In my head I’ve seen beautiful images on Pinterest and thought, ‘I would love to do a shoot with that!’ But somehow my brain gets in the way and says, ‘Well, hopefully you’ll get a client like that someday.’

I’ve seen a movement and been inspired by others to do my own dream photo shoot, the one I’ve always wanted, that looks exactly the way I want. Why do I have to wait to get a client like that? I’m sure my clients would be interested, I just need to show them what I’m capable of.

So…I’m planning. I’ve been picking up vintage dresses all week, props and other things to use in this shoot this summer. I’ve got models lined up and well there’s really only one thing missing…

One-thousand paper cranes…

You can check out my inspiration board on Pinterest >here<. I came across this image of wedding tables and chairs and above them are hanging paper cranes. I love it and I love the meaning and stories that come with paper cranes and Japan. When I saw that image in Pinterest I went to click on it and the link led me nowhere – just a page with a picture. I had to do the research and see what inspired this styled wedding.

There are lots of myths and legends around paper cranes and Japan – specifically around one-thousand. One thousand paper cranes are traditionally given as a wedding gift in Japan from the father to the couple. He is wishing one thousand years of good luck and prosperity on the couple. There are lots of other things that surround the idea of one thousand cranes, good luck, health, wellness, and more. In Japan the crane is considered a very holy creature who lives for one thousand years. That is why one thousand are made – one for each year of the crane’s life.

So, in the end I’m planning this shoot and the one impossible thing I have to do is make 1000 cranes! I’d love your help. If everyone who reads this makes one crane and sends it in I can incorporate all of you into the shoot. What do I have to give in return? Not much aside from the good luck that making cranes can bring. But, I will make a list of every person who sends me a crane and link to them from Photography Awesomesauce (we have great SEO ). Supposedly making one thousand paper cranes can help your dreams/wishes come true and in this case it would help mine, literally.

So here’s what you’ve got to do. I need your cranes sent by May 31st so I can string them together and use them in June.

1. Make a paper crane. You can make and send as many as you like. Use either white, light yellow, or light pink paper. Here are some instructions on how to make a paper crane. The paper square you start out with must be 3 inches by 3 inches. It’s okay if your crane isn’t perfect!

2. When your crane is finished write your photography wish on the wing. 

3. Send it to my studio! You can flatten the crane (see step 12 above) and easily slip it in an envelope.
Carrie Swails Photography
7595 W. 66th Ave. Suite 200
Arvada, CO. 80003

When the photo shoot is done it’s something I’d love to get published online (we talked about publishing earlier this week). I’d love to be able to give credit to all of you and link to a page where all of you and your websites are listed in the publication. Maybe one crane from everyone will help all our photography wishes and dreams come true?

I would love to encourage you all to set up a Pinterest board and start designing and planning a shoot just for you, exactly the way you want, nothing can be more inspiring and great at getting you into your photography again.

Thanks for listening and helping (if you chose to). I so appreciate each and every one of you and your involvement in our community.

Awesomesauce Store – Become a Member – Carrie Swails Photography

1. Know your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to your business. What is your weakness? What are you not good at? Whatever your weaknesses are find a way to change them (or delegate) so they’re no longer your weakness.

2. A lot of business owners forget to look at their business through their customer’s eyes. Sometimes as photographers we set up our business model the way we think our customers should want it, even if our customers don’t want it that way. Step out of the mindset of what we think our customers should want and pay attention to what they do actually want.

3. Time is everything. Time is money, time is life, time is freedom, time is what being an entrepreneur is all about. Figuring out how to balance your business time so you can maximize profits by making more and working less is crucial.

4. If you don’t like the industry standards for your business – change them and make your own rules.

5. Define yourself by what you are going to say ‘no’ to.

6. Be an official business and do things the right way. Don’t cut corners, ignore taxes and ignore business licenses. You’ll pay for it later.

7. Surround yourself with colleagues who can inspire you to do better and bigger things.

8. Find a niche for your photography type and stick to it!

9. Customers like clear and simple information. Complex policies, rules, strategies, pricing and information will be a turn off.

10. Answer email once a day. Answering your emails as they come in will distract you from being truly focused on your work, will make you less productive, and will give your customers the impression that you are always available and always working.

11. To start getting the kind of quality clients you desire, make sure your brand reflects the type of people you want to photograph. Only share work in your portfolio of the types of people, situations, and styles of photography that you want to do most. Putting that out there will attract clients who are interested in the same things you are.

12. At some point in your business you have to stop preparing to start a business. You can read and train as much as you want, but you need to just get out there and do it.

13. Keep educating yourself as trends change, customers change, and technology changes. A well-educated business owner in tune with the latest information will be able to harness their new knowledge and use it to their advantage.

