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“But I really only want just one shot!”

Posted on 23 Nov, 2016 by Sarah Hart

I often have enquiries asking about my photography shoots, who then go on to admit that “actually, we really only want one shot of the family.”  The reality is that I’m probably not the photographer for them. This just isn’t a service I can offer (as I explain below). HOWEVER, last week I was THAT client wanting “just one shot of the family”!!! All I wanted was a lovely image of my own children with the Hart cousins so that we could give Nan & Grandad Hart a lovely framed print of their grandchildren for Christmas. I managed it (with relative ease last year!) BUT this year was a little tougher with two 1 year olds who didn’t really want to have their photo taken!

I did get the shot I needed (though I’ll be honest, I did have to cheat and do a couple of head swaps in Photoshop) but I thought I’d share a few of the funny out takes in order for me to actually get THAT one shot…..

 

 

 

Daisy didn’t want to join in!

 

And what was Oscar thinking with that face??!!!

 

So we tried a standing up shot……….

 

But Oscar didn’t want to stand still and Grace was really not happy 🙁

 

And the snow?! Well the snow was a little distracting because it was just TOO MUCH FUN!!!

 

 

 

But I did manage to eventually get the shot that I needed! YAY!

Now, there was a whole lot of editing work after the shoot to get the above result, but it was totally worth it to get that “just one shot”.  Many of you who have recently visited the studio for a mini session will know, that lots of children do not want to co-operate in us just getting that one shot! And the effort above, wasn’t just because they are my family. I really do feel the pressure during photography sessions because I know how much you want a lovely photo of your children, together, looking and smiling at the camera. It’s very often, not an easy task and sometimes I will rely on my Photoshop skills to get the best result.

 

“So,” I hear you say, “if you can do a shoot to get the ONE shot of your own family, why is this not a service you can offer me?” Well, whilst I fully understand the desire to get a lovely family photo, I also have to run a business and should I only book a shoot, to sell just one image, I wouldn’t be able to remain profitable and continue to run my business.

Just to give you an idea of the kind of time that is taken with the average 1 hour portrait session, I’ve broken down the actual work involved:

• Initial emails or telephone calls to book in a session
• Travel to the session (if a Lifestyle session)
• Setup and preparation (if a Studio session)
• Photograph the session
• Travel from the session (if a Lifestyle session)
• Tidying up the props and backdrops after the session (if a Studio session)
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 – 4 hours of editing, including cropping, contrast, colour adjustment, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Upload images to an online viewing gallery for client.
• 2 – 3 hours to email/talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, prepare USB or CD and emails to arrange collection.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish.  And this doesn’t take into account the time devoted to marketing and administration work to keep my business running.

 

So what do you get if you book a photography session with me? Well, you will hopefully receive that “ONE SHOT” with all the family (looking and smiling….because I will go to every effort to get it!)  but you will also receive a gallery of beautiful images that tell a story about your family. And very often clients tell me their favourite images from their galleries are the ones where their children’s personalities shine through…..like this one of my gorgeous niece, Daisy having fun in the snow with her cousins…..