The story of how my photography career began is one you’ve no doubt heard before.
Eight years ago I was the classic “mom with a camera,” who experienced a passionate and pivotal shift in how I expected life to unfold.
Soul searching granted me the insight to realize I needed to take the plunge into photography. I’m an all-or-nothing gal (a debatable quality), so I set my sights forward and never looked back.
I already had an insatiable fascination with capturing the lives of my children. Yet like so many newbie pros, I was immediately face to face with myriad obstacles, confusion, failure and self doubt.
But I would not allow frustration to take root. Instead, I worked diligently to improve in my budding craft. It took years to become confident enough to sell my images as something meaningful to another family, to a paying client.
That brought me to the next hurdle, learning to sustain a for-profit business. Now comfortable with my photographic ability, I needed steady bookings with the right clientele.
I certainly had a long line of families who wanted my art, but they were also naïve about the value of my art. I wanted the right families, not just any family. Yes, well, there’s the rub, quoth Hamlet. That would come.
A crucial moment
About a decade ago I’d been deeply inspired by an exceptional family photographer in Orlando, Fla. I didn’t immediately realize the extent to which her talent, work ethic and business savvy would fire my spirit for years to come.
Katie Meehan shot unconventional school portraits for a preschool where I did volunteer work while in college. She was and still is incredibly successful, and I wondered why she’d do school portraits with so much other business walking through her door. I couldn’t put the pieces together at the time, but the sum of those pieces became the key to my current success.
Shooting unconventional school portraits has given me direct access to the right clientele for my child and family portrait business. The families who purchase my school portraits book sessions of their own with me year after year.
Through my partnerships with schools, not only do I have the opportunity to provide excellent portraits for the parents, but also to make substantial income from each school I partner with. It’s been marketing gold and the catalyst of my busy schedule year-round.
My first school contract was signed five years, 6,000 kids and many mistakes ago. The learning curve wasn’t pretty or quick with this endeavor. Those nascent missteps, though, were exactly what I needed to experience in order to grow, learn and get it right with future school contracts.
This niche of my business operates now like a well-oiled machine, and I am grateful. It’s refreshing, hilarious and heartwarming to connect with each child who stands in front of my camera.
A bit of back story
Allow me to rewind time for a moment. In college I studied elementary education. Coming from a long line of teachers, I’d had every intention of becoming a teacher since tween-hood. Enabling a “light bulb” moment in another soul as a good teacher can do is a deep-rooted passion of mine.
Chapter and verse
On portrait day at a school, I get about 60 seconds to photograph each child standing against my backdrop. During this brief time span my goal is to elicit and capture a glimpse of the child’s authentic self.
I make silly jokes and blurt out funny words and noises, all the while capturing a spectrum of emotions. I make sure to keep the students waiting in line out of earshot to ensure my “Spiderman wears diapers” joke always falls on fresh ears. Every boy I see is a superhero, every girl a princess. Some compliments I give are just timeless; as I secure my gear, I laugh over how many times I said those words that day.
I issue multiple proofs to each student’s family, always with the intention to provide a variety of smiles, open-mouth laughter, thoughtful expressions and whatever else spontaneously happens in our brief time together. Through these images I’m telling a story to the parents. I’m also enticing them to discover how much more I could create in an official session.
My equipment of choice for school portrait art is a Canon 85mm f/1.2L lens, a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, and plenty of natural sunshine. I set up a backdrop and black fabric outdoors or in a large space with window light indoors.
I’m not a big equipment person; after all these years in the industry, I still don’t own a camera bag. Simple is my mantra. It’s me, my camera, my subject and hopefully lots of emotion.
My sweet spot in camera settings tends to be f/2.0 to f/2.2 with a shutter speed of no less than 1/500 second and often as high as 1/1250. I’m an auto-white balance gal and I like my ISO at 400, give or take just a tad.
School photos are best shot in JPEG mode (gasp) for reasons of speed and storage economy. A former Photoshop-processing addict, I’ve recently become enamored of batch-editing my school portraits in Lightroom. It’s an ongoing process of consistently learning to work smarter, not harder.
There are easily 300 ins and outs to nailing a job like this and generating enough buzz to keep you busy all year. At the heart of it though, a good photograph boils down to you and your subject. Your connection, your ability to feel what’s really happening in the moment, your instincts saying, Now!
Words & photos by Michelle L Morris
This article first appeared in a print issue of Click Magazine. Order your print or digital copy from the Click & Company Store. Or better yet, get a 1-year subscription so you never miss an issue!
Do you use a tripod for school photos?