Third Career

Sample Photobook

There is nothing more fulfilling to me, a rookie photographer than to get a sweet message from a client expressing how much she loves the photos I took of her son and her family.

Juliet, a sister of a friend, asked me to take photos of her 5-month old son, Jerrod. She saw my photos of her niece in a banner and a "thank-you" card and loved them. She first asked if I was in the business and I just said "not really--not actively promoting it but I would do it if there is an opportunity". And so we made a deal. She followed up with an email, we worked out a schedule and we made it happen. The plan was to only have portraits taken of Jerrod but I suggested we might as well take family photos. I won't charge her extra for it. She said, "that would be nice, but I don't know how that will work. My older son will not cooperate."

3.5-year old Brandon

I spent about an hour and a half at their place. It was tough at first. Indeed, her older son did not want to work with us. They did everything they could to make him pose and smile--from promising him things to threatening him, those didn't work.  He had a little Fisher-Price camera with him (which was a real digital camera) and said he wants to be the one taking photos. So I had to make another deal with him--I let him take my photos and I take his. He agreed. So I took a spot, smiled for him, struck several poses while he clicked away with his Fisher-Price camera.  When all this was done, I said, "It's my turn!"
When the photos came out, I was pleased.  My friend, the boy's aunt was shocked to see that his nephew actually did pose for me. She said, "Wow, really??? He posed for you?"

5-month old Jerrod

I don't normally include prints in the package.  I don't want to deal with prints.  I give electronic copies on a DVD and leave it up to the clients to have them printed. I give them recommendations on where to get prints. It's cheaper for them that way.  But Juliet asked that I include prints so I did. It took a while for the prints to come back but it was worth the wait. The quality was so much better than the prints we could get form Walgreens or Costco.

Some pages of the sample Photobook

I gave Juliet a bonus Photobook too, which she didn't expect.  And this blew her away!  I had thought about creating a sample photobook and sell it as an add-on and saw an opportunity with Juliet's photos.  She loved it so much that she insisted to pay for it.  I nicely declined saying my brand is all over it, so she should keep it and show it off to her friends and family.  That's all I asked in return.  I think that was a good marketing move.  A friend of hers, who is expecting has asked me to take photos of her baby when she comes out.  Yay!

Another page from the book

Juliet thought I should make a career out of photography.  I have thought about that, but I don't know that I have everything I need to pursue it--the tools, the time and the energy.  But having it as a third career sounds doable.  It'll have to be a third--third only to my being mom and my full-time job at Thomson.

We'll see how it goes.  For now, I'll grab whatever opportunity comes my way, make the most of what I have and continue to be encouraged by happy clients like Juliet.

More photos of Juliet's baby and family are available at my Facebook Page.