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5 Questions Photographers Asked about Planning Fall Photo Season
I'm answering your questions and letting you in on my thoughts and strategies for successful fall photography sessions, covering everything from weather policies to styling guides to location selection.
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Hey, mama, whether or not you're trying out your camera for the very first time, or you've been doing this a while and just looking for some creative inspiration, I've got all that and more. I'm here to help you see your world differently, challenge you creatively and find your passion for photography. Hey guys, welcome back to Better Photos Podcast. I'm your host, brittany Porter. To Better Photos Podcast. I'm your host, brittany Porter, and today we are going to be talking all about fall sessions and what does that look like for you? How do you get ready for those? How do you market those? What do you even want to do? How do you want to make money? So we're going to cover all those questions in today's podcast, so stay tuned. So it has been like a little bit since I recorded, because when you're all at home, there's just always like interruptions. So I'm so happy to finally be sitting back down at my desk with my kids in school and my husband out of the house, and so I know other than my dog maybe that there is no one going to be coming into my room and making me feel all flustered. So, update on life. Um. Update on life. Um, me and my husband celebrated our 15 year anniversary and we went to Catalucci Ranch in Maggie Valley and that's like outside of Asheville. It is like a dream for people who want to disconnect a little bit, um and do some more like adventure type bonding experiences and um just enjoying each other's company without being um reality TV, netflix, um just life in general. So we went to this place and we signed up for um some activities like horseback riding and pottery making on like the spinny thing wheel, um, we did archery and we also played a lot of pool. So, um, they have like a bunch of like activities that you can pick from and it's family friendly. So like we want to go back again and stay like in a cabin, um and bring our kids because there's fishing, there's like a creek to play in, there is um an an adventure course, there is a airsoft gun shooting, there is like the ax throwing stuff, oh, and we went on a hike Um, so there's hiking, horseback riding, um just like so much to do. They also have like this cool little lounge area that was kind of like a secret, and so me and my husband pretty much just hung out there and there are no TVs, so you just really feel like you can look into each other's eyes and like feel heard and seen and just like try new things together, and that's something that I really loved about dating that I want to incorporate like into dating while we're married too, um, so it was a great place If you want to go check it out, um, and I'm so happy that it's just like a couple hour drive from where we are so we can get back and get there like pretty quickly.
Speaker 1:Chicken wise on our own ranch, porter Farm, we have 14 chickens now and, yes, we still have Harold, our unfortunate looking rooster, and they have all started crowing. I haven't seen Harold crow yet, but in the morning. I'm so sad for my neighbors and ourselves because now it's like a crowing contest, so like the main one will crow and then it's like they all have to show their, their abilities. And so it was like crow after crow after crow after crow, and it's a myth that roosters crow when the sun comes up. They will crow for many different reasons from that they found some food, or they like a girl and they're claiming you know, dibs on her, um, because they hear something, because they see something I don't know. I mean, and definitely like in the morning and all throughout the day, um, so if you're looking for some roosters, I can help you out. My kids are very, um, uh, attached, and so it's. I was trying to get rid of them when they were younger, um, but yeah, my kids just don't want to let go. Okay, so I think that is it.
Speaker 1:We're heading into busier season than summer and we're just going to talk through some things kind of what I've been working with ChatGPT to figure out, kind of how I'm revamping my business for the fall, and some things that I'm doing different. So let's get started. Okay, so I've gathered some questions that photographers have when they are approaching busy season in the fall, and so I'm going to touch on five different questions that you may have, and hopefully we can get those answered, and if you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message on Instagram. Right now it's at BePoshPhoto, but I'm honestly about to change my name to at Brittany Porter Photography and I'm still deciding if that's all one word or if it's underscore anywhere, um, just for SEO purposes, or if I want it to be all cohesive with my new website domain, um, so I'll just leave it in the show notes and it will update.
Speaker 1:So first question is how do I handle unpredictable fall weather? All right, so in my booking, this is where like terms and conditions come into play and your differentiation between a full session and a mini session, so you can choose to have your mini sessions be rain or shine, except if it gets to like thunderstorming or tornado or like hurricane or something like crazy or like really rough wind, and so you can put that in your terms and conditions that it will only be canceled if I say that it's canceled. That's basically what mine says. My mini sessions say that I will only and my full sessions, but, like, once you pay your deposit and normally with mini sessions, I require the whole mini session fee and I'll say there are no refunds and for mini sessions they are not refundable. Um, so, like you better know that you can get there, they are only transferable in case of weather or like another emergency.
