home portrait photography

[amy_c1]

hi,

 

does anyone have experience going into people homes to do black and

white portraits of children? i am thinking of trying to get this

going and would love to hear about any of your experiences, advice,

etc. thanks in advance!

 

amy

[stephen hazelton]

I think just doing B&W portraits would be rather limiting to your business.

[h._p.]

Actually, it could be a good USP. Especially if you use a wet darkroom and can produce really nice 16x20s.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

How much experience do you have with lighting and exposure?

 

Robert

[stephen hazelton]

My thinking is you'd want to offer B&W in addition to color work, not instead of. Betcha 90% of the moms out there want color pictures. If you were just getting so many orders you didn't have time to shoot them all, that's when to specialize.

[jeff kindy]

I shoot on location in peoples home. Mainly due to the lack of a studio outside of my basement. I find that the mothers are more relaxed. The children are more apt to respond. They are in their environment. They like to see the "BIG LIGHTS" in their house. They can bring in their favorite doll or teddy bear if needed. They have unlimited change of clothes if they burp up on their special suit... I could keep going on the pluses. I bring my laptop with me, load the pics and while I break down my equipment, mom picks out her packages. I walk away with great photos, and a check. My last job mom set up three other shoots for me before I left the house. There is no better business. Get a couple good 10'x20' backdrops, the bigger the better, because the kids like to move alot. catch it all. Even the tears. You'll be surprised what moms will buy.<div></div>

[amy_c1]

hi all. thanks so much for the responses thus far.

 

about color, i didn't mean to give the impression that i was only interested in black and white. i would definately try to offer both color and b&w prints -- i suppose it would only involve bringing both types of film? maybe 2 cameras? what do you do?

 

about my experience, i have taken portraits of friends and family and children before (color and b&w) informally and have taken a couple of courses in studio and lighting. i am interested in both natural light portraits and basic studio lighting set-ups. i would say that i am more than a beginner, but i still have a whole lot to learn.

 

recently a friend suggested to me that i should try to offer portraits in peoples homes, for the reasons you all stated in this thread (being more comfortable, etc.) please continue to share your advice and experiences with this! i would appreciate any info on how people got this started, how it works, things to consider, advertising, etc...

 

thanks,

amy

[david_m]

Amy, please get some experience doing this before taking paying clients. I think you'll need a portfolio of excellent photos to show your clients anyway. I think you could pull this off with just a single flash and an umbrella reflector. I've done it but with adults. I imagine photographing children will present its own unique challenges.

[kim long- cincinnati, ohio]

I do location work, including homes, and make use of whatever there is to work with. Sometimes a backdrop is nice, but you certainly can get great shots without them. It's rare I find myself shooting in a space that is 100% devoid of visual interest. Seriously, the right framing and exposure can often make even the most mundane backgrounds visually appealing. And of course, never underestimate the power of a shallow depth of field. Good bokeh is our friend. :-) It all depends on your niche, though. The clients who hire me do so on the basis of my style, which I like to think is fairly distinct in my market. If they want very traditional portraits, they don't call me. And that's cool, because that's not really my thing.

 

As has been stated, there are many advantages to shooting on your client's own 'turf'... the ability to change clothes is definitely a plus, especially if you're going to alternate between color and black and white shots. Even if you're shooting digitally and converting, if at all possible, I personally think it's best to deliberately compose B&W images as if you were shooting with B&W film, and clothing choices factor into the tonal range big-time...<div></div>

[35mmdelux]

Kim Long - beautiful portrait.

 

Amy - Would suggest HIGH KEY shoot for kids. Also don't limit yourself to B/W. Shoot in color, then convert in PS. Offer clients both types. Lastly, kids are hard to fotograph, especially little ones. Lord knows how much I tried w/ mine. The window of opportunity is very short. You'll need something to get their attention if they're toddlers.

[amy_c1]

thanks for all of the responses and examples, they are truly appreciated. lovely portraits!

 

i am still hoping to get some information about how you all got started. specifically, how did you get the experience you needed before taking paying clients?

 

thanks,

amy

[eric merrill]

Amy:

 

I don't mean this to sound like a glib answer, but the best way to get experience before taking paying clients is to practice with non-paying ones.

 

Once I was confident with my photographic abilities and had some ideas on how to make a business work, I hung out my shingle. You can see my results here: http://www.merrillphotography.com

 

 

Eric

[todd_masters]

I shoot lots of young kids 4 and younger, I don't know why sometimes, but I do. I started practicing on my kid and friends kids and families to build up portfolio and offer in home studio shots with a mobile studio. I started with 3 200w/s strobes, key and fill in umbrella with a hair light with honeycomb filter. I have a portable backdrop stand and when I started I just took the black one. I would start with letting the kid play and shooting him/her in action to get used to the camera, let them play with it and then go to the studio area and have them help me take a picture of their favorite dolly or truck and then everyone praise the dolly or truck and before you know it the little kid wants to go perform.

