Today, I’m flipping the script to talk all about family photography! Balancing candid and posed shots during a session can be hard, but it’s so important for capturing the true vibe of a family’s unique story. In this week’s episode of Keeping It Candid, I’m sharing my top strategies for finding that perfect balance, plus my three favourite prompts to use for genuine reactions and natural emotions in photos. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, these tips are meant to help make your next session easy and fun. Keep scrolling for links to the episode, show notes, and a full transcript!

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Show Notes

Chronically Ill, Disabled & Neurodivergent Photographers Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ndspooniephotographers

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Get A Free Month Of Pic-Time: https://lifeisbeautifullondon.pic-time.com/referral

Takeaways

• Balancing candid and posed photos is important in family photography to cater to different client preferences and situations.
• Tickle photos, asking who has the stinkiest feet, and the sneak attack are effective prompts for capturing genuine reactions and natural emotions in family photos.
• Sandra Henderson is launching a shop that will offer templates and resources for streamlining the backend of photography businesses.
• She has also started a community for photographers in the chronic illness, disabled, and neurodivergent community.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Expansion of Topics
02:07 Balancing Candid and Posed Photos in Family Photography
04:30 Three Favorite Prompts for Capturing Genuine Reactions in Family Photos
07:44 Launching a Shop for Streamlining Photography Businesses
08:42 Creating a Community for Photographers in the Chronic Illness and Neurodivergent Community

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What do your taco choices reveal about your wedding photography business? Take my quiz to find out!

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 Introduction and Expansion of Topics

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: I know I mostly talk about wedding photography over here, but I mentioned at the end of last week’s episode that I have been doing family photography for as long as I’ve been doing wedding photography. It’s one of my favorite things to do when I’m behind my camera. And after my interview with Dolly DeLong that was aired last week, I just felt like it was so fitting to keep talking about family photography on the podcast. So I’m going to be kind of widening the depth of the topics that we cover here. More so leaning into the keeping it candid and dropping the wedding part of the wedding photography unfiltered because there’s so much more to talk about and there’s so many ways that the different, you know, sub industries, all playing together.

[00:00:50] So today’s episode is going to be focusing on just that, and it is going to be short and sweet because if you are anything like me, your to do list at this point in wedding season or busy season is just getting longer and longer. So I don’t want to add anything else to your plate. This is going to be a short and easy listen.

[00:01:11] And hopefully give you some inspiration for the next time you’re behind your camera.

[00:01:16] Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong eneagram three wing too who is obsessed with tacos, and my love for traveling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:01:46] Join me every week for a candid behind the scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends. So go grab your favorite notebook and pen, and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

02:07 Balancing Candid and Posed Photos in Family Photography

[00:02:07] My approach to photography in general, but especially when it comes to family photography, is doing a mix of both candid and more posed formal photos. And the reason why I do this is because no matter how much we wish it was different, grandparents and even some parents just don’t get those creative photos.

[00:02:29] All of those, photos where we have people running around and if you’re like me,, you might get kids to make silly faces and things like that. Having blurs and different edits are all so popular when it comes to photography. But as much as we love all those kinds of things, there are definitely still people in this world that are looking for those more traditional photos And so it is important to cater to them to a certain extent. We want to make sure that grandparents have photos that they’re super excited to print with their family and put them up on their mantle on their fireplace. We want parents to be super excited to receive photos of our kids.

[00:03:06] And put them up on their wall and display them proudly. And then we can save all of those really fun, silly, creative ones for ourselves. 

[00:03:14] So that’s why I always do a mix of the two. I also find it’s a great way to balance a kids energy levels because it does come and go. And sometimes you’re not always going to be able to get them to sit still. So giving them the opportunity to move around and capturing some candid photos can go a long way as a bargaining tool to then get some littles to come back and give us another quick smile for a more formal photo.

[00:03:39] And then they can go and have some fun again.

[00:03:42] And then aside from preferences of, you know, grandparents and other people who don’t get quote unquote those more creative photos, there are also situations where these photos might be used by the clients where they want to clearly see everybody’s faces. So, lots of reasons why doing a balance of the two is super important.

[00:04:01] Now if all creative candids are entirely your style, and that’s what people are coming to you for, then of course you want to give them that. But if you are someone who does a little bit of both, like me, or you’re wondering if there’s one that’s better than the other, and you’re still trying to feel it out and feel out what your style is going to be, try doing a mix of both and see how that goes and how that feels for you.

[00:04:23] So with all the why’s out of the way, let’s talk about what my three favorite prompts are to use for family photos.

04:30 Three Favorite Prompts for Capturing Genuine Reactions in Family Photos

[00:04:30] First, the easiest go to that I’m sure is not a surprise to anybody that does family photos or who works with littles is tickle photos. Anytime that we can get parents or older siblings or anyone to reach in and tickle some littles, we are always going to get the best smiles and the best reactions. And so that is my go to for every single session.

[00:04:53] We’re always going to do a tickle photo.

[00:04:56] The second one is actually one I’ve just started using in the last couple years, and I find that this one works better for kids who are a little bit older. It kind of misses the mark with toddlers and with older teens, but if you get those kids that are kind of like in those middle ages, Asking them to look at the person in the family who has the stinkiest feet is another way that you are going to get so many laughs and genuine reactions from the people in front of your camera.

[00:05:24] And then you may also get a little bit of a friendly debate afterwards while everybody argues because it’s not this person, it’s that person. And the candids that come along with that are just so great.

[00:05:35] And in that situation, it’s a perfect example of how you can do both a more posed photo and a candid photo because you can get everybody into position. You can get that photo with everybody looking at your camera and smiling, and then you can throw the prompt at them about looking at who has stinky feet and catch all of the candids and fun that happens after that.

[00:05:54] Now last but not least this prompt is going to have to be used when you’re outdoors and when you are working with people that have a lot of room for mobility and this is the sneak attack. And so I like to do this with kids of any age whether they are toddlers, toddlers. Or they are older teenagers.

[00:06:14] What we do is we put the parents or grandparents or whomever in the middle, and then I either put all of the kids behind or in front of the couple or that main subject, and then I let them know we’re going to pretend like that couple in the middle can’t hear me. And I want you guys all to run and sneak attack them. You’re going to throw your arms around them, keep them looking nice, but I want you to just go and have some fun in a big group hug.

[00:06:40] And then I get my camera ready and I just start taking photos of everybody running in together and everything that happens after that, which is usually pretty chaotic. But again, it brings out so many amazing natural reactions and gets rid of those stiff, awkward smiles that come when you’re standing in front of the camera for too long.