Speaker 1:Um that I deem as an appropriate reason for um rescheduling. If you forgot that you had a sports game, like don't book, if you forgot that you had Something else going on, like the deposits are always non-refundable, but with all my sessions they're normally transferable, but when it comes to minis, they would only be transferred on to like another date that I rebooked. But luckily I haven't had that problem where the weather has been an issue. So you can put that in your terms and conditions of what you're willing to reschedule for, or if you're not willing to reschedule, and that's okay too. People just have to know ahead of time, before they book what, what they can get. And I find that if you don't mention your rescheduling policy or cancellation policy, that you will have more cancellations, more no-shows, and I always require a deposit now so that they're losing something if they don't show up. I mean, it's kind of like me with a workout class, like if I'm working out at home, like I may or may not show up, but if I have paid for a class and I will lose my money if I don't get there on time. I'm going to be there on time, so I don't want to lose that money and I don't want to lose that class or that experience. And so the same goes for photography.
Speaker 1:All right, question number two what should I recommend clients wearing wardrobe is such a huge question in the fall, and I think this has been the biggest game changer in getting clients to align with my vision and my brand is by sending them a style guide. Clients don't know what they don't know, and this all comes back to, like what you're putting on social media, what your branding is, what you're saying about outfits, um, and so I put a lot of emphasis on what I put on my Instagram and like how I address even color tones, because I want people to be wearing like warm tones, because it goes better with my editing. Like with my editing, I'm stripping basically like green, yellow, blue, purple, um, like really a lot of cool tone colors, and so if they can lean towards the warm in their outfits, it won't become gray in my editing. And then I have to go in and tweak everything because it's pulled out of color that they are wearing. So ahead of time, like over the summer, when I was talking about gearing up for fall, um, the best thing that I made was, um, a or the best thing that I did was I signed up for a third party suggestion, um, actually okay.
Speaker 1:So there's three things that you can do, maybe four, to help your client, guide your clients, with their outfits. You can first, for free, make a pinterest board. Make a pinterest board with all the clothes and items. I like to use my like to know it affiliate links to pin things. So then I'm also making like an affiliate commission. If anybody buys from my pinterest board and I'll link from Amazon, I'll link things from H&M, um, I'll pin things from I can't remember if Zara is affiliated yet Um, but anything that I love and like the color palettes and stuff I will put on a vision board on Pinterest and send that link to everyone.
Speaker 1:Many session clients, full session clients, everyone will get access. I mean, even you guys have access to my Pinterest vision board of colors and styles. Then I have an Amazon storefront. So I've linked things specifically that are only on Amazon, because I feel like a lot of my clients wait until the last minute and they want to buy something quick on their computer from Amazon because they have the fastest shipping. So I've made an Amazon board that is specifically things clothing items for mom, dad, kids of all ages. It's just like a little more to like shuffle through. I haven't organized it by like seasons or by you know, exact like role of the family or ages, so it's a little more of a hodge podge and I feel like that's acceptable for like somebody who's just browsing, or just for the free, or just for the free aspect of it.
Speaker 1:Okay, so then, the third thing that I do now for definitely my story session clients those are my like one hour plus sessions is I show them or use a third party styling thing called style and select, and so, basically, I can go through and pick my like color options based on like do you want light and airy, or bold or muted? And I always go with the muted color palette and then from there it'll pick colors. Um, you get to pick like I want ivory and Brown and the normal. I do black and and white, but now I've been switching to like. Add some like the pink and green tab or the red for like holiday, and so you can go into each person and it gives outfit suggestions and it's shoppable. So you can add like dresses for mom or shirts for dad, pants for dad, all the kids clothes, and it will make like a shop mom or shirts for dad, pants for dad, all the kids' clothes, and it will make like a shoppable style guide for like each individual person based on their age and what's available. So I love that because even if they don't buy from that, at least they're getting a good sense of what it looks like to dress cohesively for a family and not all matchy match or be over patterned or have neons or cool tones.
Speaker 1:Like a lot of people, when I say cool tones, you can't really like see it unless you're like looking for it. I don't know. I think that's like the art in me. Um is noticing like cool tones and warm tones and then also like holding up the colors together. I don't know if that comes as like a natural ability to a lot of people, just being able to like say these colors work well together, these tones, there's just like a lot more that goes into it. So that has been.
