Eye on Business | The Money Shot

Think back to your own senior picture experience.  Go ahead, I'll give you a sec.... Are you cringing like I am?  I hope not.  My pictures say absolutely nothing about who I was, who I aspired to be...the real me at that moment in my complicated life.  I am forever immortalized as a stodgy, stiff, flower-holding girl who apparently enjoyed perching herself uncomfortably on a swing in front of a fake tree.  What?!  And those poses did nothing for the cute little outfit I was wearing.  Geez. I have embraced my mission to prevent seniors from enduring a session of fake smiles, fake props, and fake identities.  Will you accept this mission with me? THE MONEY SHOT. Suzanne, how will I know each senior's money shot?

• So glad you asked!  Remember those handy dandy PRE-SESSION CONSULTATIONS I keep harping about every chance I get?  Yep.  This is your chance to get to know the senior for who they are at this moment.  But how?  Ask them.  Ask their parents.  Ask anyone sitting in front of you at the consultation.  Friend them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram to find out who they really are right now.
• Most seniors play a sport or an instrument or have a hobby, these are the easy money shots.  Some seniors may not but they ALWAYS have something they love, once they really start to think about it.  Maybe it's Old Hollywood movies, romance novels, interior design, shopping, or hitting up the local coffee shop, you can fine tune your questions to find out exactly what they love to do.
• Once you know their interest, design a session around it!  Do they want sports shots at their school or another location?  Uniform or not?  Do they need props?
• Show them what you can do by showcasing your portfolio of these signature images.  Make a quick slideshow so they can see how awesome it would be to have their own signature image.  Get them excited!  Seniors are creative and once they take some ownership of their potential signature images, they will start throwing ideas out there!
• Check out Pinterest to get some inspiration going (but not too much, remember!)
• Manage those expectations (see last week's post...) and make sure you do not over promise an image.  Make sure you can deliver off-camera lighting if that's the look or ensure that your photoshop skills are up to par for the look you and your senior are envisioning.  Do not over promise and under deliver, that's just not cool.

I want to see the money shots YOU are taking!  Share over on SSG's Facebook wall NOW!