I

had planned to finish this book at the end of the previous chapter, but I
received an e-mail that made me think that maybe one or two more chap-
ters were needed. In this e-mail, I was reminded that many photogra-
phers have a hard time controlling their sessions simply because they have a
hard time controlling their businesses.

How Troubles Get Started.

In this e-mail, the photographer asked why we don’t put prices on our web-
site for senior portraits. I responded that price doesn’t matter. She was
shocked and told me that price is the most important factor to her clients. She
could never leave out the prices from her website. Trying to explain, I told
her that most of the time, photographers worry much more about prices than
clients do. In this competitive market, very few studios are priced that far
above other studios of a similar quality. I feel it is the photographers’ overem-
phasis on pricing that attracts bargain shoppers tocheapportraits. After all,
people who wantbeautifulportraits don’t respond well to businesses that
promote themselves as bargain-basement operations.
Just like the woman who sent me this e-mail, many photographers don’t
realize that it is their lack of business skills and not “problem clients” that
makes their work so difficult to deal with. These photographers encounter
problems from the point of the first phone call, to the time they make the ap-
pointment, through to the session, the order, and finally the order pick-up.
As a result, they see their clients as nothing more than troublesome penny
pinchers who are out to ruin their lives.
The truth is, photographers often make it hard on clients by not provid-
ing them with the proper information and by failing to define their business
so the potential clients know what to expect from the studio. You have to
look at each step in the average session and make the process as easy for the
client as possible—and do everything in your power to accurately define your
business so the only calls you get are from clients who actually want what
you offer.

106 JEFF SMITH’S POSING TECHNIQUES FOR LOCATION PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

9. Controlling the Session—and Your Business

They see their clients as

troublesome penny pinchers

who are out to ruin their lives.