You may have noticed that my website is all about wedding photography. It’s true that I have much more “professional” experience with photographing weddings than children. Note that “professional” is in quotes. In reality, I have been photographing children & families for more than 10 years, a bit longer than I’ve been shooting weddings. However, in many cases I was doing so as a favor (read: free or really cheap) for my many friends with adorable children. And in all honesty, many times they were doing me a favor by letting me practice on their kids! I don’t regret this at all…I learned so much from those sessions, and who doesn’t love making your friends happy! The thing is, when you’re photographing people’s families for free, you don’t really need a website to get jobs.
I’ve always found it easier to market myself to brides than to moms. Brides have a deadline and a sense of urgency about booking you before someone else does. They are shopping around, and they have a budget set aside for photography. They are willing to pay more for a certain style and level of quality. A wedding is “once in a lifetime”, so they can justify paying a little more for the photography that will be the memento of that special day.
Mom, on the other hand, may be thinking that a child’s portrait could be made any time. In most cases, she is right…there is almost always another day, week or month to make that appointment. I can’t tell you though, how amazed I am by how fast the time flies. (I’ll bet you’ve looked at the calendar in shock that it’s already February….I know I have!) My point is that there will not always be a chance to capture your child at the particular stage she is in right now, and, if life goes as it usually does, it may be next year before it’s convenient. That’s just the way of life, and I believe it’s the reason I have found it more difficult to build a thriving client base in portraits than in weddings.
As you may have guessed, I have decided to put more efforts into marketing myself as a portrait photographer this year. As a matter of fact, this blog is a part of that agenda. I’m also planning some major revisions to the web site to showcase both sides of my business, and I can’t wait to unveil that to you. For now, I will rely on blog posts and Flickr to give you a glimpse into my recent portrait work.
And, with that in mind, here are a couple shots of the adorable baby C from last December. How cute is he?!?
Rachel Lockwood Photography Blog 