[00:06:59] So a quick recap, those three prompts that are my absolute favorite go to’s for every single family session to get genuine reactions and natural emotions from your subjects. First, tickles. Two, getting everybody to look at who has the stinkiest feet in the family. And three, a good old fashioned sneak attack.

[00:07:20] Now before I wrap up this week’s episode, I have a few little housekeeping announcements that I want to make. First, is that the shop that I know I’ve been talking about for a few months now, the final touches are finally coming into place and the shop is going to be launching so soon. It’s taken a little bit longer than I expected it to because it is a labor of love to start a project like this, and I am still in the midst of busy season over here.

07:44 Launching a Shop for Streamlining Photography Businesses

[00:07:48] But it’s almost ready and I cannot wait to share it with you. So make sure you head over to simply Sandra Yvonne. ca forward slash shop because templates are coming your way for HoneyBook smart files, workflows, email templates…

[00:08:03] my goal for this shop is for it to have anything and everything you could possibly need to help you streamline the back end of your business in a simple and sustainable way.

08:12 Creating a Community for Photographers in the Chronic Illness and Neurodivergent Community

[00:08:12] And then, if you are listening and you are a photographer who is in the chronic illness, disabled, or neurodivergent community, I want you to head over to the show notes for today’s episode or head to facebook. com forward slash groups forward slash n d spoonie photographers because I have started a brand new community for people just like us. That’s meant to be a place where we can all just hang out and support one another through the rollercoaster of being an entrepreneur while managing things like chronic illnesses, disabilities, and neurodivergent. Things that, let’s be real, feel like a full time job themselves.

[00:08:52] What works for others doesn’t always work for us, and so I want to change that by bringing us all together into a space where we can tune out all of the other noise of things that just don’t work with our lifestyles. In this group, I may post a podcast episode or a tip here and there, but for the most part, it is not meant to be an educational space.

[00:09:12] We have enough of those. This is a community where we are focusing on support and surrounding ourselves with other people who just don’t. Get it.

[00:09:20] So again, you can find the link to that in my show notes, or you can head to facebook. com forward slash groups forward slash nd spoonie photographers

[00:09:31] and on that note, that wraps up this week’s episode, friends, but thank you so much for being here as always. I will be back next Wednesday with a brand new episode. And in the meantime, come hang out over on threads. It’s my absolute favorite social media platform right now. And it’s the only one I actually enjoy being on. So come over, hang out, have some fun conversations. I promise it is awesome over there and you can find me at Simply Sandra Yvonne.

[00:09:56] Have a great rest of your Wednesday and we’ll talk soon.

[00:10:00] Today’s episode of the podcast is sponsored by PicTime. This is the gallery service that I use in my photography business that literally doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve tried. First and foremost, it’s fully accessible to Canadians. All the other platforms I’ve tried have been open to Canadians, but they limit the features that we can access because of having to work with American printers or tax limitations and things like that.

[00:10:25] But with PicTime, it is Fully accessible. All features can be used up here in Canada. You can set it to Canadian pricing. You can set it to Canadian printers. If you are a U. S. listener, of course, you have lots of options. But as a Canadian photographer, those features made me very, very happy.

[00:10:43] Pictime also has pre made and custom automations to help you boost your sales year round.

[00:10:49] There’s optional AI facial recognition, AI watermark protection, custom storefronts with international pricing options.

[00:10:57] It even integrates with honey books. You can keep all of your client files organized and linked together and even view the photos from the gallery inside your honey book account. I could truly go on for hours about how much I love this platform.

[00:11:34] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shownotes. In the meantime, let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search Simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!

Having been a photography client myself, I’ve been on the receiving end of some frustrating experiences. It set a bad tone leading up to my session and left me worried about what our time in front of the camera would be like. First impressions matter, especially in business. When you make it difficult for potential clients to connect with you or navigate your processes, you’re setting the stage for what they can expect throughout their entire experience with you.

Think about it—from the moment someone sends that initial inquiry to the day you deliver their final images, every interaction shapes their perception of your brand. And that’s why it’s so important to make every step of the client journey as seamless and hassle-free as possible.

So, let’s dive into some practical ways you can create a smoother experience for your clients. After all, making it easy for them isn’t just about convenience—it’s about building trust and fostering positive relationships that keep them coming back time and time again.

Let Your Photography Clients Book Online

I was recently looking online for a new hairstylist, and I won’t lie to you – I made my decision based on the company that had online booking available. Not only was it late at night, but I also hate talking on the phone. If I can avoid it I will, so online booking is my best friend in situations like this.

Adding an online booking calendar to your website is like giving your photography clients a VIP pass to convenience and efficiency. They can schedule sessions and meetings on their own time and within the boundaries that you’ve carefully set. It’s a game-changer, streamlining the entire booking process and eliminating the need for endless back-and-forth emailing to make it happen. Plus, it shows your clients that you value their time and strive to make their experience with you as enjoyable as possible.

Offer More Than One Payment Option

Last year at a destination wedding around my birthday I couldn’t treat myself to any extras at the resort because I was told I had the wrong currency, too large of a bill, or that my card wasn’t accepted every time I tried. They lost $150 in sales because of it.

By offering multiple payment methods, you’re not just making it convenient for your clients to pay for your services; you’re also increasing your revenue stream. Think about it: when clients have options like credit cards, bank transfers, or payment platforms, they’re more likely to finalize their bookings without hesitation. This flexibility not only streamlines the payment process but also builds their confidence in your professionalism and reliability. Plus, the more accessible you make your payment options, the more accessible you become to a wider range of clients. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the feeling of seeing more money in their bank account?! It’s a win-win situation that ultimately contributes to the growth and success of your photography business.

Utilize Automations Throughout Their Experience

Ever found yourself booking a service and then feeling a bit lost about what to expect next? It’s not a great feeling. It’s one you can avoid in your business by automating parts of your client communication. Set up automated emails to send confirmations, helpful tips, and reminders leading up to the session or wedding day. Trust me, when you’re one step ahead and anticipate your clients’ needs, they’ll never have doubts about hiring you!

But let’s get real here—automation isn’t just about saving time (although that’s a huge plus!). It’s about giving your clients an experience they’ll rave about. It’s like having a personal assistant guiding them through the entire process. So, if you’re all about making your clients feel like royalty, automations are your new best friend!

Implementing photography systems that prioritize simplicity and convenience for your clients (and you, too!!) is a game-changer for your business. By embracing online booking calendars, offering flexible payment options, and leveraging the power of automations, your clients will be happier than ever about how easy it is to work with you, and your business will thrive like never before!

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Check out some more of my favourite blogs:

Next Level Email Marketing Strategies with Candice Coppola

Creating A More Accessible Photography Business with Erin Perkins of Mabely Q

7 Essential Tips For Starting A Photography Business

00:00 Introduction and Importance of Accessibility

Accessibility should be a top priority for all business owners, but let’s be honest, it is something that is overlooked more often than not. It’s something that I really hope we start to see changing in 2024, and that is why I knew I had to have my friend Erin on the podcast.

