Before I was ever in video production, I was a photographer. As I got older, I realized more and more that I didn’t want photography to just be a hobby, I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
While this project is about photography, I am actually a video emphasis. One might ask, “Emma, why didn’t you just do a video?” Well. I tried. The original plan was to direct a 7-10 short film with the help of my friend. However, I was running into obstacle after obstacle and almost halfway through the time block we were given for senior project, I was not able to make nearly as much progress as I had wanted. I wanted to make this short film, but at that point in the semester, I was not going to have enough time to make a short film of the quality I wanted.
After discussing this issue with my faculty mentor, I decided to go a different route with something I am equally passionate about, photography!
The Project Plan
What is really great about being into videography and photography is that a lot of the skills I learned in video production transfer over very well into photography and vice versa. Throughout my video classes, I realized I had a knack for project management, which I found awfully helpful for switching over to this particular project.
The goal of this project wasn’t just to update my photography portfolio, I wanted to be ready to accept paying clients and run a professional photography business. I planned to focus on portrait photography because that will always be in demand no matter where I go. I also wanted to redo my website, so it could be a landing page for potential and existing clients. I also started new social media pages to showcase my work and find new clients.
I created custom Google sheets that I could use to keep track of scheduling, deadlines, etc. for this entire project. You can view it here!
Photographing
I wanted to get a wide range of pictures, so I relied on my friends and our local Buy Nothing Facebook group! On that FB group, I offered free photography sessions that were one hour long and they would get 15 photos in return. I also gave a lot of my friends free graduation photo sessions.
I also worked on developing a more consistent editing style. I went for a bright and warm tone.
The Website
For this project, I also wanted to create a new website that could be a landing page for clients and a place to showcase my work. I wanted a place where I could display my portfolio, schedule photo sessions, and deliver photos to clients. After a lot of research, I decided to use Pixieset as my platform. I chose Pixieset because it is very user-friendly. Its web design feature is very simple and its backend is built for a photographer. There I can manage client galleries, draw up contracts, and create quotes and invoices. Pixieset was also the most affordable for what I was getting. Right now I am using the free version, but if I were to upgrade it would not break the bank. To view my website click here *Go to the clients tab if you want to view the photos I took for senior project.*
Social Media
When it comes to photography, social media is a great way to find clients. I started a new Instagram and Facebook page. I chose Instagram because that is the easiest for me to use and it is one of the best apps to use to showcase photos. I chose to create a Facebook page because, for this project specifically, I found a lot of clients on Facebook. I figured it would be a good idea to have that as well.
Pricing
During this project, I also updated my pricing and kept track of how much I would’ve made if these had been paid sessions. That way I can have an idea of what I might make once I take paying clients and if it is viable to go full-time. In total I would’ve made $2200 in the six weeks I worked on this project.
To see all of my work for this project, check out my website! If you want to view my best work, check out my portfolio! If you want to view specific galleries, check out my client galleries!