? But it was exactly a year ago that I started to take my business to the next level and I am grateful to Justin & Mary for empowering me with the tools and courage to get where I am today.
I’m not saying it will happen overnight or that there is a simple solution, but it IS comforting to know there are resources and workshops like Walk Through a Wedding that aim at ALL parts of who we are as photographers; both as artists and business people. Having had the opportunity to attend the workshop, I can whole heartedly say I know myself better as a photographer and have a solid understanding of my brand & how I want it to be illuminated throughout my business. Bringing my brand to life was a key focus of the last year and now I can officially say I’ve launched my new website and brand (YaY!). Now that I have a strong brand and professional website, I feel that much more confident to charge what I’m worth. The truth of the matter is, without the knowledge I gained from Justin & Mary, the result would be nowhere near where it is today.
A few months before attending the workshop, my husband and I had just moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and I was looking to really start building my business now that we were settling down in an area. Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to describe how it felt. At the time I had a logo, website, & blog that I created myself that helped to display my work. But let’s face it, I was missing a brand to help highlight my personality and the experience of working with me. As for the BUSINESS side of things? (Insert theme song to Jaws). Phew. I came into this profession as an artist and emotional storyteller and have learned we must also tap into our business/marketing minds as well. It’s unfortunate that the business side of our profession is often overlooked because it is what enables us to pursue and grow our artistic selves that we all love so much!!
Even though I could write a short novel on all the information I learned within the two days of the workshop, I wanted to share highlights of THREE topics we explored in depth that really impacted me and gave me the confidence to really grow and expand my business this year:
Brand Power: The information that I learned about branding & business from Mary is absolutely priceless. At the time of the workshop, the in-depth discussion about the power of branding was exactly what I needed for my business and where I focused most of my attention this year into creating. Having a strong brand that represents YOU (and the experience of working with you) not only sets you apart from others in your area, but also creates an emotional connection in which the right clients will want to hire you for their wedding. A brand is not just about how organized or “pretty” a website looks, but more importantly how does the website make the couple feel. Everything from the initial email and onward should be reflected in the brand. Creating that emotional connection by demonstrating who you are throughout the brand is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business. Don’t be afraid to show off what makes you unique! A strong & consistent brand should highlight and attract clients that are a good fit for your personality and experience. Think of your website as a store front. When someone enters your store, what do you want him or her to see, feel, and experience? The branding process WILL take some time and should be done correctly and reflect professionalism. I’m extremely thankful to Mary for sending me toRavyn at Three Fifteen Design who helped create the logo & website that I envisioned and felt in my heart for my brand.
Creating Love Marks: Looking through their website, you might notice particular trends in the fashion and “feel” of the Justin & Mary couples and weddings they photograph. They have an impressive portfolio filled with couples that look almost hand selected by them. As described above, having a strong and consistent brand will help to showcase the type of weddings & couples that you will attract. When we create an emotional attachment (often due to feeling a familiar “like” connection), couples will feel that they HAVE to work with you. We must create those “love mark” relationships and experiences within our business that make an impression on our couples so that whenever the word photographer gets brought up, they will shout your name from the rooftops! Just as when someone says the word coffee, my mind automatically thinks of Starbucks, the right “fit” clients for your brand should do the same about your business! We talked about the importance of going above & beyond in maintaining positive relationships and creating cheerleaders for our businesses. What’s the first thing you do when you get upgraded to first class on a plane or get moved to a bigger hotel room that you reserved when you show up at the door? If your anything like me, you post it to your Facebook wall for the world to see what an amazing experience your having! That’s the same experience we want to create for our clients as photographers. Justin & Mary completely blew me away with how much time and effort they put into pampering their clients with gifts & treats that reflect their brand throughout the year (and I mean, who doesn’t love a fun branded surprise?) Instead of pouring their money into online/print advertising, Justin & Mary have found that putting more money towards catering to their couples has set them apart and creates a luxury brand.
Lighting: I knew coming to the workshop we were going to be discussing lighting, in particular off camera flash. What I wasn’t expecting was how in depth Justin & Mary went into ALL the different sources and dimensions of light and how this creates different results within the look and feel of the images. Not only was this presented throughout a powerpoint & real life demonstration, but we were also given the opportunity to practice shooting as if it were a real wedding day. Before the workshop I had no prior knowledge about anything off camera flash (seriously, none). To be honest, it was something that I didn’t think “was my style” and seemed so “out there” for me to learn when there are so many other things in the business I could be spending my time doing. But you know what? There might be situations in which having the knowledge to be able to do OCF is worth its weight in gold. For example, lets say you arrive at a wedding and the reception is underneath JUST the sky/stars with nothing to bounce your on-camera flash. Now what? (Scary, huh?) How about a reception in which the entire room and ceiling is all red oak - ever tried bouncing light off that? (Hint, it turns the entire room and people bright red). Having the knowledge of using OCF sets you apart as a professional in that you are able to work in various settings without worry for both you and the couple. Sure, I still consider my style as a “natural light” photographer (and will use natural light whenever I can), but having the knowledge of HOW to use my off camera light gives me the added confidence and professionalism that I am taking care of my couples no matter what the situation might present.
There is no doubt about it, I am incredibly grateful to have attended the workshop. I would have never known exactly what was necessary to propel my business the way it has this past year if I hadn’t experienced such an in-depth and open workshop. The hearts of both Justin & Mary are so genuine and they continue to encourage and challenge me to face my fears and become the confident business owner that I know exists within. Which in turn, allows me to enjoy my career as a photographer (and artist!) that much more. Thank you SO much J&M! I feel more ready & confident than ever for the future of my business.
With Love,
Alicia
***Our next Walk Through a Wedding Workshop will be taking place June 11-12th at our place in CT!! The theme is "To Have & To BHLDN" and we are already working on some KILLER Anthropologie inspired details that I can't wait to show you! We would LOVE for you to join us! If you want to grab your spot, just head over HERE and be sure to use the code "blogreader" for $250 off your seat!
When Justin & I were first getting started, we sat down one night and took a look at our numbers and realized we were actually losing money for every wedding that we shot. Uh yea, WHOOPS! I had learned a couple of things from the business classes I had taken in law school, and I'm pretty sure one of the chapters in our text book had read "in building a successful business, really try not to lose money." So we knew some things had to change.
A few years later when we had gotten our prices up where "everyone" said they needed to be, we were so proud of that really BIG package we had and made sure everyone knew about it. Yea, until we sat down again one night and realized we actually MADE less from that package than one of our smaller ones. Again yea, WHOOPS!
Let's face it, pricing your worth for something as subjective as photography is hard work. And so is running a business that actually makes you a living. Justin & I are both full time, this is our bread, butter and JAM! So we had to find a way to make sure this wasn't just an expensive hobby, but something that actually made us a living. Over the past seven years, we've lost jobs because we were too expensive and we've lost jobs because we were too cheap. And somewhere through it all, we've found a pricing structure that just really works for us & our clients. We realized we didn't want to be one of those photographers who are only known because they charge a lot, but then don't actually book anything. We wanted to work. And we wanted to shoot. Because we love it.
And we wanted to be able to make both a LIFE and a LIVING doing this thing we LOVE.
On May 22nd & 23rd we are SO honored to be part of an online free event called "Pain-Free Pricing" put on by The Joy of Marketing & WHCC, where we will get to join 9 of the top industry experts to share our pricing story and what we've found is really working for us now. Like I said, it's totally free for you to tune in & listen and all you have to do is head over HERE to get registered. And if you can't listen in those days, they also have the downloads (along with the pricing packets from all 10 speakers) available for purchase!
Pancake Sessions