Erin is a deafblind accessibility educator and the owner of Mabely Q. Her mission is to make the world a more accessible place one business at a time. She loves getting to teach businesses how to do just that by leaning on her life experiences that she shares with others to foster true inclusion at all levels. This is a do-not-miss episode. So absolutely make sure that you grab your notebook and pen or if you’re busy and listening to this on the go make sure you come back to it because there are some really, really important takeaways for you in this episode that you’re gonna be able to apply to your business and start delivering an even more incredible client experience every step of the way.

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Transcript of my interview with Erin from Mabely Q

(Intro Music)

Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the backend of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three-wing too who’s obsessed with tacos. And my love for travelling, combined with navigating chronic illness life, are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

Sandra Henderson
Erin, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I am so excited for this conversation. But before we dive right in, I would love it if you would give listeners, just introduce yourself and give them an idea of who you are and what you’re all about.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Sandra, thank you for having me. I really like genuinely appreciate you inviting me on this podcast. I am Erin Perkins and I am the CEO of Mabely Q. Mabely Q is all about creating accessibility education for small business owners because unlike in the corporate world, which is where I came from, like a lot of these things, they already have the budget, they already have all these things built out for them, so they’re able to do that. But when you’re a small business owner, you don’t have access to these resources, you don’t necessarily understand…

And to be honest, accessibility is very dry. It’s very misunderstood. It’s vague. Like all those things that you can think of that I found that I ended up teaching people because I, myself, am deafblind. And I’ve always had resources given to me growing up. You know, my parents had to make sure that their kids had access.

But not everyone goes to have that fortune. So I just ended up doing it and I really enjoy it. And it makes me very excited to just be able to help people really lean into the values of their business.

03:08 Challenges for Small Business Owners

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, absolutely. I love that so much. And I think that is so, so important. And you brought up a really good point that bigger companies and corporations have so many resources at their fingertips to be able to approach different aspects of incorporating accessibility into their companies. But for small business owners, we don’t have those same resources. And I think when it’s just us, it’s such a complex and nuanced subject as well because there are so many different groups of people that need accessibility. It’s not just about one group of people and I think that is something that I know from conversations I’ve had with other people. It’s something that kind of hinders them from going forward because they’re worried that they’re gonna do something wrong.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I want people not to be scared of… We’re all gonna make mistakes. I’ve made so many mistakes. I mean, my first branding was completely not accessible with the script font. And I kind of had to learn because it’s not something that is taught in school. And it’s just like, and here’s the thing. Corporates grew up big time as well. I would like to use Meta and Instagram as the most recent example, they launched Threads. And it was completely inaccessible to screen readers, people who use alt text and all of that. They could not use it at all. And if a company that had this system set up in Instagram and Facebook screws up on Threads, you as an independent business owner, are allowed to screw up.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I totally agree. I think we all need to just get more comfortable with making mistakes because we are imperfect people and the important thing is not to be perfect right now and never make a mistake going forward. It’s to be open to like owning up to those mistakes and correcting whatever that mistake was and learning from it going forward.

Erin Perkins
Yeah, and that’s like really all I teach is like, you know, you make a mistake, okay, how do you correct? However, I will 100% say if you do it over and over and over again, that means you don’t really care. And okay, I don’t want to be part of your world then.

06:16 Improving Accessibility Online for Wedding Photographers

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I completely agree with that. So what are some ways that you think that wedding photographers can improve their accessibility online when it comes to their websites, their social media presence and things like that?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I think this is like really tricky because a lot of disabled people… (Missing transcript)

One, they already don’t see themselves in the wedding arena. They don’t see themselves represented. However, it’s also like, they don’t want to be the token of that wedding photographer. So it’s very hard trying to find that fine line of being able to showcase that you do welcome them, you do want them to be represented. But at the same time don’t make them feel like it has to be a part of their story. Like for me, I got married 13 years ago, so Pinterest was still brand new at that time. So it was interesting because I do not want my hearing aids to be shown in the wedding pictures and stuff like that, just because I don’t think it’s aesthetically pleasing.

But it didn’t mean that my being deaf is not part of my story. So it was like tricky, like trying to find that fine line. I think a lot of photographers could, they can change their language a little bit and like make sure that people feel like, oh, you know, I feel included in this. It doesn’t matter if I have any sort of disability, but the reality is most disabilities are invisible. So, it’s like, how do you represent that? And I think it’s by language and representation on your website.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that is so, so important. One thing that I started doing, I think in 2021, that… (Missing transcript)

08:05 Using Questionnaires to Understand Accessibility Needs

Sandra Henderson
It unfortunately doesn’t make an impact on the outward presentation because it’s for the clients that I’ve already brought in. So I’m working on making some changes to not tokenize people for my social media presence and things like that. But for people who have hired me and want to work with me, I send out what I call a welcome questionnaire and I ask them things if they need any accessibility, if they have any limitations that they don’t want stairs or lifting people or sitting on the ground or anything like that. And I think that is so important, just making sure that every person that you’re working with is comfortable and not being put into a situation where they don’t feel safe or don’t feel comfortable going forward.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, I mean, I think a questionnaire is a great place to start because it allows them to disclose things that they want to disclose. They’ll be like, if they ask that question, it will be comfortable. If a photographer had asked me like, what are some things that I can do to create more access for you during the photo shoot? I would say one of the things like use a little bit more hand gestures because I’m not seeing your face when you are counting three, two, one or something, or if you’re like telling me something…

It’s funny because I did a brand photo shoot and the photographer was great, but there were certain things that I was like, this is interesting because they will be talking to me behind the camera and I would have no clue what they’re saying. So sometimes it’s like, all right, we need to kind of set up the scene before we take pictures so that I’m kind of aware of what I need to do. So I think communication is really essential.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s a really good point that you brought up about requiring things like gestures and things like that. I personally am terrible at verbalizing my posing instructions. So I always like to do hand gestures. But that’s something that I’ve never thought of is that some people when they can’t hear and things like that, that those are going to go a really long way.

And I love that you said that the questionnaire allows them to disclose things that they want to disclose. I think that is a really important takeaway because we shouldn’t be putting our clients into a position where they feel like they have to give us this information. But if they want to give us that information and they’re comfortable, then it’s really important to use that.

09:46 Effective Communication and Adaptability

Erin Perkins of Mabely Q
Yeah, like especially nowadays, I feel like more and more people are saying, you know, have ADHD or stuff like that. And like that’s cool. Maybe their partner has ADHD, but their partner doesn’t necessarily want to disclose that. The other one is like, I just want them to be aware of like, they will lose their patience if you don’t keep it moving. Yeah, they get distracted very easily. I think it will help the photographer be able to adapt pretty quickly.