14. There are going to be lots of mistakes and failures along the way. Accept them, learn from them, and move on.

15. Thank your clients.

16. Everything takes time. Don’t expect to always see an immediate response to a new marketing strategy.

17. Remember that not everyone checks and answers their emails as often as you do, give them some time.

18. Always exceed your clients’ expectations of you.

19. Let go of the things that aren’t working for you. Even if they work for someone else or it sounds like a fantastic idea – not everything works for everyone.

20. Spend time on the business – not just in it.

If you’re interested in doing a one-on-one photography business mentoring session with me please click >here< I only have a limited amount of spots per month and they do fill up!

Awesomesauce Store & Carrie Swails Photography

I think all of us start out our day with negative thoughts about ourselves. We get up in the morning, take a shower, and it starts when we look in the mirror and start criticizing our hair, our cellulite, our thighs…whatever. Lately I feel like I’ve been beating up on myself a lot and I know we all have these times when we do, but I want to share a little bit about what helps me get through the rough parts of being a photographer (and life!) and the stress of trying to own a business and do everything and be everything to everyone.

It starts with you. You have to give yourself permission. You need to give yourself permission to sleep. Give yourself permission to have a day off. Give yourself permission to answer those emails on Monday. Give yourself permission to LOVE YOURSELF.

Sometimes when things get rough you need to write yourself a prescription. That’s what I do. Seriously, the prescription is to look at myself in the mirror every day and say, “I accept myself unconditionally right now.” Now, I’m no expert in psychology, but nobody knows my own thoughts better than I do. Words are the most powerful drug known to humans. I know I agonize over the smallest criticism, give myself a huge guilt trip anytime I hear the smallest word that could mean I’ve disappointed someone. The words others say to us throughout our day impact how we feel about ourselves and everything around us more than anything. Those words others day don’t even have to be directed to us, but they do affect us. Sometimes it’s easy to hide it and pretend like it doesn’t, but if we look deep down it does. We hear words about what other people think of others on TV, in daily conversations and all over the media. These words affect us. They give us the idea that those around us have an expectation for who we should be, what we should look like, and how we should act. Those tiny expectations are what affect us daily and especially as photographers. We want to go above and beyond our clients’ expectations, we want to go above and beyond the expectations of our children to be the best mom or dad ever, and we want to go above and beyond the expectations for all of our friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances. Maybe that means we forget to go above and beyond our own expectations sometimes or that we’re the most critical on ourselves. Maybe we forget to set expectations for ourselves completely.

So when I say we have to give ourselves permission to love ourselves it means that as photographers we sometimes need to set aside theses expectations to be the best at everything for everyone all the time and be the best we can for ourselves. Once we do that we’ll be able to easily be the best we can for everyone else. Yeah maybe that one photoshoot wasn’t our best work, but you can accept yourself unconditionally right now and set an expectation to be the bomb-diggity on the next one.

If you’re having one of those times when you’re punching yourself for not being the best photographer in the world, or neglecting your parenting, or not spending enough time with your spouse then this post is dedicated to you because we’ve all had rough times. Stop telling yourself negative things about yourself, give yourself permission to love yourself.

Anyway everyone, a little motivational talk before the weekend sets in! It’s good to be back from vacation and back to blogging!

Many of you guys who have attended my live online classes about various photography topics have heard ye olde spiel about how I do gallery reviews and have the best of both worlds with print sales and CDs. I know not everyone thinks the way I do about giving a disc to clients and that’s okay. It’s been a very personal choice for me and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Although I like my clients to have the CD with the images (or in my case it’s actually a zip download file of all their images) I also want to take advantage of the opportunity to make print sales while I can. In order for my clients to receive their “CD” of images they are required to attend a gallery review with me where we look through their images. I feel this gallery review is not only a great time to make print sales, but also a great way to finish up your time with your clients instead of just an email with a link to their gallery or a CD in the mail. It’s a last time for them to ask questions about why some images may have been left out or anything like that. Because it’s their opportunity to ask these questions and finish up usually clients do not email afterward with more questions or concerns. Here’s a few tips that can help you make your in-person sales soar.

1. Make it a requirement from your clients to do an in-person sale time with you.

2. Don’t pressure it. I never tell my clients that this gallery review is the time I’m going to sell them things. I describe it as one last time to get together and relive their wedding day and if they want to purchase any products at their gallery review I’ll give them a discount of 20% off on that day only.

