FAQ
Clients Questions and Answers
What colors should I wear?
This is entirely dependent on where we are shooting and the look you'd like me to bring to reality. Generally speaking I recommend white and black or creams/nude colors your browns beige's etc especially outdoors.
What if I don't know how to pose?
I've worked with many people in your shoes and I've learned over the years how to direct and "pose" people. But if you ask anyone I've shot with I'm not much of a "stand here pose like this" I like to direct. So what I'll do is give you a base and we will move based off of that. The best photos I capture I find are those in a natural state when you're fixing your hair or laughing about the last time you farted in public and blamed it on someone else etc.
When is the best time to take our photos?
Depends on the type of look you're trying to achieve and because I shoot with flash primarily now it's not that big of an issue. Generally speaking though sunrise till about 2 hours and 2 hours before sunset till sunset. Unfaltering shadows on the face are far less and your skin gets that beautiful golden glow.
What if I don’t want you to post my photos?
That is totally fine! I will not share your photos unless I have your permission to do so!
What can you retouch?
I can retouch just about anything. From removing objects in backgrounds to skin/face retouching and removal of blemishes to even manipulating clothing that bunches up.
Do you sell prints?
Yes, I sell prints as well. If you would like them in addition to your digital files I am happy to accommodate. I also sell prints of my Automotive Photography.
Do you do campaign shoots?
I do for organizations, however my rates for campaign shoots are different from my typical rates due to the
Photographers Questions and Answers
How do you find locations to shoot at?
What I do personally is google search instagrammable spots in my location. I also look up popular tourist attractions in the area. The final idea I have is just for you to drive around your area, pick a day that you just go out and explore your area
What gear do you recommend for someone just starting photography?
Anything you can get your hands on honestly, its important to start with something simple rather than going from nothing to a $6,000 camera. The easiest way for me to explain this is... if you think of your photography as an organization you want to start at the "bottom" and work your way through everything to really understand what works and why it works so when shit hits the fan you understand why something worked in one scenario and why it didn't in another identical scenario. If you want actual gear I'd say a Nikon D3400 or its equivalent within the Canon and Sony niche then a Nikon D750 or its equivalent in competitors niche or you can go the mirrorless route and get a Nikon Z6 or it's equivalent. (all of these cameras I've owned and I've learned far more starting the way I did rather than jumping into an expensive camera being overwhelmed and possibly giving up. Granted I'll never know if going that way was an actual benefit to my growth as a photographer, this is simply my belief.
As for lenses a 24-70mm 70-200mm and at least one prime f/1.8 or f/1.4 prime lens 50mm or 85mm.
Do you sell presets?
I do not currently but I may in the future. If you're looking to replicate my editing style/color scheme
How to I know when it's time to upgrade my gear?
This is different for everyone but I'd say when you are consistently taking certain types
When’s the best time to take photos of clients?
As I shared in the clients FAQ section the best time is sunrise till about 2 hours after and 2 hours before sunset till sunset. This removes unfaltering shadows on the face and your skin gets that beautiful golden glow.
How can I improve my photography?
YouTube University baby! I've learned so much for free on YouTube it's crazy. Of course if there is a particular craft you have researched and you are trying to hone in on and you've already done preliminary research or have the basic skills master comfortably I recommend a masterclass or some sort of training. But nothing beats shooting over and over and over... and over and over and over again. You will learn far more doing and failing than sitting and taking notes in my opinion, again everyone is different.
What software do you use to retouch your images?
Instagram Growth
What tips do you have for someone just starting out on instagram who is looking to reach a larger audience?
So for me personally I feel like the most important part of growth is finding a way to add value to your followers lives, whether it’s through being funny, relatable, creative, informative, inspirational etc.. if you can combine them all well then ladies and gentlemen you’ve got em.
In addition to that you also have to visually and or emotionally pleasing content whatever that might be. You also need to have a goal in mind and what I mean by that is why do want to grow? Is it to have a larger network of people, is it to sell your product etc.. in my honest opinion if you want to grow for the clout it won’t work at least not in the long run. If you want to grow your account or brand and gain real fans/ followers/ clients you need to find a solid reason. You may think success comes with followers but I can tell you that I know a lot of photographers and models who for example who have thousands on thousands of followers but they live paycheck to paycheck and others who have far less reach on social media who are living quite comfortably.
Because if you’re just chasing a follower count “10k” for example then you’ll want 20k it’s just human nature to want more and not be satisfied.
For the technical side of growing an instagram. You’ll have to do some research because everyone’s niche is different. To use an example say you’re a dj and you’re looking to grow your audience. You would want to find other successful dj’s in and outside of social media and do something similar to what they do but be sure to put your own creative twist on it. You’re going to want to use popular hashtags that will get you the exposure you need. So look at other Artists who make similar types of music and see what hashtags they’re using on social media.
Another thing you’ll want to do that will help tremendously is posting quality content relevant to you and your brand that will get people to re share or talk about your work.
And what will really put you over the top in my opinion is only following accounts that are relevant to your niche. Not saying unfollow all of your friends but if you’re trying to build a business you need to go and network and get inspired by like minded people. If they’re really your friends and they support you they’ll understand.. right? I say that because the way the Instagram algorithm works is you get grouped with a certain niche, that’s why you see athletes, musicians, videographers, meme pages all in different categories now on the explore page. Now I’m not saying you have to do the last step or you won’t grow but it will be a lot harder to do so.
I’ll give you an example as y’all know I love taking photos of people as well as cars.
Well Instagram doesn’t know where to put my page because I follow a slew of car pages, model pages, photographer pages, and the occasional meme page because who doesn’t love memes. And they’re all private now adays so when your friend shares a meme w you you’ve gotta be following them🙄
Anyways because I post personal car person, person, car, person Instagram doesn’t know what niche to group me with and because I follow friends & family, automotive accounts, meme pages, soccer pages etc.
My best advice for that issue is to create another account a personal one where you have all of
you friends, and family on, and follow the accounts that interest you.
This isn’t to say that you can’t grow while following such a
wide variety of people on your business, or personal brand page, it just makes
it that much harder for Instagram to stick you in a group and show your
work/page to those who would be interested.
Finally the way to tie this all together is by in my opinion
using some sort of automation or hiring someone to do your social media work
for you so that you are able to focus on your business/ brand. We aren’t all
born social media experts so it can be tough to try and juggle everything by ones
self. I recommend doing some research about automation tools or “Instagram bots”
that will help you find new clients and help them find you. Some features that
a good automation tool should have include liking, following and commenting on protentional
target clients. How you can find protentional clients is by setting your automation
tool to only interact with a certain demographic. For instance say your target
audience is high school or college seniors in California. Something you can do
is set the tool to like, comment or follow only accounts who geotag a certain
location, for example set the tool to only interact with those posting photos
or stories and UCLA, or California high school, and even using cities is another
great way to find clients. Hashtags work but are not always as effective as
location scouting.