 Barbara Hoblitzell |
How to I Get Clients Without a Studio? People call about having their pictures taken, but when I tell them I don't have a studio, that's the end of the call. I have backdrops and lights, in order to take the pictures at their location of choice. What can I say to entice these people into having their photographs taken outdoors or letting me set up in their location?
|
|
|
|
||
- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Have a way to show them some of your on-location shots - whether outdoors or set up. If you can give potential clients an idea of how their photos will turn out, then you can take it from there. But if the pictures are good, yet they still don't want their place used as the location, then you either have to turn a room in your home into a studio, find some office space to start your own studio, or pay somebody who has a studio to use theirs.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Liz Novak |
Barbara, try some of the local art studios or galleries. I found one and rent space inexpensively from them to store my equipment and use for studio sittings. They also allow me to participate in their showings at a reduced cost. Hope this helps.
|
|
|
|
||
- Shirley D. Cross-Taylor Contact Shirley D. Cross-Taylor Shirley D. Cross-Taylor's Gallery |
Barbara, I just tell people that my home serves part-time as my studio. I set up my backdrops and lights as needed, then take them down. People don't mind what your "studio" looks like, as long as you provide good results. I use my family room to set up for closer shots of head and shoulders, and set up in the garage (we move the car out) when needing full-length shots.
|
|
|
|
||
|
D L. Blackbird |
Barbara, I even use the local community center to set up when I need a studio - especially during the holidays when I can schedule several clients for a single afternoon.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Cindy K. Bracken |
Barbara, I run my studio right out of my home. If that isn't possible for you, please visit www.shuttermom.com. I have a system where I take my studio to people's homes and get approx. 5-7 new clients per week. Thanks and good luck!
|
|
|
|
||
|
Bunny Snow |
Hi Barbara, Hi Barbara, I freelance, but don't have a studio per se, although I do have studio lighting if people want portraits in their home, at a church or garden (where electrical outlets are available) or in my home. I bought the studio lights so that I could better understand (with modeling lights) how to place them to achieve desired lighting, how to set lighting ratios, as well as portraying people and animals inside, when it was too hot and humid outside. Additionally, when I freelanced years ago, I did portraits (outside) "in God's Natural Surrounding," before it was "the thing to do". In the 1960's, I lived in Vail, Colorado and photographed children in the woods, on the hillside, or on the mountain with a backdrop of the Gore Range. One group of boys was photographed at a beaver pond. Another boy was lying down in the grass with his dog. Still another boy was dressed in his cowboy hat, boots -the whole gamut--with his horse. In Vail, when Peter Seibert, Jr. was 6 years old, I photographed him with his muddy fingernails through a hammock. He was looking at me, while I was underneath the hammock photographing him. His mother and father loved the portrait. It was typical Peter. I've photographed girls with clover wreaths on their head in a field of daisies, or sitting on a split rail fence outside. I have one beautiful New Zealand child in a basket swing, and I photographed my daughter holding her favorite doll outside. I looked for a location where I could duplicate the colors that were in her dress and her doll into the background to give the portrait continuity. The same idea I used with my daughter at my web site, I have used with other children. All were taken outside. To see what I've done, go to Portraits at: http://bunnysnow.us/ To get samples of my work out in the public eye, I placed 16x20 portraits in banks, art galleries, restaurants, and other places where people congregate. Plus, I carried an 8x10 size portfolio with me, when talking with prospective clients. You don't need the expense of a studio to do portraiture. Why not photograph environmental portraits where people work and play? Bunny
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||