Specializing in Seniors – This is What I have to Offer
It happens all the time…in fact is just happened to me this week. You’re online and you click a beautiful image of a high school senior that is AMAZING! You are in complete awe! The lighting, the composition, the processing… sigh! Wow. THEN, here is comes. You begin to COMPARE yourself. All of a sudden you’re thinking, “What on earth am I doing? MY photography doesn’t look that THAT!!” All of a sudden you’re convinced that your photography stinks.HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE… or am I THE ONLY ONE?Well, welcome to the world of professional photography where it is SO EASY to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to all of the other gifted and talented photographer’s out there.And unless YOU ARE GROUNDED with a few KEY THINGS as you begin to specializing in the High School Senior Market, it’s only going to get more difficult. You will come across some UNBELIEVIBLE and TRULY INSPIRING images out there that will make your head spin. You can actually begin to feel intimidated and discouraged very easily…BUT… here’s the good newsI have been a professional photographer for 7 years. And there are two gifts that I was given from the very beginning. They continue to ground me in this business.
- Everyone starts somewhere
- This is what I HAVE TO OFFER.
Let me explain. When I was launching my business I had the fortunate experience of attending a workshop by a very talented photographer named Skye Hardwick.At the very beginning of the workshop, she held up a photo and said, ”Everyone starts somewhere.”For some reason, this had such a huge impact on me at that time. I realized immediately that MY somewhere is different from yours. And that it was OK. No matter where you are at in your career, you have to start somewhere. This gives you permission to start WHERE YOU ARE NOW. If you really want to specialize in seniors, then you start where you are TODAY! Simple as that…
Second… THIS is what I HAVE to offer.I have thought long and hard about this sentence over the years, and this is why I think it was significant for me. It means that YOU are the artist with the vision. YOU are creating the images that you want for your clients. YOU are to determine what YOU want to create and how you want to create it. YOU are the gift in your business that you give to others. They are going to want YOU.YOUR STYLEYOUR VISIONYOUR BRANDYOUR TALENTYOU, YOU, YOU…That is the absolute BEST THING that you can offer your clients. Because NO ONE ELSE CAN DUPLICATE YOU…ever!!Do NOT offer your clients images that are your best attempt at duplicating the image you saw on Pinterest…WE can never duplicate or re-create that AMAZING image I described in the first sentence, But we CAN produce something AMAZING from our own perspective, from our own vision and from our own artistic style.I believe that this is actually the KEY to your success as a photographer and especially if you desire to specialize.You must define WHO YOU ARE…. You must define YOUR photographic style and YOUR brand to your clients. You want your clients to want what YOU have to offer.But that isn’t always easy. First you need to figure this out. You kind of have to find YOU in your photography. There are many resources out there to assist you in defining your style or your brand. In fact, I recently finished an excellent workshop addressing this topic. They are out there.For me, when I am finishing up an image, It has to FEEL good. It has to make me feel like I love it!At the end of the day – it HAS to resonate with me. That’s the word I use… it must resonate with me as the artist. Then I know it’s done. And I also know that it’s mine. It’s me.Of course we can be inspired by others, take their workshops, learn new editing techniques… yes, yes, yes. I’m all for that.But again, at the end of the day, make that image that you are creating YOURS. Make it YOU. Show the world that this is what YOU have to offer.My photographic style is influenced greatly by light. I create light infused images that are fresh, authentic, and inspiring. I want my seniors to look genuine and true to who they are in real life. I personally want them to look like high school seniors, and not necessarily like runway super models. That’s just MY personal vision for them. My style is to bring out their individual personality and beauty to the forefront.
I believe that this is when it gets fun and exciting. There is freedom when you can define who you are as a photographer and offer THAT to your clients.Join me again in 2 weeks for more topics on Specializing In Seniors. Until then…Happy Shooting!
www.patipakulisseniors.com