Speaker 1:And then on my higher tier is my client closet for moms and so most of my stuff there. I feel like people are getting a great um like hang of it, like to pick out like more outfits that I would approve of, cause it's like I want movement and I want um to be able you to be able to sit, sit down. I want you to be able to like hold your baby. I want you to be able to put your baby in the air, like without your boobs falling out and you know, or feeling like stuff or stuffed or like jeans that feel like uncomfortable and like if you raise your arm, your stomach shows and you don't like your stomach and you know. Or you don't like your arms it's like I've heard clients complain so much about the things that they don't like your stomach and you know, or you don't like your arms. It's like I've heard clients complain so much about the things that they don't like. Plus, there's, I mean, like I'm very critical of myself and so if there's things I don't like about myself, then I'm like okay, I know someone else is not gonna like this. So how can we like give grace to your body so that you don't feel like you have to like diet?
Speaker 1:You know for family photos that you can just show up in something that's like comfortable and looks great. In photos I've been a little more lenient on like some styles, like I don't think everyone, every mom, has to wear like a dress or like a prairie style, which I mean I love a lot of those photos, photos. But I'm also loving some of the photos like I like, I love um doing more of like the bare belly photos with like the two-piece, like outfits or jeans and like a sweater rolled up, um for maternity, and so I'm kind of loving these styles, but also kind of like depends on like the person. Again, with like the dresses. If it's like a more rounder person, I don't know if that dress style is going to be perfect for their body type. So style and select like helps me like think about that.
Speaker 1:And then some clients they're just going to show up in like whatever they, they want to show up again with your price points, your mini session clients they are not going to have the same or they might not like. If you're your mini session clients, they are not going to have the same or they might not Like. If you're pricing your mini sessions like below a hundred or $200, then you might have people that do not care about what they're wearing at all. They're just there to get like one Christmas card smiling at the, the or one photo of everyone smiling at the camera. And that's kind of why that's one of the reasons I've like upped my prices over the years is that you get more people that care about styling and once they put a lot of investment into the photos, they want to look really good and they want to know what makes them look good, and so I've just made all these style guides and blog posts explaining you know why I like warm tones in photos or what not to wear in photos. So I'll drop that blog post in the show notes and you can look over that and get some ideas of how to guide your clients as um.
Speaker 1:Okay, so question number three is how do I balance many sessions versus full sessions? Okay, so we know everybody offers many sessions in the fall. But I've been wrestling with the question of like. Why do I put so much of an emphasis on location, prop stuff, like all the goods for like my mini session clients and then I leave my like full session clients like hanging, like, say, I bring like a couch and like a setup or whatever for like a mini session and yes, I'll make more, you know, for that one day. But but now I'm kind of flipping the switch a little bit of that. I want my full-time sessions investment to be like so worth it that the mini session people are like dang, I should have, I should have booked the full session. So that's kind of what I've been working with ChatGPT over.
Speaker 1:Is like really defining like my minis, cause I honestly didn't even want to do them this year Like and I definitely didn't want to be doing the 15 minute ones where you're like in, out and it's just so overwhelming. I get families that only want to just like show up and smile at the camera, but their kids are meltdown mode central. No one wants to like participate. Everyone's in a bad mood. You know, it's like I just don't like that. I want people to like show up and have like a fun experience and not be so stiff and like rigid and like. That's just not what I want for my clients. So over the summer I've been trying to like subtly talk about that in my marketing, like with my newsletter and with my social media, just kind of like talking about what a session could look like, like even like the storytelling aspects and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Um, so I also have priced my mini sessions like way higher with less things that they get Okay. So I increased the time to 30 minutes because I feel like that is like breathing room for me and for my clients. So I will obviously get more than the than what they need. So if they're coming to me for a smiling photo, I try to get that at the beginning. But I'm so bad at remembering that, because it's like I want everyone to get warmed up first to get like more natural smiles. So I really need to like prioritize that in the fall is getting that smiling photo right at the beginning so that you can just like go ahead and check that off the list. So get the smiling one. You know all your sessions. First, okay, and then I'm just like offering okay, so it's 30 minutes. I've upped their prices to like 375.
Speaker 1:And this year I'm not doing any paid locations. Like all the locations I picked are free. So if somebody backs out or if I don't have like enough bookings, then it's like not a pay cut for me. In the past I've picked like private locations, I've paid fees and then I'll have like especially my locations that require like a drive like an hour. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is such a great location, this greenhouse is so beautiful, it's like perfectly styled, and then no one wants to drive an hour to get there. And so then I'm like eating this like major cost because it's like typically wedding venue prices and then it's like I really didn't make that much, but I I mean, on the flip side, I have this like new location to like give variety to my Instagram and that's about it and I'm like, well, is it worth it? So I'm like now I just need to make these locations available to my story clients, my one hour clients, and maybe it's like they pay half the location fee, or I just talk up the good things about a private location, which will be kind of what we talked about in question five, but just like the privacy that goes along with it and not the like, um, distractions from all the other properties that will have tons of photographers, um, there, um, okay.
