Joles Photography Interview

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

 
I got started photographing seniors. It started years ago when I was in the Air Force stationed in England. I always loved photographing my friends and at the time dreamed of having my own apartment with an extra room so I could set up a few studio lights. Well, fast forward to 2003. I was working as the CIO for a mental health agency here in Maine and my wife and I had a conversation about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I told her I had always dreamed of having my own photography studio. A couple of hours later, I was ordering my first Nikon dslr and have not looked back since. The first year we photographed two seniors, the next year we did 4, the next we did 6, then last year we did 53 and this year its looking like we will do around 85-90.

2. What is your favorite thing about shooting seniors?
Out of all the different types of sessions we do, I absolutely LOVE photographing seniors. For some reason, I never get board of working with them. They have all of this attitude bottled up inside, and I can get them to do things that their parents can’t get them to do (pose, dress up, comb their hair etc etc). Then best of all, I get them to really show me who they are, bring out their attitude, and then, they go home.

3. What advice can you offer to a photographer looking to break into the senior market?
Take your time. It’s a funny market. You need first be a smart business person and believe in yourself. Don’t set your prices low, no one will take you seriously. Join an online forum (i.e. my personal favorite www.pro4um.com ). Some cost $$ to join, but take the pro4um, if you are smart, you should be able to make your money back the first sales session you do. Find out what the seniors use in your area, is it facebook or myspace. Whatever one it is, use it, it’s a free marketing tool.

4. Tell us about some of your more popular items that seniors buy.
Seniors in our area seem to be very traditional. One item that we offer that no one else in our area seems to be offering is a press printed senior album. We use White House Custom Color as our lab and they offer these wonderful press printed books. We offer these books in our largest package and as long as they purchase a package, the books are discounted.

We also offer a 10×20 collage print that we call the Senior Expression that the kids absolutely love!

5. What kind of prep do you do with your seniors as far as make-up, clothing?
After they call and book with us, we send them an FYI guide that contains every bit of information they would ever need to know about their senior photo session. We also call them to confirm their appointment and go over any last minute questions they may have prior to them coming in. We make sure to tell them to bring in clothes for all situations.

6. How do you stay current with trends?
I pay strict attention to senior photographers all over of the country. Participation on the pro4um has helped me stay current. I also plan on joining SPA (Senior Portrait Artists http://www.spartists.com) . SPA has the best of the best with regards to senior photographers.

7. What’s your best selling product?
We don’t have one product that out sells any other. I would however say that our “Experience” is our best selling product. The best compliment that we have been given was to compare coming in for a 2 hour session to spending time at a day spa. I meet every one of our clients when they drive in, I help them bring in their clothes, and my wife works with the senior and helps them do the final clothing picks. I meet with the parent and go over our policies and our price guide. My wife and I do this as a team, just like everything else we do. First and foremost we are friends, so working together is pretty easy. I take the photos, she helps the kids pick out their clothes and pose. Since I also work a day job, she works the images in Photoshop and then I do the sales sessions in the evening. It really is a true partnership, I could not do it without her!

It’s a complete experience.

8. How do you balance appealing to the senior and the parents?
We always make sure that our marketing has great images in it that appeal to the senior. However, the text is aimed at the parent. From the first time they read one of our sales letters or see our senior catalog, we are building a relationship. We need to get the seniors to trust us and to have them think we are “the cool studio”. Once we do that, the parents tend to go where the senior wants to go. We have really noticed that this year, as we have made a huge in road into one of the local schools.

9. What’s one thing you thought would never go over well that has been a huge hit?
We don’t do our packages like most studios. We use gift portraits (any combination of 1 8×10, 2 5×7’s of the same image or 4 4×6’s of the same image). Our packages have a specific number of gift prints and each gift print can be a different pose. I have been told by the best of them that I would be leaving money on the table by doing this. However, more people are coming to us because of the variety that they can get. In the end, they are spending the same amount of money they would be spending at the larger studios, but they are leaving with more prints and more poses.

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

I think the biggest mistake that we made early on was pricing ourselves too cheap. I don’t think anyone took us seriously at first. However, once we raised the prices the phone started ringing. We attended a seminar put on by Tim Babin and one of the subjects he spoke about was product pricing and knowing your COGS (cost of goods sold). We learned a lot from Tim and when we came back, we took a long hard look and made some adjustments. I am very pleased to say, Tim was right!

11. what would you do differently if you knew then what you do now?
I would have purchased the right equipment the first time around. I have learned that just because you can get it cheaper, does not mean it is the same. All softboxes are not created the same. Spend your money on high quality products and they will make you money over and over again.

12. what do you personally like best about this business?
I love the opportunity to meet new people and the look they have when they see their images for the first time. Its easy to make a cute person look great, but it can take a bit of work to make an average person look great. In the end, I would bet that you will make more money from the average person that you made look great.

13. how do you keep it fresh. Of all photography markets it seems like this one is the most trend based, how do you keep up with that. And well not shoot your self after 20+ girls want the exact same pose and location because “becky” got it.
This year we hired a landscaper to come in and create an outdoor shooting park in our back yard. We run our studio out of our home and wanted to enhance the experience that our clients have when they visit us. While it was a huge expense, it is paying for itself many times over. Our average has gone up this year and our schedule is filling up faster too. Having the new areas to shoot in has helped us keep the creative juices flowing. Another thing that helps is that my wife has a huge artistic side, and has started painting backgrounds for use with our seniors. They are going over big and since they are one of a kind, I can guarantee that no one else with have that same image.If you could spend a day with any photographer and ask them anything who would it be and what would you want to know?