Sandra Henderson
If there’s one thing that you hope that wedding photographers start doing the minute they finish listening to this episode, what would that be?

Erin Perkins
Update your questionnaire for sure. And then the other thing is giving multiple ways for people to contact you.

Sandra Henderson
Oh, good point.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Because a lot of people have their preferred method of communicating. I hate it when people just call me and say, oh my god. I have like serious anxiety about that. So you need to set up some sort of workflow that allows them to contact you the way they want to originally, but then funnel them into like your questionnaire and stuff like that.

But like, if they say they would rather just talk to you on the phone, like the client, like you do have to adapt for that. If they prefer to communicate through email, adapt to that. Or if they want video chat, you do have to adapt to that. So it’s like, flexible. I know in this day and age where people are like, oh god, I gotta go on video? I prefer video more than anything. Video gives me that human connection. But if someone wants to talk on the phone, I will do it. Not my favorite though.

Sandra Henderson (12:26.214)
Yeah, completely understandable. And such a great point about being flexible. I think that business owners as a whole, but being in the wedding photography industry, I see it so much with wedding photographers is they get set in their way of doing things, which I think is important to have your boundaries and the way that you like to do things because that’s your zone of genius and you can excel that way.

But you do have to have flexibility. There needs to be a little bit of wiggle room. It can’t just be all about you. And if people aren’t willing to meet me where I am, then we’re not gonna work together. Like you need to be more open and welcoming to the different types of people that you’re gonna be working with.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, like I know so many people, they just generally have like so much anxiety about being on the phone. And like my husband, he’s different. He would much rather call than write an email. (Missing transcript)… an hour to an hour and a half typing an email on my dude did not need to be that long. Yeah. He would rather talk on the phone, though we have different things there. But it’s very interesting how people are.

(Missing transcript) … everything on the phone and it pushed me so far out of my comfort zone, but it’s just one of those things that you got to step up and do sometimes, unfortunately.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, for sure. So I’d love to jump back to some of the things that we were talking about at the beginning of the episode when we were talking more about websites and social media and things like that and the accessibility that wedding photographers are putting forward online.

You brought up a really good point about your first website and branding with script fonts. This is something that I see so much in the wedding photography or wedding industry as a whole – everybody wants to make everything look pretty… and I wear glasses, but my vision isn’t that bad I can see without my glasses on but I really struggle to read a lot of fonts that are scripted on people’s websites.

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14:01 Considerations for Website Design and Color Contrast

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Oh Yeah. I mean, it’s almost stereotypical. For weddings, like anybody in the wedding industry, it’s almost mandatory to be very light, very scripty, and very pretty in the stereotypical way. And I’m not saying you can’t use script fonts at all, but keep those to like the headers.

Like maybe only two headers, like header one and header two, that’s it. Um, but like, I know a lot of people are guilty. I was guilty of this when I built my website. I’m not a web designer by any means, but I have a background in graphic design. I wanted my script font to be kind of like represented on the website, but it wasn’t like what it wasn’t part of the font choices.

So I would create a graphic and put it on the website, but then I would forget the alt text because I was still learning at that point. At that point, I was more focused on graphic design and working for other people as opposed to creating accessibility. And I realized that those images are not readable when you have your script font that is embedded in the image. It’s not readable. So you have to make sure you have alt text for that.

And then the other thing is the colour contrast. Oh my God. So many people like pink and gray or pink and white. Don’t get me wrong. Pink is one of my favourite colours. (Missing transcript) … when it’s like low contrast like go to cooler.co and check your colour contrast you will find that your colour contrast is not good at all. Like I’m questioning if people can read some of that I’m like can you read your own stuff? I know you’re trying to keep that aesthetic but shouldn’t we like kind of like throw that aesthetic out the window and create something that really feels like you?

Sandra Henderson
I completely agree. And going forward, or going off of what you were saying about if people can even read what they’re putting up there, I think the same thing when I see people’s Instagram stories and they have their text so teeny tiny that I’m like, with my phone here, I cannot even read what they’ve written.

Erin Perkins
I’m like, I understand you’re trying to condense things into one screen, but like, that’s just not realistic. You need to spread that story out over several pages and I will read it. I promise you I will read it. But if it’s all crammed into one, like, nope, I’m skipping ahead. There’s nothing wrong with having multiple screens to share a story.

18:05 Proper Use of Alt Text

Sandra Henderson
You were talking about alt text and it kind of gave me a light bulb moment. Something that I see a lot in the wedding photography community when they’re talking about blogging and things like that to help with their SEO. A lot of people have the idea that alt text is just an SEO tool where they put in keywords. So I would love it if you could take a second to just kind of explain the proper way to use alt text.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
(Missing transcript)… actually designed for people who have vision limitations or maybe even they would rather consume things through the screen reader audio but they’re still looking at the image and if you just say wedding couple um something I don’t know what photographers do for their blog. But if you just like basically keyword stuff, you are hurting your SEO, because Google knows. Google knows what you’re doing. And then you’re hurting yourself because the people who are on your website, they’re listening to it through the screen reader, they’re automatically leaving. 85% of the people leave their website when it’s not accessible to them.

So the minute they hear something and they get this frustration, I feel like we all do it. Doesn’t matter if we have a disability or not. If there’s a problem with the website, we automatically leave it and we’re like, nope, not going back to that. It’s just like we do not have the patience. So imagine what it’s like for a person with a disability. You’re adding layers of problems to that. Like, sorry, I’m going to leave.

So when it comes to curating your blog, yes, you do have to write a brief sentence. I’m not saying it has to be a million sentences long, but one of the things I learned from somebody else who has a line, he said that we were doing alt text wrong. And he had a point. He said, I don’t care why… let me just use myself as an example. I would describe myself, I’m a white woman with a short haircut, Bob on one side, and I’m wearing a blue, dark navy blue and pink top. He’s like, I literally do not care what you look like or what you wear. I wanna know why you’re wearing that blue dress.

So he’s like, he actually pointed out he wants us to be more intentional about how we write out our alt text and why we’re doing it in a sense. So I think we have to find that fine line of being descriptive enough so that people feel like they can envision the image. But at the same time, not just throwing images in just for the hell of it. Like I think we want to, when you’re putting together a blog, you want to be intentional about what images you’re putting in there, like why you show that image.

