Three words to help you choose the right Photographer

On Wednesday of this week I attended a BIPP course to learn about Marketing a Photography Business. The course was run by the amazing Julia Boggio and the brilliant Anne Derbyshire; Julia is London’s leading Luxury Boutique Portrait Photographer with some amazing accolades and a body of work that is just absolutely stunning, and Anne’s experienced Sales and Marketing Coaching has helped some of the newest and most innovative brands excel. It was very insightful, and they're both absolutely lovely people too!

One of the things that I realised is that social media is prolific and an easy way to get your brand noticed, but thinking more deeply, is this the best way for my potential clients to select a photographer, especially one that is a right fit for you and your family?

Everyday, through social media i’m bombarded with the most amazing photographs from fellow photographers, and totally inspired by their work. But from just a handful of images, it’s very hard to get an indication of the story behind how they were shot, how long they took to produce or of the experience that the family had at the time.

I always ask my clients how they heard about me, and 9 times out of 10 they say they heard about me from a recommendation from one of my previous clients. I take huge pride in that, because it is only when my clients have positive experience with me that they would recommend me to their friends and family. Those clients have met with me, worked with me to draw up the perfect session plan to capture their family in a way that they know and love, have had fun with me on their portrait session, and fallen in love with the photographs we created enough to display them in their homes.

One of the exercises that Julia and Anne did with us on Wednesday was to choose just three words to describe the essence of our brands. The words I chose after much deliberation (and those of you that know me well will know how hard this was for me!) were Bespoke, Happiness and Honesty. I create the photographs that YOU want to see, crafting a shootplan totally Bespoke to you, and through Happiness we capture your family in the most beautiful way. And as for Honesty, through first class customer service, my clients can hopefully tell you that for themselves! After all, you’re buying ME as much as you are your photographs.

So if you are looking for a Family Photographer, you need to know that the one you choose is a good fit for you and your family. If you haven’t had a direct recommendation to me from a friend or relative, then drop me a message and i’d love to chat to you over the phone, or meet you in person for coffee. It may be after we chat that you decide i’m not the photographer for you, if that is the case I promise I won’t take it personally, as I totally believe that if i’m the right photographer for you, I will be! But hopefully it will make the selection process a little easier for you too.

And as this is quite a personal post, here is a picture of me taken on a rare day off at a friend's wedding this summer. And this is the photo that I was taking at the time... #startthemyoung

With love, Rachel x