Profitable Advice From a Professional Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Photography Tips  •  Portrait Photography  •  Wedding Photography

Graham Monro loves his job. He loves photographing people and capturing their personality while building relationships with his clients. As a professional wedding and portrait photographer, Graham Monro, has years of experience under his belt and his talent and passion for the job shows vividly in his work. In the short clip, Monro shares some of the insight he has gained over the years working with families and newlyweds in an effort to impart his wisdom on aspiring portrait photographers:

The clip comes off as a Canon advertisement of sorts; Monro shoots on a Canon 5D Mark III. But, looking past all the pretty cameras (or in my case, gawking at all the gear I wish I owned), Monro offers a lot of tips for those wishing to make a successful business out wedding and portrait photography.

How to Capture Personality in Portraits

• Personalize your shoots. Monro explains that when shooting families, he is looking to capture their specific dynamics. Every shoot should be different and based upon the people you’re photographing.
• Capture emotion. Show a family’s love for one another by encouraging them to interact.
• Make it fun. To do that, Monro suggests getting to know the clients and building an upbeat rapport with them so they can more easily put their guards down when in front of the camera.

How to Build a Strong Photography Business

As far as building a strong business, Monro says the best way to do this is to do a really good job. Give clients a great experience, deliver a superior product, and people will refer you. Word of mouth referrals are one of the best ways to acquire new clients and build a solid foundation for your photography business.

“I think something that people are getting wrong now in this digital age is they are not printing their work and they’re not displaying it and that’s when you can relive those moments. For me, the life of a photograph begins and ends with a print. You can’t get a higher accolade than somebody to hang your photograph in their house for the rest of their lives.”