21:42 Alt Text vs. Image Descriptions on Social Media

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And when it comes to using alt text on social media, some people put it in like the alt text feature that’s in behind the photos the same way it would be on a blog. And then some people do an image description at the bottom. Do you think that there’s one that’s more beneficial than the other when it comes to people using screen readers and things like that?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I mean, alt text is definitely designed for screen readers. Image description is more so for people who might not. I would never use a screen reader. But sometimes an image description kind of helps me get a better idea, especially if I can’t read the font text or something, and the image description kind of explains it for me. So there’s no wrong way of doing something, but I think one of the most missed opportunities that people have is that when you are posting something on Instagram, you need to be very…

I want people to think more about what they’re posting. You’re not just posting at random, and a lot of people, they’ll post some kind of graphic, and then not even say what that graphic is saying. That is such a missed opportunity because you know that graphic cannot be read by screen readers. So, and I guarantee you, most people aren’t putting stuff in alt text.

So like, make sure what you put in the graphic is also being written in the caption. Like, it’s just such a missed opportunity for so many people.

23:02 Inclusivity and Accessibility without Limitations

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s such a good point. And it kind of leads to one last question that I wanted to ask you. This is something that I think came up a lot during the pandemic because we saw that Clubhouse was a really popular platform. I’m sure that was a topic of conversation that you had a lot. Um, but the thing with Clubhouse for anybody who doesn’t know is almost like a social media platform, but only audio. So it heavily excluded a huge community of people who can’t hear.

And I know there was a lot of like blowback from that with the company and things like that. We’ll save that for another day. But one thing that I noticed when all those conversations were happening, there were a lot of people that were saying, we’re inclusive, but, or we have accessibility, but, where like there would just be this group of people has to be left out, but that’s really not inclusivity and accessibility if there are buts that go along with it. So I would love to hear your thoughts on something like that.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, because the word but, actually, I remember somebody explaining this to you, if you’re apologizing to someone and then you add the but. It almost eliminates the first sentence, to begin with.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I say that my husband and I say that all the time.

25:21 The Impact of Inaccessible Platforms

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, it’s like you have to be like really thoughtful in how you’re saying it. It’s like yeah but I’m like everything you just said you just negated it with that word but. And that’s like really hard for people because we’re used to that. I am that person that is very much like a grey area about everything. And it drives people in that. I’m the middle child in my family. So like, I see my older sister’s point. I also see my younger sister’s point. I’m like, you’re both right, but you’re also both wrong. So figure it out.

And I think that’s like the issue is like, we’re never going to get it… We’re never going to get it right. You are going to eliminate somebody unintentionally and you need to be okay with that. However, when you think about a platform like Clubhouse, they knew what they were doing in the first place. They are 100% knew what they were doing. The reason why I say that is because the founder, one of the founders, I know for a fact, had a child with a disability. And yet they knew what they were doing with the setting up Clubhouse. They knew exactly. It’s like for me, like with podcasts, like I still have this extreme frustration is like, I know how much stuff I’m missing out on.

But yet anybody who is not deaf, I challenge you to actually go to your favourite podcast and tell me how many clicks it takes for you to find that transcript. I bet you it was gonna take you a minimum of four or five clicks. Which is why, like, you know, I want that access. Like, I want it to be one or two clicks to get to the transcript or have it captioned and I don’t like it when I watch videos. I don’t have a problem with turning on the caption, but I have no problem with that because that’s just one click. But when you ask me to do four or five clicks, and it doesn’t even guarantee that I can find that transcript, I’m just not going to do it.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah. And you mentioned a lot of people with ADHD earlier, and that is something that comes into play when you are kind of giving people the runaround, and they have to click five, six, seven times. People who are neurodivergent are going to get distracted along the way or they’re not going to be able to find their way around. So it’s super important to just make sure that we’re making things as easy as possible for everybody that we’re working with.

27:44 Moving Towards Genuine Inclusion

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
So I just launched a campaign called Hello Genuine Inclusion. And the thing is, I’m trying to get us away from this whole superficial accessibility because we need to get away from that. It’s so easy to do so many things I’ve taught. But like, I’m asking people to really take a look at what you’re doing in your business. And like, let’s figure out how to make it much more inclusive without you feeling, you as a business owner, feeling like you’re doing 10 times more work.

Because to be honest, when I have to transcribe my video, my video takes me three, to four times longer for me to edit, than it does for a hearing person. So like, you don’t have the right to complain in a sense. I’m just asking you to genuinely, truthfully include people with disability, because we are a huge infrastructure of people in this world. We are 25% of the US population. If you get rid of that 25%, you’re going to see how much support we have provided for everybody else. You’re going to notice that we are missing.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s so true. You brought up a good point earlier too, that most people who have disabilities, it is invisible. And so I think that a lot of people kind of overlook the fact that the disabled community is a solid foundation for everything that happens in our world. And I completely agree with you. If we were to eliminate that 25%, I think it would be a real eye-opener for people.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah. And I think that happened during the pandemic too. Like noticing people who are actually such a strong support, not able to be that support anymore. People with disabilities, like we are so strong. But man, we are tired. Yeah. So tired.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, understandably for sure. Well, I hope that this episode starts taking some of that workload off your plate and inspires everybody to go out and make some changes to their website, their social media, how they’re approaching their clients in person. And do you have any final takeaways you would love to leave the listeners with?

29:39 Starting from Where You Are

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
My biggest thing is just start from where you’re at now. Don’t feel like you have to go back, backtrack and like redo everything. Start from where you’re at now, once you are aware, start trying to incorporate accessibility throughout your business from this point on.

Sandra Henderson
Oh, I love that. That’s huge because I think a lot of people get… They keep pushing it off because it’s like, oh, it’s so much work for me to go redo my entire website, but just start where you are. And then when you have time, you can go back and do little things here and there, but it’s more important to start doing it now and make it a habit for going forward.

Erin Perkins
Yep. That’s true.

30:28 Fun Question: Snowboarding vs. Stand Up Paddling

Sandra Henderson
Awesome. Well, this has been an amazing conversation. I have one last question for you. Just something fun that I’m doing for this season of the podcast, a little would you rather-question.

And so since we have connected earlier this year and I’ve had a chance to kind of get to know you through social media a little bit, I wanted to ask, would you rather snowboard a mountain or go stand-up paddling in the ocean?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Snowboarding a mountain.

Sandra Henderson
Snowboarding in the mountains?

Erin Perkins
Yeah, when I’m paddling boarding in the ocean now. There’s too many unknowns in that ocean. No.

Sandra Henderson
It’s so true. I went kayaking for the first time last summer and it was in a very shallow lake. And then I was in Florida and I was looking at kayaking and I was like, I don’t know, there’s bigger things in this water. The water’s a lot bigger.

