Great Maternity Photography

I’d like to get a little deeper into the maternity photography business side of things. Many people think that it is incredibly hard to run their own business. This usually doesn’t have to be the case. In the case of maternity photography it is very possible to run your own business and not feel overwhelmed by the things you’ll need to think about.

If you don’t have a lot of money to start your business, all you really need are a good DSLR and a computer. You can have a camera as basic as a Canon 20D and a couple simple lenses. The 50mm f1.8 lens is good. Also consider the 18-55mm kit lens. Those two lenses combined will only cost you slightly over $200. My point is that you don’t need a lot of gear to make good photographs. You do need some sort of photo manipulation software, such as Adobe Photoshop. All the extra camera equipment and lighting are not absolutely necessary. They help but you can pick those up when you have more money. What you really need is a good eye for what looks good and a creative mind. Think of a whole bunch of different poses that you could photograph your subjects in. Variety is key.

It is important to have a written contract between you and your clients. You may think that your clients are all good people and wouldn’t stick, but you’d be surprised. Some people don’t intend to do you harm but they don’t think about how their actions will affect others. If you have a contract and a down payment, your clients will be much less likely to back out. This will protect you and help you sleep better. Seriously.

Create some sort of filing system where you can store all these contracts that you will be collecting. You’ll need to have them for future reference. It’s also great to know who you’ve photographed in case you need to contact them in the future. Do a little research online for how to create a contract and you’ll come up with some great templates that will make life easier for you.

As I have mentioned in the past, it’s extremely important to have good references. Word of mouth is an extremely effective method of advertising and when people tell other people about you you’re going to get a lot of good business. The better you treat your clients the more likely you are to get more clients. In order to get those first few customers, talk to family and friends, post an ad in the newspaper, create a website to promote yourself, or be creative and think of a new way to get your name out!

Keep it up and don’t get discouraged. Experience will make things get easier and easier. The more you put in the more you’ll get out. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 1:30 am and is filed under Maternity Photographers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.