Faces on the Wall not in the Clouds: A Guide to a Profitable and Stylish Family Part 1

In my 20 years of experience as a professional photographer, I've found most people find family portraits to be boring, overwhelming or generally chaotic (if not all three). I felt exactly that way until I began incorporating Stylized Family Portraits into my business. Because of this mindset, family portraits are now more rewarding - both monetarily and inspirationally. Most important, Stylized Family Portraits give my clients a wonderful memory with their family, personalized art for their home and an experience they can't wait to share on social media.

Here is the first of the three keys that helped me transform my family portrait sessions from intolerable to inspiring.

Know your STYLE.

The most important element for shooting stylized family portraits is to know your own style. When you know yourself and your photography well enough to pinpoint your look, you will be able to help your clients express who they are through stylized portraits. It doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your aesthetic to what your clients want, but knowing your style can help you incorporate what you love to photograph with what will work in your client’s homes.

A fantastic exercise to define your style is to choose 3 words that can encapsulate your photography. Examples of descriptive words are fun, fresh, silly, playful, simple, clean, romantic, vintage, modern, edgy. To get a better idea for your visual aesthetic, make Pinterest boards and reflect on what you choose. Take a minute to look at my Pinterest boards (kiabondurant). Notice my color boards — you’ll find that they are bright and full of life. My boards are different than my photographer friends who have dreamy and vintage or clean and modern choices.

Another way to determine your 3 words is to ask others. I encourage you to text several people right now and ask them, “What 3 words would you use to describe my photography work and/or my personal style?” It might feel embarrassing to ask, but you’ll be glad you did. Invariably, when I challenge photographers to text friends for words, they hear incredible feedback about their work and business. It becomes an amazing boost of confidence!

For many years, I would sit in a booth displaying my work at women’s expos. I heard the same words over and over. Your work is so Vibrant. I love how Authentic the feelings are. I’m so Inspired. So when I did this exercise several years ago when creating my studio website, I already had my 3 words. Vibrant, Authentic and Inspirational are the words I chose and they have been a guiding force in the direction of my business and personal life ever since.

My final suggestion on knowing your own style, is to look at the work that you create for yourself. If I go back through the portraits I’ve made of my own family and children, I can see evidence of the 3 aspects of my personal style. Many of my sessions are bright and playful with clothing or backgrounds in turquoise, bright green, red and yellow - Vibrant. There are also times when I’ve done more vintage or black and white, capturing the family sweaty, muddy and messy - Authentic. And then, some of my favorites are dreamier with a make believe or ethereal element - Inspired

Knowing your personal style gives you more confidence, direction and enthusiasm as you help your clients express their family’s style through your photography.