Erin Perkins
I know. With the mountains, I feel like I have a little bit more control. While with the ocean, it’s like, I don’t know what’s under there. It’s humongous and things that live in it that like, I have zero desire to go, well, I can’t anyway, scuba diving, snorkeling is already like pushing it for me.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I’m the same way. I am not like, I don’t mind being on a boat for a short period of time or like in water where I can touch. But I like I went parasailing one year and I had so much fun being up in the air. But then I was just in shallow water on the beach and a little fish touched my foot and I screamed. I was terrified from this tiny little fish, but being up in the air was no big deal.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, it’s just like that, like, oh God, what just touched me? And you can’t see it and it’s just like, no, no.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I totally agree. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Erin. It was so great chatting with you. And I hope that our paths get to cross again soon.

Erin Perkins
Yes, for sure. Thank you for having me.

Sandra Henderson
Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time.

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About Erin from Mabely Q

Erin is deafblind, though she can still hear with the help of her hearing aid & cochlear implant (without them, she’s profoundly deaf). She can see only 50 degrees (most people see 180 degrees)… if you’re waving to her, and she doesn’t wave back…the chances are pretty high that she didn’t see or hear you!

She started Mabely Q under the guise of being an operations manager and graphic designer. It wasn’t until she worked with business owners and mentors that she realized how few actually understood what accessibility was. She pivoted right into accessibility education.

She loves that she gets to teach businesses how to be accessible by leaning on her life experiences which she shares with others to foster true inclusion at all levels, and also teaching in a way that feels good. Her mission is to make the world more accessible one business at a time.

Instagram | Website

So, friend. You’re ready to chase your dreams of starting a photography business… Now what?! I’m here with some tips to help you kick off your photography adventure with confidence.

1. Capture Your Vision:

Before diving into the technicalities, what do you want your photography business to look like? What style do you love? What stories do you want to tell through your lens? Defining your vision will help you set the tone for your brand.

2. Start Small, Dream Big:

It’s tempting to go all-in from the get-go but consider starting small and gradually expanding. Begin by offering specific services or focusing on a niche you’re passionate about. As you gain experience and build your portfolio, you can broaden your horizons. And remember – there is nothing wrong with doing free work if it’s going to help you grow your portfolio!

3. Master Your Gear:

Understand your camera gear and know how to use it really well. Invest time in learning the ins and outs – each piece has its own. And don’t rush to buy the most expensive gear; start with what you have and upgrade as your business grows. Remember, it’s the skill behind the lens that matters!

4. Connect and Collaborate:

Networking is key in the photography world. Attend local events, join online communities, and collaborate with fellow creatives. Building a network isn’t just about growing your reach. It also opens up opportunities for collaborative projects and learning from others.

5. Create an Online Presence:

Having a strong online presence is non-negotiable. Set up a visually appealing website showcasing your portfolio, services, and contact information. Leverage social media platforms to share your work, connect with potential clients, and engage with your audience.

6. Understand Your Market:

Research and understand the photography market in your area. What are the trends? Who is your target audience? Tailor your services to meet the specific needs and preferences of your local clientele.

7. Embrace the Learning Curve:

Like anything, starting a photography business involves a learning curve. Embrace it! Learn from your experiences, both successes and challenges. Stay updated on industry trends, attend workshops, and seek mentorship. Continuous learning is the key to growth.

Starting a photography business is one hell of an adventure, and I know you’re going to love it! Remember, it’s okay to take it one step at a time and enjoy the process. Best of luck!

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Check out some more of my favourite blogs:

Up-Level Your Client Experience With This One Simple Question

3 HoneyBook Features You Need To Know About

Making it Easy for Your Wedding Photography Clients: 5 Essential Steps for a Seamless Experience

Happy New Year, friend!

How are you feeling now that the holidays are over? I, for one, am happy to see them go 😅They were fun but the overstimulation was REAL on several occasions. The noise. The lights. The people. The gifts. The emotions. The relationship dynamics. The travel…

This little neurodivergent introvert desperately needed some quiet alone time to recharge after it all!

While I’ve been hiding away doing just that, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my goals for this year. I’m totally one of those annoying “new year, new me” people. There’s just something about January 1st that allows me to breathe deeper and let go of anything negative I was still hanging onto from the year before.

Rather than focus specifically on things like financial goals or the number of weddings I want to book, I also took some time to think about the kind of impact I want my business to make.

Here’s what that looks like in Q1:

1) Focus on creating content that will help photographers (especially my chronic illness friends) simplify the way they do things behind the scenes in 2024.

2) Continue to build and foster communities where everyone feels safe, seen, and heard.

3) Have fun, because running a business shouldn’t always be stressful.

I usually sit down to write out a whole year’s worth of goals at the end of December, but planning 12 months ahead is a beast I’m not willing to tackle for 2024. For one, I’m still recovering from the levels of overstimulation I reached over the holidays. The last thing I need to do is work through something that’s feeling overwhelming. And second, I’ve got some unknowns on my plate, so it just makes more sense to approach things in 90-day increments instead.

What’s happening in Q2 is a future-Sandra problem 🙅🏻‍♀️

If you’ve been here for a while you know that I’m all about doing things at a pace that works for you, and this is just another example of that. It’s okay if you don’t have all the ideas and all the answers right away!

Have you set your 2024 goals yet? What kind of impact do you dream of making with your wedding photography business over the next few months? I’d love to hear your thoughts – head over to the Wedding Photography Unfiltered community on Facebook and let’s chat about it! )If you’re looking for a community of amazing people with some tangible wedding photography education sprinkled in, it’s definitely the place for you!)

Looking to invest in wedding photography education this year? Click here to book a 1:1 coaching call!

I have a question for you about your wedding photography clients …

Are you making it EASY for people to work with you? From the inquiry process to receiving their photos, and everything in between?

Earlier this year I photographed a destination wedding in Cuba… and the only thing that went well on this trip was the wedding itself.

The Most Stressful Destination Wedding

✈️ Before leaving my flights were changed and shortened my trip by 24hrs. Because I was still going to be at the resort for the same number of nights, I wasn’t eligible for any sort of refund.

🚗 I paid for a shuttle and had to dig through the travel agency’s website and some extensive fine print. Eventually I find out where to catch the shuttle and they never sent me any information. When I got there, one staff member told me to get on a bus to the resort and took my luggage. 5 mins later he told me to get off the bus and sent me in a car – without my luggage – instead. (Thankfully I never let my camera gear out of my sight when I travel, so it stayed with me. I’ve never been so relieved to see my suitcase when they loaded it off the bus!)

Day Two + Three

🩹 On day two, I needed Band-Aids because my sandals had torn apart my feet and I had used all the ones I had brought with me. The pharmacy wouldn’t accept my $20 US cash or $5 Cuban pesos. They wanted me to go back to my room to get my credit card… for a $0.60 purchase.