<br><br>

Now I do the same and use natural light if available and/or a 3x4ft softbox and a reflector and take a 500w/s light, which is overkill and usually have it on 1/8 - 1/4 power. I shoot at 1/125 at f1.4 to up to f8 depending on what I want with the dof. I shoot color and then convert to bw in ps to give more options.

<br><br>

Kids usually do better in their environment and you can get a couple of outfit changes and this time of year you can do halloween/fall and xmas shots all in one visit and make 3x as much. plus you can sell it easy to a mom that hates the walmart experience of screaming kids and you can use that as a good marketing tool.

<br><br>

good luck!

[amy_c1]

eric,

 

thanks so much for the webite, your pictures are really wonderful! i would love to eventually be able to take indoor and outdoor portraits like that in people's homes. i have 2 quick questions... do you exclusively use available light (i do not have the money for studio equipment right now but do have reflectors and a light meter)? and, do you only shoot black & white?

 

thanks so much,

 

amy

[amy_c1]

todd,

 

thanks so much for the details on your set-up. i have a particular interest in photographing young children as well. i am hoping to get to some of my little cousins houses to practice a bit. i like your progression from taking photos of them while playing, then taking a few shots of their toys, then having them pose. i can imagine this makes them feel really comfortable.

 

thanks!

 

amy

[michelle_peterson1]

Hey Amy,

I started my own children's portriat business six years ago. I did begin by practice on friends and family as well as working for a local children's portrait shop. Even though the place was cheesy it gave me all the experience I needed to work on my skills with children. Which as most children photographers know that's an art all in it's own. Once I decided I was ready I contacted the local birth records dept. and was able to purchase a listing(for FIVE bucks!)of all the new borns for that month in my county and some surrounding counties. The list has all the info I needed to mail the parents a postcard with a special on the back, usually for new born announcements. I do this every month. Come up with some type of watch me grow plan and they will become repeat clients. It's worked very well for me to where my business tripled after my first year and is continuing to grow each year after! Also look into local churches or community children's consignment sales a lot of times they will let you set up a small booth for free or at low cost to you. Good Luck!

Michelle, Baribeault Photography

[eric merrill]

Amy:

 

Thanks for the kinds words.

 

I shoot whatever my customers want.* That said, I promote black and white more than color. (*Within reason. <grin>)

 

I try to shoot with as much natural light as possible. When that isn't possible or practical, I use fairly powerful strobes to recreate as much of the look of natural light as I can. "Well, the lighting was subpar so it isn't my fault that Junior has raccoon eyes." I'm not sure how well that would cut it. :)

 

I'll even use a regular flash on camera occassionally. There are a few shots in my current online portfolio where it is obvious to me that I used on camera flash. You can probably pick those out. If I'm going to use artificial light, I prefer studio strobes with a portable power supply. Much easier to get natural looking photos.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Eric

[bonnie_miller]

Amy, I started my business after becoming a mother, and took pics of my newborn and submitted them to HP you take five contest and won the peoples top pic category. After that I was constantly taking pics of friends kids, newborns, people, got a couple of paying clients and then went thru the official business start up process. Right now I am very busy with clients stricly thru word of mouth, I have plans to advertise, but that needs to be with the right demographic area, I think my neighborhood is a little cheap but I just go up to the neighboring county and have alot of business, outside of the dc area, people will pay for pics that get them out of the picture people stores. I only shoot with natural light, that is limiting, but worth the beautiful lighting. The more clients I get the more of the pics from my "early days" that I take off of the website. Since I had alot of experience with kids and being a past K teacher, I find them to be an easier market, they are not worried about feeling silly taking pics. It is a lot of fun and I wish you the best of luck, you can visit my site to get an idea of the pics I take, www.polkadotportraits.com , have fun. Bonnie<div></div>

[r._c.1]

Bonnie Miller, post above...

 

I think your portrait photography is outstanding at your website. None of your photos look

forced or deliberate - very natural. I agree with your comment on your site that many studio

settings are just that... unnatural. All of your shots are unique.

[bonnie_miller]

Thank you, thank you very much.

[amy_c1]

thanks to all for your thoughtful responses! i have been taking photos of my niece and am trying to get a feel for it over time (newborn, 4 months, 6 months, 8 months)...she is on the move now which makes it more challenging! so far i have had pretty good luck with natural light which is really exciting. i am learning how much i love the look of natural light and how much of a difference it can make re: the effect or mood of the photo.

 

michelle, it is really helpful to hear of some sources to go to when you are starting out. i am going to have to recruit my friends and families for this. thanks so much!

 

erik, thanks for the notes about lighting. can you give me some info as to what kind of studio equipment do you typically travel with for when you can't use natural light?

 

bonnie, thanks so much for the info and your photos. they are beautiful! since you use natural light exclusively, i have to ask...have you ever had to cancel a shoot because of it, or had to go back because the lighting wasn't enough?