Interview with Ed Mercer

This week we meet Ed Mercer; photographer and photoshop guru! He has some great information for photographers so check it out!

 

Ed has also put together a great video tutorial on making collages/blends/composites. He normally sells his instructional videos for $27 but is giving Senior Solutions readers a special discount! Only $11 for 5 tutorials. See his links below.

 

Also this week from Saturday to Saturday I am going to do a giveaway for a Senior Solutions Guide complete with templates, contracts, etc. All you have to do is read about Ed and comment on his thread to enter! The winner will be randomly chosen next Saturday.

 

 

You can check out the link here :

http://www.photographytipsandsecrets.com/montagedownload.html

 

 

 

http://www.mercerphotography.com
http://www.photoshopsolutions.com
http://www.photographywizards.com
http://www.thzn.com
http://www.makemoneywithyourcamera.com

 

 

1. How did you start out photographing seniors? Did you transition from weddings, children etc?

We did start out photographing weddings back in 1977 and were doing over 100 weddings per year before we started

to photograph seniors. We were going to PPA seminars and conventions and were hearing speakers talk about high

school senior photography and decided to try some of the techniques they were teaching us, and before too long we

were getting a steady stream of non contract seniors. We eventually got a couple of contracts along with those non

contract seniors and have been doing it ever since.

 

2. What is your favorite thing about shooting seniors?

Senior photography is my favorite part of the photography business, and my favorite thing is meeting and talking

with the seniors and the fact that they really appreciate the time we are taking to get great photos for them. This

is a portrait that they want to have taken, so they are very cooperative. Unlike children who can be great or a nightmare,

almost every senior is great and they give you an opportunity to show your creativity because they will do what you

ask of them because they know you also want great photographs for them.

 

 

3. What advice can you offer to a photographer looking to break into the senior market?

 The high school senior market is a tough market to break into and it always has been. Because it has the potential to

be so lucrative everyone wants to have a part of it. Most schools already have a contract photographer who has been

with them for a long time, so unless they really mess up it is hard to take the contract away from them. The best way

is to take the information that you learn at seminars and conventions and market to schools that use high volume

photography studios, (the same ones that do the underclass photos). You will be able to take market share away from

these studios because they will not be able to offer the quality or customer service that you will be able to. One other

way to break into the senior market is to photograph sports teams or specialized groups. The booster organizations

are always looking for photographs or gifts to give the students at the end of their seasons. We photograph these

groups on speculation and sell the photos online or we get hired by the boosters to make montage posters for the

students to be presented to them at the banquet. So you can make extra income doing this type of photography, but

more importantly you are making the connections with parents and coaches that can help you get names of upcoming

seniors who will get used to seeing you around and give you the opportunity to get a working relationship with them.

 

 

 

 

4. What kind of prep do you do with your seniors as far as make-up, clothing?

Most of the seniors that we photograph have been sent an information card explaining not to wear excessive makeup,

not get too tanned at the beach too close to their sitting date, what type of clothing looks and photographs the best, bring

props related to their hobbies or sports that they might be involved with, and we recommend three changes of clothing.

 

 

 

5. How do you stay current with trends?

We go to seminars at PPA on the national, regional and local level, as well as being members of SPI where the top

photographers in the world teach us all the new and great things in our business. We also go to the regional schools,

like NEIPP or other regional schools for a week at a time, and again study with the top photographers in our field.

 

6. What’s your best selling product?

Our best selling product would be our folios that are offered at a discount when a certain minimum purchase is reached

followed closely by our DVDs that are used to view their previews and are sold as an add on at the time of sale.

 

7. How do you balance appealing to the senior and the parents?

I usually have one of the parents in the studio with me when we photograph the senior. We always ask the senior if they

mind whether the parent comes in just in case it could be an uncomfortable situation for them. But 90% of the time it is

not a problem for them, and the parents get to see just how much work is involved in photographing high school seniors

and leave the studio very impressed.

 

8 What’s one thing you thought would never go over well that has been a huge hit?

When we changed showing previews to our seniors and replaced them with DVDs to music, I wasn’t sure how it

would be received. But it turned out being a great way for them to view their previews and a viral marketing tool

that they shared with all their classmates. And it was a great add-on to sell also.

 

9. What are some of the biggest mistakes you have made and what were the best remedies to those mistakes?

When we first attempted to get involved in the senior market we were overly aggressive and thought we could just go in

and take the yearbook contract away from the established contract photographer, which we eventually did. But we went

through a lot of stress that we could have avoided had we just slowly marketed the seniors away from that particular

contract photographer and grabbed a few seniors here and there from other schools.

 

10. What would you do differently if you knew then what you do now?

Again, I did not have the marketing skills back then that we do now, thanks to lots of conventions and seminars that we have

attended over the years. I think that quality and customer service can open the doors to getting more high school senior

business as well as any kind of business that you are pursuing

 

11. What do you personally like best about this business?

I like the positive feedback and appreciation that we receive from our clients for a job done well that most people in their

careers do not receive. If you’re good at what you do in this business, it is recognized and people want to tell you so. So doing

something that you love, getting paid for it, and then getting a pat on the back for doing so is a pretty good thing.

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