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Lifestyle Family Photography

Lesson 22 of 31

Tips for Engaging Clients


Lifestyle Family Photography

Lesson 22 of 31

Tips for Engaging Clients


Lesson Info

Tips for Engaging Clients

Details during our shoots, okay? We're gonna do things with outside the room peeking in. Always get that view. Above the subject, so standing above the subject. And this is a really good time where... This was my second lifestyle shoot, by the way. This is, that dog has now passed and the baby, I think, is seven. Go above the subject. Go straight on. You know, get low, close up to faces. Change your perspective, okay? And when you're standing over clients like this, clearly you cannot have your 50 millimeter lens on. It's just not gonna work. You need to really have a lens on the 35, the 24, even wider, like a, you know, you just have to be careful with distortion. That's why I'm loving the 24, because I can actually get up high enough and do these sorts of things. I use the 35 outside more frequently now. Just, you have to let go of the rules with some things. This is filling the frame. This is a really good compositional trick to fill the frame, okay? And obviously the focus of this ...

is on the baby and the dog, okay? Okay, activities. How did we implement the questionnaire? How did we implement the questionnaire? Mom told me that she liked, the kids love doing things in threes, so we made sure that we kept the kids in threes during that questionnaire. They loved to read, so we did some reading. They loved, dad loved coffee, so we did the coffee, okay? So we take some of those things that they, that's on their questionnaire and really implemented them into that session the best that we could, you know, for the time that we had. What areas of the whole did I, of the home did I find compositionally cool? That wall, that, right, that was behind on the family room, that was the wall in their bedroom that was really cool, and that was compositionally cool. You need to always look for things like that. Like this wall and this lion. His face is priceless. That's a cool thing. I wanted to use that wall, right? So if you see anything cool like that, use it, okay? Tips to engaging clients. Set up activities the kids love, okay? Have a lovie there. Clients are always so concerned about taking their lovies away. Don't take their lovies away. Please don't take their lovies away. If they have a lovie, keep it. That's part of the family, right? Zachary has Bunny. Bunny will always be in our pictures. He just is part of the family. Say funny jokes. You know, have the kids make funny jokes to each other, okay? Keep them talking. Keep them busy. You know, just keep these kids engaged as much as you can. Tickle 'em. Get, you know, get daddy. Kiss mommy. Play tag in the house. That'll test your camera skills. But what you do is you wait around the corner, you know? And they're coming, they're coming running down the hallway. Now purposely put yourself somewhere that has good light. Everything's on purpose because of light, right? So put yourself somewhere and be ready for that shot, okay? This is why you take a million pictures, because the kids are gonna come running, okay? Or doing peek-a-boo. You're not gonna chase the kids while they're running. I mean, that would be epic, but probably not. Get messy. Get messy with them, okay? So they feel like you're engaging with them. Have dad surprise kiss mom. I do this a lot. I'll say to the husband, "Hey, go grab your wife "and grab her face "and give her a kiss when she's not looking." Best shot ever. 'Cause she's like, "This never happens!" And, like, it's, you know, it's great. (audience laughs) So you get natural reactions, obviously, with that, right? Hug your clients. I hug everybody. I just do. If you're not comfortable hugging people, you're gonna have to get over it, 'cause honestly, even just, like, a gentle, like, back rub, touching their arm, like, get connected to your, I mean, if you have clients that don't wanna hug, don't do it. But if you get close to your clients, you know, get, you know, hip check dad, you know what I mean? Like, hey, like, loosen up a little bit, dude. Like, I do this all the time, and it makes everybody kinda relax, you know? They feel like you're their friend and not somebody, like, invading their home, okay? Keep 'em honest, right? Like, you are 16, right? So that makes kids laugh, too. So if you have a four-year-old, be like, you're 16, right? Or you're a girl, and he's a boy. Laugh, right? So if you say something that's not accurate, it'll make 'em laugh.

Class Description

  • Capture authentic lifestyle family images
  • Plan for a successful lifestyle session
  • Edit for beautiful skin tones and stunning portraits
  • Build a successful lifestyle photography business






  • Budding photographers ready to turn a passion into a profession
  • Parents that want to capture better images of the everyday moments
  • Professional photographers ready to do more with lifestyle images




  1. Class Introduction


  2. What is Lifestyle Family Photography?


  3. How to Get Started in Lifestyle Photography


  4. How to Market to Your Ideal Client


  5. How to Book Your First Client


  6. Pricing for Lifestyle Photography Sessions


  7. Steps to Book a Client Using Iris Works


  8. The Client Questionnaire


  9. Why Use a Family Guide?


  10. Live Shoot: Family In-Studio


  11. Live Shoot: Introduce Fun Activity


  12. Image Culling Process in Bridge


  13. Gear Recommendations for Shoots


  14. Tips to Create Authentic Shooting Sessions


  15. Plan an In-Home Shooting Session


  16. Activity Tips for In-Home Shoots


  17. Develop Your In-Home Session Flow


  18. Live Shoot: Find In-Home Natural Light


  19. Live Shoot: Engaging Children in Fun Activities


  20. Live Shoot: Introduce In-Home Activities to Shoot


  21. Live Shoot: Implement In-Home Shooting Flow


  22. Tips for Engaging Clients


  23. Photoshop: Edit Live Shoot Images


  24. Lightroom: Edit Live Shoot Images


  25. The Importance of Photo Composition


  26. Get Clients to Connect Naturally In Photos


  27. Example: Successful Family Shoot


  28. Example: Perspective in Shoots


  29. Incorporating Pets Into Family Photos


  30. Sales Techniques That Work


  31. Sellable Products and Packages