Speaker 1:So with many sessions, again, I'm doing it different. So last year in July and maybe the year before, I did like Christmas in July and promoted my mini sessions first, before anything, and so then I feel like I got zero, like not zero. I mean, I still had a handful of like full session clients, but this, this year, I really wanted to focus on my full session clients and book less mini sessions, so I didn't promote them until September 1st. I kept promoting my full sessions on Instagram and then I sent an email to basically my clients that have already booked with me Because, again, like, if you have a new person sign up for a mini session, then they should get just like a little taste of you that like makes them want more. Then they should get just like a little taste of you that like makes them want more.
Speaker 1:But I don't feel like that's the case. I feel like people just want the cheapest photos and I don't like that. Like I honestly want people just to like value me and my work and I want to show up for them and I want them to like show up for me, you know. And so that's why I'm kind of like redoing my mini sessions Plus focusing on newborns and stuff. That kind of like takes up the price cut if I'm not doing like a full day, which again I am still offering three days with like four sessions each, or maybe two days, um, at different locations. So like an urban location a, and I have like like a two session thing or something like the wildflowers, um, because that one's like a really inexpensive location, um. So think about do you want to even offer minis? If you do, what are they going to entail? And how can you differentiate the price and the value that people get between their mini session and their full session? Like I want my one hour session clients to know that's when I'm getting all of the creative shots.
Speaker 1:You want a gif. You want a motion blur. You want different perspectives. You want a motion blur. You want um different perspectives. You want a variety of backgrounds. You want um more art for um your, your photos. You want to make like a family storybook, a scrapbook or an album or something. I want that to be in the forefront of your mind when you're booking like a full session is that you get all that. You can add video to it because we have time. You can um. I'll typically bring you know um like props and stuff to like help make it an experience. We'll talk about story ideas and basically it's just um like a lot of value for that time and uh, that price point.
Speaker 1:With the mini sessions, I'm saying you're getting like one background and like a couple shots. I know that that is not my personality, to just be okay with that. So I'm obviously going to still be getting like detail shots. I'm still going to be getting playful shots, um, but in my for those it's normally I have like four or five different like prompts and I do the same ones on every single family, and so it's um like they still work and it's still great, but the hard part for me is like coming up with something that works for different types of families and different age kids, different heights, um, and so that can be a little bit stressful. So, again, that's why I'm decreasing my minis and increasing my full sessions and really like letting my clients know the difference between both of them. Um, so then they get to choose.
Speaker 1:Um, okay, what locations work best for fall photos photos? Um, this is something else that I worked in my slow season was to come up with a location guide. So, as I've been shooting at different places, I put those all into Canva and then I make like a little location guide that can show photos from each location. Not, like I do I'm starting to work on like full blog posts of those sessions, but just a couple photos from, like, each location has been really helpful, so then I can post those on Instagram, send those to my clients and I host it on my website so people can look at those even before they book with me.
Speaker 1:Um, some locations require a fee. Again, like, I don't want to just go ahead and pay for that, because then it's coming out of my, my profit, and um, so now I've offered those as like add-ons, but some of them can be tricky because you're having to talk with venues to make sure they have availability and a lot of them are used for weddings and so in the fall you're kind of limited with paid locations Anyway. So I've left those as like an add-on for my clients. I scheduled one place as like a promo shoot because I really want I just like envision it's kind of more for me, you know. So, um, I did one location, um that was like a paid one that I am paying the cost for that, um.
Speaker 1:But I try to tell my clients that with the paid locations you get less distractions. Um, you get to bring distractions. You get to bring I don't know. You get more backdrops that, like, you wouldn't normally get. So, like that barn that you love, you're going to have to pay for that property. Or that flower field that you love, you're going to have to pay for that property. If you want just the woods, we can go to a park. If you want just the field, we can go to a park, but there may be other people there and in the fall there's probably going to be like 20,000 photographers there, so you may not get the spot you want. So I try to like tell my clients that, and then I also have like some locations that are available on like a Thursday night, so then you can kind of beat the crowd. Like, obviously, saturdays, I think, are going to be like the most crowded. So I try to do Friday evening, saturday afternoon and Thursday night um, or during the week, if people have availability, then I can do that too. Um, so I think that was it for the locations.