❌ On day three I tried to book a private express check-in for my return flight because I was 100% done and ready to go home. I was told they only accept credit cards, but when I went to pay, they said they couldn’t take my type of credit card. (Ya’ll, it was just a Mastercard! The same one I used to buy Band-Aids.)

How It Ended

🍁 On day four my flight was delayed heading home, and I wanted a bottle of water for my wait. When I went to pay for it, I was met with yet another issue… because the flights from this terminal were all flying back to Canada, they were only accepting CAD cash as payment.

All of that on top of having no running water, no flushing toilets, no power, and doors that didn’t lock… I couldn’t have been happier to get home.

At every single turn, the travel company and the resort could not have made it more difficult to work with them.

They literally lost out on more than $150 in sales from me within four days because they kept refusing my forms of payment. All I could think was, “This is why it’s so important to make your client’s experience easy.”

Making the entire process easy for wedding photography clients sets a tone that will help you stand out from your competition. By offering a user-friendly and streamlined experience, you build trust with your clients. That trust is everything! You never want them to doubt that hiring you is the right choice for their wedding day.

So let’s talk about four ways you can make this happen:

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Online Scheduling

The amount of time I used to spend emailing my wedding photography clients back and forth with options for dates and times to try and figure out when they wanted a session is more than I really want to think about. And it seemed like I had one client a week who wanted to ask for dates or times that I wasn’t actually available.

Then I created an online booking calendar, and it hasn’t been an issue since. Whether it’s for a wedding consultation, engagement session, pre-wedding meeting, or any other things I do, I have a link to a calendar customized to show my availability. The best part is that it’s connected to my Google Calendar so I never have to worry about getting double booked.

Streamlined Booking

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but pleeaaassseee stop using paper contracts and snail mail. Get set up with a system like HoneyBook! Then you can send complete, branded booking packages that include everything all in one place.

Simple Payment Options

Speaking of payment options… Don’t be like this resort, making people jump through hoops to pay you. Embrace simplicity by offering easy payment options. Yes, friend, that means accepting credit cards, too.

Listen, I get it. Paying credit card processing fees is annoying when you’d really like to keep that money in your pocket. But. Think of it as a long-term savings account in a way. Your credit card fees are tax-deductible, so it will save you money down the road. And it will increase your overall sales. Why? Because paying by credit card is easy!

Easy Access To Important Details

Nothing makes for a great experience quite like making sure everyone knows what to expect at every point during your time working together. Whether it’s on your website, in a welcome guide, or sent out in a simple email, anticipate any concerns your wedding photography clients may have and offer reassuring answers. You know best, that’s why they hired you!

This small touch can turn potential clients into lifelong advocates for your business. Advocates who are repeat clients and drop your name anytime they hear someone needs a photographer!

Sometimes Less Is More

We all know the simple pleasures in life, like a perfectly bite-sized dessert. The same idea applies to the number of images you deliver to your clients! It’s part of your job as a wedding photographer to cull your photos, selecting only the best of the best moments that tell a curated story of their wedding day. Quality over quantity! Delivering too many photos can really be overwhelming, and that’s not the feeling you want to leave your clients with.

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An easy, straightforward process shows your professionalism and commitment to delivering an amazing experience, making sure your clients think of you for all their future milestone events beyond their wedding!

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Looking for more ways to build an incredible experience for your wedding photography clients?

Download this FREE wedding photography timeline template!

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Check out some other faves on the blog:

Unscripted vs Honeybook: Which Is The Better Option For Wedding Photographers?

Creating An Irresistible First Impression When Replying To A New Wedding Photography Inquiry

Getting Ghosted By Wedding Photography Inquiries?

Investing in education can be a game-changer for your business, and it’s never been easier to access. But – don’t make these three common mistakes when investing your hard-earned money on all the different options available to you:

✨ Not Doing Your Research

Take the time to research the instructor’s background, experience, and reputation. Read reviews and ask for recommendations from other photographers in your network. As someone who once had $500 stolen from them by photographers hosting a fake workshop, believe me when I tell you – do not skip this step!

✨ Not Setting A Budget

It’s easy to get carried away when it comes to education, especially with so many educators offering some amazing programs and conferences. But! It’s important to set a budget and stick to it. Be realistic about how much you can afford to spend on educational programs and workshops, and prioritize the ones that align with your business goals. Overspending on education can put a strain on your finances, and now more than ever, that’s a stress you don’t need in your life.

✨ Not Applying What You’ve Learned

Attending workshops and courses can be incredibly valuable, but the real value comes from applying what you’ve learned to your business. Take some time to refresh if you’re feeling overwhelmed, but don’t just file away your notes and never look at them again. Take action and implement the strategies and techniques you’ve learned! You’ll never know the full impact of your education – making sure it’s really worth the time and money – until you put it into practice.

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Investing in education is one of the 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 investments you can make for your business, but make sure you’re getting the most out of it that you can!

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More on the blog:

The Wedding Day Questionnaire

Three Ways To Prep Your Clients Before The Wedding Day

Five Posts From One Piece Of Content & Other Repurposing Ideas

Five years ago I was at the beginning of my chronic illness journey, and I kept unexpectedly having to take time off.

Because I was also over-booking my calendar, it created a domino effect.

All of a sudden every gallery I sent out was late. I would ignore my inbox for days – sometimes even weeks – because I didn’t want to apologize to yet another client for dropping the ball. And I wasn’t taking care of myself in the slightest because I was living at my computer for 16+ hours a day, skipping meals, and only taking time off to rest when my body forced me to.

Has that ever happened to you, First name / friend?

Maybe you’ve felt like you’re just not cut out to be a wedding photographer.

Maybe you’ve tried implementing systems before and it ended up creating more work for you, instead of taking some off your plate.

After trying out so many different systems in my own business, I almost gave up for those same reasons.

Until one day, it finally clicked 💡 

These systems weren’t working for me because I was just doing what everyone else was doing. As someone with a chronic illness, I have unique needs that I need to respect and set boundaries around in order for me, my business, and my systems to work their best.

So, I tuned out all the noise. I used the basic foundations to building systems, and I found ways to simplify and streamline every aspect of my business behind-the-scenes…

… And that’s when everything changed.

I still have to unexpectedly take time off, but I stopped missing deadlines, and I started getting rave reviews from clients again. I was delivering galleries filled with photos that I couldn’t be more proud of.

But what was most surprising to me was that I was able to bring in more money while working significantly less.

In Unfiltered + Simplified, I’m going to show you exactly how I made it happen, and give you all the tools you need to implement your own streamlined systems in your wedding photography business, too!

Five years ago, I was convinced my time as a photographer had come to an end. And now? I’m working a four-day workweek while running two different businesses!