3. Offer them a way to order online afterward. I use Shootproof.com for all of my online gallery ordering.

4. Actually show your clients the photos. Use your iPad, Laptop, or desktop to run a slideshow and stand there and look at the photos with them. The best way for someone to get a good feeling about their photos is when you look at the photos with them and ooh and ahh and point out your favorites. You can say things like, “that would look great on canvas” or “I love the look on his face in this one.”

5. If they don’t order that day extend their discount for a very limited amount of time. Sometimes I’ll leave a discount that gradually decreases over time. If I leave their gallery up for 3 months than they might get 20% off the first month, 15% the second and 10% the last month before it goes offline.

6. Create a comfortable environment. If you don’t have a meeting space of your own, meet them at a coffee shop and offer to buy them a drink.

7. Listen to which image is their favorite and send them a gift of that image. I use cgproprints.com’s $22.99 16×20 canvas as a surprise gift of their favorite image after the gallery review to thank them for their time and for hiring me. If they do not order at their gallery review sometimes seeing something like this is a great incentive to get another one or want more images for their wall.

8. When you first meet with your clients give them your product price list and tell them they’ll get a discount after their session. Many clients will plan an order without even seeing the photos simply because of this prior knowledge of the discount. It also lets your clients know how much to set aside, save, etc. for their print order.

I’ll be teaching an entire live online class all about In-Person Sales this fall. You can >REGISTER HERE<. The class only has 25 spots so make sure you’ve got yours before it’s full. If you cannot attend the online class when it’s live, don’t worry. All our live classes are recorded so you can register and watch it later.

2. Model Releases. There are a few apps that are great for contracts and model releases on the go. While I personally don’t like to use them for my actual contracts they’re great for a model release. If you’re out and about on the street shooting and captured a really great image and would like to be able to use it in your portfolio or sell it as stock you would want to have the subject’s permission. If you carry your iPad with you that’s easy.

3. White noise Machine. When I have newborns in the studio the iPad makes a wonderful white noise machine. It’s easy to slip in the blankets or baskets sometimes with the babies or keep right next to them without being seen in the photos.

4. Square-up! Hello, you can now take credit cards payments on your ipad. http://squareup.com

5. You can use it to share your portfolio on the go!

6. Some wedding photographers also use their iPads to produce same-day wedding slideshows. We’re going to have a blog post later this week on doing same day slideshows and their benefits for the aspiring wedding photographers out there.

Have you checked out all of our brand new classes? http://photographyawesomesauce.com/classes/ The live online class on Natural Light Photography is filling up VERY fast!

2. Don’t ask the bride and groom to do something they’re not comfortable with. Make the posing about them and let them know that if you ask them to do something they’re not comfortable with it’s okay to say no. One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from couples that come knocking on my door is that if they’ve been photographed before the photographer asked them to do poses and things they weren’t comfortable with.

3. Be aware of angles. It’s not flattering to get a lot of photos up the nostrils of your clients.

4. Check for double chins. People have a tendency to tuck their chins when they are talking and don’t always think about putting their chin up when they’re being photographed. Remind them to keep their chins up so their necks look nice and long and flattering.

5. Follow the couple’s natural cues when directing their poses. I like to let them be together and then just enhance the natural way they’re standing by placing a hand here a head tilt there instead of coming up with something entirely new.

6. Your clients will be more comfortable posing in front of you if they’ve had practice – encourage an engagement session so you have that practice with them before.

7. Ask your clients politely before the wedding if it’s okay if you take them to do their bride and groom portraits alone. Having an audience of guests saying, “wait one more!” or “do that again!” in the background of your time with them can be distracting and produce photos that aren’t as good.

8. Relax. This is the best part of the day. This time is my favorite when I get to pose just the bride and groom and let them enjoy each other. Remind the bride and groom that this small bit of time with just the two of them is probably the closest thing to alone time they’ll get all day. Usually that reminder is enough to help them really enjoy it.

9. Sometimes weddings are at odd times of the day when the light isn’t best. If the sun is high in the sky and there’s nowhere indoors you haven’t already photographed or if there’s nowhere indoors that’s great to photograph (at their venue) take them outside and look for shady spots so you can get more even light.

10. Take a couple minutes to do some poses of each of them separately.

11. If you have a second shooter with you have one of you posing and talking to the couple and the other capturing those “in between” moments between poses when they’re at their natural state of relaxation. These can be some of the most beautiful moments of the day.

12. Stress to the bride and groom ahead of time that these few portraits of them are some of the most important ones to take.  When the bride and groom are in a time crunch usually the first thing they want to cut out is picture time and these photos of the two of them are the ones that will go on their mantle over the fireplace for years to come.

13. Tell the bride to hold her flowers by her hip. Many brides have a tendency to hold them up high over their chest and this can distort the bride’s figure and create an unflattering photo.