Speaker 1:Oh, um, scouting out new locations, um, I like getting like new ideas or just following new parks. Um, I love fall, because all the like green, lime green kind of goes away and I'm getting stuck with more of the the neutral tones that I love. Um, so you want to think about like colors, like in the backgrounds of like what colors do you hate? Um, then maybe not go to a location with a lot of those colors and then a lot of parks in Charlotte. You're supposed to have like a permit. So, um, just beware of like not setting up like a whole ordeal and then realizing that you didn't have a permit for that location. Um, so a great thing for this is on my intake forms I ask where is your like ideal location. Is it, um, an in an? Is it in a historic town? Is it like a farm? Is it a flower field? Is it a field? Is it a barn? I can't remember like what all the ones I put, but I basically give them some check boxes and they can pick what locations they like and then I can suggest them while I'm sending them my location guide link so that has been really helpful is to put in your questionnaire, like in your intake form, to just have a little spot where they can type or check box their like preferred location, so then you can match them perfectly to a place that you've already found, without having to like just guess. Okay.
Speaker 1:Number five how do I keep families, especially kids, engaged outdoors? Um, so, we know that fall can have all types of weather. We know that there's um lots of things going on in the park and here are some things I suggest. Okay, first of all, never pick a place that's near a playground. Okay, I've learned the hard way. The kids see the playground and the whole time the parents are like after we do this, we can go, after we, if you smile one more time, we can go to the playground and all the kids want to do is they see that playground and they just want to go there. So avoid places that the kids can see the playground.
Speaker 1:So I bring little props like bubbles or magnifying glasses or um, sometimes I'll just like get nature involved and be like go pick a flower, go who can find the biggest weed, or who can find, um, you know, send them on like little scavenger hunts, um, and so I just love working with outdoor stuff, like who can tall, uh, stay in the tallest on this rock, or, um, who can run to this side of the field the quickest? Or, um, you know, you can think of a million different cues and prompts for for working with outdoor that keep the kids engaged in photos and you're looking for mostly composition and some like fun creative shot list things. So if you haven't already purchased my creative shot list, this is like my favorite thing to keep with me before I do a shoot because it is reminding me of all the creative shots I can get in one session. That is more like a scavenger hunt and it's not like posed family photo stuff, it's more like your composition and like art, um, and so sometimes it doesn't even matter what the family is doing. If you have people lined up in a certain way, or if you have, like, the background, you know, lined in a certain way, or if you're shooting from a different angle or position, sometimes it doesn't even matter, like, what the family's really doing. It matters because the photographer's angle makes it look so like art, um, and so, referring to that creative shot list before I started a session, um can also um make me worry less about the engagement of the family and more about like, what can I say to put them in these different positions? That will get a great composition, um, and so, using props and prompts, sometimes I bring things like a stool or a chair or a teepee or, um, like Christmas lights, or you know something fun, and so I'll do a couple. And then I'm like and I've got something else, and who wants to play a game or who wants to do that? You know, and just keep bringing out surprises, and that can make it last longer and get more variety and not, like, make them upset about putting something else away when you have something else to replace it with. Um, and making sure that you um get that first family smiling shot right at the beginning.
Speaker 1:Again, noting to myself was like get the grandma shot is what they call it, like the smiling everybody looking at the camera, um, and then go into like the more storytelling while also cuing people to look different ways or stand different ways or, you know, for composition, like if you don't want everyone on one linear um composition that you want some people like sitting and some people standing and just kind of thinking like all these other artistic things in mind, um, and giving the kids and families things to do.
Speaker 1:That has been my, you know.
Speaker 1:I guess like the center of my work is like less of me and more of you, um, and also going along with the Christmas card photo stuff.
Speaker 1:With my social media, I'm just going to start like showing more of the Christmas cards that have like nobody smiling at the camera and how those can be like some of the best, and also like emphasizing why would you spend so much money on one Christmas card photo that someone's going to throw away, when you could pay money towards an entire family album that could be passed down to generations after generation? So, with people that like love every single image and like you know, so that's going to go into my marketing as well. All right, so, again, this should have answered some questions of handling fall weather and cancellations, rescheduling what clients should wear, balancing many versus full sessions, locations and location guides and keeping families engaged outdoors. So if you have any other questions on fall sessions or photography or anything in general, please reach out at Be Posh Photo or at Brittany Porter Photography on Instagram. And thanks again for tuning in and, as always, go out and make better photos.