When first starting my business last year, I was looking for clients so I could build my portfolio. Starting out in any business is nerve racking, and while I’m passionate about what I do and have a strong business background, I wouldn’t consider sales my strongest area. I posted some info on some of the local Facebook groups I was in, about what I was hoping to do and got a ton of interest, I was thrilled! Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out quite the way I’d hoped and what started with 15 inquiries into my portfolio building sessions, turned into 3 actual scheduled sessions. I was discouraged at first, but I remind myself regularly that everyone has to start somewhere.
Instead of giving up, I spent a lot of time focusing on learning this year. I joined various communities of photographers where we can all mentor each other and share our ideas, hopes and fears about our businesses, and successes. I’ve found a common theme among us all is that we are all very hard on ourselves! It’s funny because photography is an art, which is in the eye of the beholder... so why are we so hard on ourselves? I know my reason... fear. Fear of failure, fear of my work not living up to my clients expectations, fear of letting my family down and mostly, fear of letting myself down. I try to use my own fears in a positive way and allow them to push me to succeed.
The photos I’ve been sharing are of one of my very first clients last year, as usual I was super nervous heading into the session and as usual I didn’t need to be. Little C was about the same age as my own son, which made it very comfortable for me (and hopefully him too). After a few shy moments, he started opening up and I was able to capture some amazing images.
We had such a fun session a Lynch Park up in Beverly, MA. It's a great venue that has a lot to offer, especially for toddlers! We ran through the grass, played on the playground and even got a little time at the end in the splash park! Allowing kids to be kids helps get them into their comfort zone and allows them to open up to the camera more! This particular session made me fall in love with water play photos! Children have such amazing emotion when they are playing in the water, and it's one of my favorite things to capture on the camera!
If I’m being completely honest, I expected all of these sessions to be a one time thing, based on what I’d heard from other photogs. To my surprise, when I launched my website earlier this year, C’s mom contacted me about booking a second session! I couldn’t have been more excited to capture more pictures of this little guy, being a full year older! We actually had some scheduling issues due to our New England weather and our sessions ended up being almost exactly a year apart, at the same location! This time was just as fun! Little C brought his golf clubs and impressed me with his skills (seriously, I won't be surprised if I see him in the PGA Tour in 20 years!). We even explored the beach a little this time around, and obviously ended our session at the splash park again!
Splash Park - 2017 Splash Park - 2018
Thanks for reading!
~so~