14. Keep the bride and groom touching in some way it helps them appear interested in each other in photos.

15. Sometimes kissing doesn’t convey as much emotion as almost kissing. Tell the bride and groom to get close and cuddly, but don’t kiss, or ask them to kiss on the cheek, head, hand, etc…somewhere that’s not the lips.

16. Provide encouragement so your clients know they’re doing the right thing.

17. To save time and make sure your clients can get to their reception quicker instead of verbally explaining a pose (not many people are auditory learners), just get in there and show them. It helps posing go quicker and can also help your clients loosen up, laugh, and have a good time trying to mimic what you showed them.

18. It’s always easier to get your couple to do their portraits before the ceremony, but don’t pressure them simply because it’s easier for you. If they truly want to wait to do their photos afterward that’s okay and you’ll still have the opportunity to capture beautiful images.

19. If your clients are interested in the option you can get them together before the ceremony back to back with a wall or doorway so they can’t see each other, but they can hear and talk to each other beforehand or hold hands.

20. Photos can be more interesting with your clients engaging and looking at each other rather than looking at you and smiling!

Have you checked out our new Fall online classes? >Classes<

In helping these ladies write their business plans I wanted them to truly focus on their goals. We’ve been talking a lot in classes and occasionally on the blog about measuring your success. As a small business owner we can only measure our success against the goals we create for ourselves. Everyone who is starting their photography business and trying to build it has different limitations in their lives, kids, families, dogs, full time jobs, part time jobs and more. This means that it’s easy as photographers when we’re still working that day job to not see ourselves as successful with our photography when we aren’t booking as much as the full time photographer down the street. But, how can you really compare yourself to them? Their life, background, experience, and situation is completely different than yours. I think that’s why setting goals for your business will help you define what is success for YOU and help you feel successful when you accomplish the things on your goal list a year later.

So here I am telling these photographers to write a business plan and focus on their goals. These workshop ladies are very talented and driven and many of them have only started their business within the last couple months. They’re a lot farther than I was in my first couple months! Their business plans came back to me with goals of doing one or more sessions per week and it was then I realized how much we as an industry truly do compare ourselves and create expectations for ourselves based on how ‘busy’ we think other photographers are.

The truth is that our industry has months that are insanely busy and months that are dull, boring, and have nothing. Eventually you may get to a point in your business where you can expect a certain amount of clients every year. However, it’s difficult to expect them on a regular basis. I think sometimes it’s hard for us to let go of that regular job where you learn to expect pay, work, and all of that on a schedule. Unfortunately photography is one of those things that doesn’t work on a schedule. It’s all over the place and I don’t want anyone who is starting their business or revamping it to have unrealistic expectations of getting one session or more per week. What’s going to happen if you create a goal for yourself like that and then you have a couple weeks with no sessions? You’re going to feel like a failure and you are not a failure simply because you have a couple free weeks.

That being said, I think we should still create goals, but we need to strive for them to be a perfect balance between realistic and challenging. We definitely want to challenge ourselves to work hard as business owners, but we also don’t want to set goals that are so unattainable we’re going to give up our passion for photography. If you’re in your first year or you’re further along and are still looking to build your business set your goals annually. After going over this with many of my workshop attendees I wanted to share it with everyone because I think it’s important and I think these goals are a huge part of your motivation, success, and confidence as a business owner. A great goal for your first year is to do 25 portrait sessions for the year. That averages out to approximately 2 a month, but don’t expect to do 2 a month. Expect to have some months where you do 5 or 6 and some months where you do 0. 25 sessions will require some hard work to get them in the door, but once you’ve done them you’re going to feel so accomplished for reaching that goal! And trust me, even some of the busiest photographers in the world, even some celebrity photographers don’t get 1 to 3 sessions per week.

It also goes without saying that some won’t reach their goals and that’s okay. I don’t always reach my goals, but usually with hard work I get darn close. 20 sessions out of 25…that’s still amazing and so close to your goal! This is what I mean by you measuring your own success. No one can tell you in this industry what success looks like, you’re the only one that can define it for you.

If you are interested in doing October’s 31 Days to a Better Photography Business workshop you can sign up >here<. If you’d like to do one-on-one mentoring with me sign up >here< and if you’d like some frozen yogurt I highly recommend Yogurtland.

I do want to thank everyone for your votes you made a couple weeks ago for my business, Carrie Swails Photography, your votes helped me become one of Denver’s top ten best wedding photographers of the year and I’m so honored to have this title!

As always thanks for your wonderful encouraging comments you leave on the blog, your questions, emails and the confidence you have in me. Also thanks to those of you who have dropped a couple bucks in the tip jar. It’s always appreciated!