As told to Cate Scaglione - Life As Fine Art

Thanks to the digital revolution our culture is by far the most photographed generation in history. Without planning or purpose, people now take pictures simply to share them on a global scale. Sociologists are enjoying a field day over the reasons why, but certainly with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr we have so many ways to broadcast intimate moments with family, friends, pets and our last meal.

Which means professional photography is becoming less relevant and less profitable, right? Or is it?

The anti-selfie

When a client hires a highly skilled professional photographer for a portrait session, it’s inherently an emotional purchase. The pro is chosen because the client wants something special, planned, expertly staged and lit, captured and preserved in a way they cannot do themselves. It’s the anti-selfie.

A portrait session is a decision based on the desire for quality and preservation … not just to document a moment.

In today’s world, documentation is for social media, but preservation is for intimate, heirloom enjoyment.

In the context of preservation, quality is more important than ever

We photographers often complain about market saturation, declining standards of photography, and the economy, but the instinct for Preservation actually creates an amazing advantage for us…

We are better equipped to sell high-quality portrait albums now than ever

Whether it’s families, special events, high school seniors or boudoir, the most important technique in selling albums is exactly the same…

Appeal to their desire to tell a story!

As a portrait photographer who specializes in fine art photography for women (boudoir, glamour and family portraiture), albums are one of the easiest things for me to sell. Why? Because I’m uniquely equipped to tell my clients’ stories – sometimes a story they may not even see within themselves.

People may be enamored with the look, the feel, the scent of the paper, the bursts of color those pages provide, but no matter how gorgeous, high quality or well designed, an album in itself cannot create emotional desire. That comes from the story I design within it.

The elation of imagining their story well told generates excitement and desire.

Clients will typically choose whichever album I show them. There is very little debate or price trimming, because they don’t like to chisel away parts of their story.

How do you weave a great story to sell?

Plant the Seed. During the consultation, get a sense of how they’d like to display. Also, throughout the session, talk about how “this will look great in the album storyline”, to reinforce the expectation that they will later buy an album.

Consultation. Spend a great deal of time getting to know them before (through consultation) and during (through conversation) the session. Understanding their history, desires, challenges and emotions really helps you shoot in a way that creates an authentic storyline. In doing so, you’re doing them an unmatched service.

Shoot for volume. Be generous with your session time to capture as many scenarios and setups as possible, including wardrobe changes. This becomes part of their story that they cannot do without.

Help them visualize. During your sales presentation, discuss how an image plays a relevant role in their storyline. For example, in a portrait session, share how a landscape shot might set the scene for the story.

Details. In a wedding album, details are a part of the day’s story. However I shoot family portrait and boudoir sessions in very much the same way. For example I’ll show how a detail shot of her favorite designer heels, or a lipstick stained champagne glass, might play an intricate part in her sensual story, even though she is not visible in the shot.

Pose variation. Especially in the case of beauty and boudoir portraits, a single setup can yield ten unique poses and expressions. These add to the overall emotion of the album and help you sell more.

Candids. Photojournalistic shots are the key to storytelling. In the case of family photography, the playful, unplanned shots tell many aspects of the family dynamic, and often they cannot do without them. The same applies to boudoir, as the candid or voyeuristic shots can often be the most dramatic.

Expressions. Understanding the nature of the clients’ child, family or love relationships, I try to shoot through the eyes of the people who will behold the album. In the case of children, I draw out their unique personality quirks and expressions; those become full-page spreads (or multiple spreads) per child. There is nothing greater than hearing a parent say, “You captured each of my kid’s true essence,” then laying these out over several pages in the album.

Present the album layouts. Some photographers actually show their images already in an album layout in order to push the album sale. If you have the skills and resources to do this, it is very effective.

The sale Your clients want the whole story, meaning the maximum number of images.

You want to sell more album pages, and create a beautiful, clean album design that tells their story.

The key to making you both happy is to simplify.

Limit the larger number of images to larger album sizes with more pages. Design your price structure to entice them to go for the gold.

Typically, I show clients about 100 images from a [non wedding/non-event] portrait session. I find most clients will then typically narrow themselves down to 40-50 images.

If so, rather than show a client a product that might encourage her to trim even more, I immediately show her a premium album designed to hold those 40-50 images.

In other words, instead of trying to talk her into an upgrade, I start at the top, with that premium album, and allow her to “trim away” to a lesser, smaller album, and fewer images, if she has price concerns. Like this:

Premium: 10x10 Queensberry Flushmount, 50 images (40 pages) = $$$

Mid-range: 10x10 Queensberry Flushmount, 30 images (25 pages) = $$

Base: 8x8 Queensberry Flushmount, 20 images (20 pages)= $

The fact is, no one really likes to trim. The album I show first, the best, is usually the one they purchase. And, presumably, they hired me on some emotional level to get the best I have to offer.

Clients who purchase the best should also be rewarded for that decision. They get generous upgrades like additional images, digital albums (check out this feature on Workspace!), and bonus accessories. All clients are eligible for payment plans, which makes the purchase less of an emotional barrier. I want their story to be told well!

As I spend time intimately connecting with my clients, this becomes less and less a sales session for both of us. Instead, I am simply their visual storyteller, giving them the best possible choices as to how they wish to tell their story.

This process has been an amazing way for me to inspire purchases of the premium products that I love to sell the most. And, I’ve never had a better (or more profitable) time doing so.