The same can happen for you, too, friend. The application only takes 5-10 minutes to fill out!

Applications close March 31st, 2023!

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More education for wedding photographers on the blog:

3 Ways To Set Better Business Boundaries

Work/Life Balance and Working Abroad with Nova Markina

Intuitive Systems with Sarahna Fernandes

I see so many wedding photographers going through the same struggles year after year, and so many of them tell me the same things:

“I don’t have systems in place, I don’t need them.”
“I don’t even know where to start, it’s so overwhelming.”
“I’m already so busy, I don’t have the time to start learning something new.”

Can you relate, friend?

After hearing it time and time again, I knew I needed to build a program that would help other photographers get the same results that I’ve had in my wedding photography business over the last five years.

I stopped missing deadlines.

I started getting rave reviews from clients again, delivering photos that I couldn’t be more proud of.

And maybe most surprising of all was that I was able to bring in more money while working significantly less.

That’s exactly what I want for your business too, and that’s why I’m so excited to officially introduce…

Over the course of eight weeks, you’ll take an unfiltered, in-depth look behind the scenes of your business and I’ll show you how to fix five of the most common areas every wedding photographer falls short:

Weekly Planning

CRM Workflows

Client Experience

Post-Processing

Offboarding

You’ll learn how to:

⛔Avoid past mistakes so you and your business can continue to thrive.

🙍‍♀Create simple, streamlined systems that work for your unique needs (and no one else’s)

🦾Boost your productivity no matter what life throws your way

🕒Save yourself hours of time each week so you can get back to doing the things you love

Afterward?

You’ll have stopped missing deadlines, and will start getting rave reviews from your clients again because you’re delivering an incredible client experience. You’re sending out galleries full of photos you’ve never been more proud of. You’re making MORE money while working significantly LESS.

And most importantly-

You’re taking time off, stress-free and guilt-free.

So, what’s included in Unfiltered + Simplified? I’m 𝘴𝘰 glad you asked:

8 Weeks of Live Coaching Calls (Value: $7200)
In-depth CRM Workflow Reviews (Value: $300)
The Simple System Mind Map (Value: $27)
Co-Working Sessions (Value: $100)
Private Facebook Community (Value: $100)
Weekly Voxer Support (Value: $400)
Replays + Lifetime Access (Value: Priceless)

Plus – so. many. bonuses:

Client Questionnaire Templates (Value: $57)
Asana Weekly Planner Template (Value: $47)
Done For You Email Swipe Files (Value: $47)
Simplify Your Content Bundle (Value: $47)

and

A one-hour 1:1 Coaching Call (Value: $600)

The total value of everything included is more than $8500!!! 💸

But the Beta Round price?

$697!

(𝘗𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦!)

After you simplify and streamline your business? You’ll:

– be happier, more organized, and well-rested

– have happier clients who are blown away by an experience better than they could have dreamed of

– end the year with burnout just a distant memory you’d rather forget!

So, friend, are you ready to get started?

Applications close March 31st, 2023!

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More education for wedding photographers on the blog:

The Best Kept Secret To Booking Wedding Clients

3 Mistakes Every Wedding Photographer Makes

Systems, SOPs, & Getting Organized

(Intro Music)

Welcome to Keeping it Candid – Wedding Photography Unfiltered for photographers who want to keep it real. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, international wedding and family photographer and educator with a Marie Kondo style approach to running a business – you know, keeping things simple and getting rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy!. More importantly, I’m a strong enneagram 3w2 who is obsessed with tacos, and my love for travelling is one of many things that drives my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner. Join me twice a month for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer – where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends! So grab your favourite notebook and pen, and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

(Episode 005)

Nothing can make-or-break a wedding day quite like a timeline. When it’s done well, you can get through a day stress-free and get all the photos you need without being run off your feet. When it’s done poorly… Well… It’s exactly the opposite of that.

We’ve all been there.

High-stress days, navigating rain in the forecast, having to cut portrait times down to 10 minutes just to get it done before rushing off to the next location… It really takes all the fun out of a wedding day.

That’s why I’m very hands-on when it comes to planning the photography side of a wedding day timeline. We have to remember that the majority of our couples have never planned a wedding before. They may have been a part of a wedding party, but they’ve never had to figure out what time to have dinner, how long it’s going to take for family photos, what time hair and makeup should start that morning. Our couples are relying on the vendors they’ve hired to be the experts and guide them through planning the wedding day they’ve been dreaming of.

In order to make sure you’re able to do the job you’ve been hired to do, you need to educate your couples and guide them along the way to make sure you have the time you need. If your couple is working with a wedding planner, you’ll more than likely be able to rely on the timeline their planner put together. Planners are experts at navigating the needs of the whole vendor team as well as what the couple is looking for! But if your couples don’t have a planner, which mine often don’t, it’s so important to help out with the photography timeline – for your sake, and for the sake of your couples.

To get started, send out a questionnaire. Get every single piece of information you could possibly need to envision the day. You’ll want to find out what types of photos you’ll be taking – like a first look, wedding party photos, sunset photos… Anything and everything to get a clear idea of expectations from your couples! 

I also like to ask questions about accessibility – does anyone require a flat surface for photos at any point during the day? This will be important when deciding where to do photos, in case anyone with a wheelchair or mobility limitations isn’t able to get to a certain area.

I send the questionnaire out three months before the wedding date. This timeframe is super beneficial because it’s far enough into their planning that they have the important details set, but early enough that the questions I’m asking them can start guiding them into thinking about what moments of the day they value the most, and how exactly it’s all going to come together.

Once I get their responses back, I put together a timeline and shot list myself instead of waiting for one from my clients. It takes one more thing off their plate – they already have so much on the go leading up to their wedding. And it’s like I said before. It’s your responsibility as the wedding photographer to make sure you have enough time to do the job you’ve been hired to do. So by putting together the timeline yourself, you’re delivering a great experience and taking the steps you need to ensure a stress-free wedding day from the photo side of things.

When I meet with my clients to go over everything – the final step leading up to the day – I love hearing them tell me how good it feels to see everything planned out. This meeting typically happens about a month before their wedding date. That way, it gives us a chance to make any adjustments as needed, and gives me a chance to make plans with my team.

Now, as you’re putting the timeline together, there are a few things you can do to make it that super-fun, stress-free day you want for all of your clients.

First, and definitely the most important, leave lots of buffer room in every single portion of the day! If travel between two locations is expected to take 10 minutes, put 15 to 20 minutes into the timeline. If the ceremony is expected to take 20 minutes, put 30 minutes into the timeline. Things always take longer than you think they will when you factor in the needs of 20 people in a wedding party, bathroom breaks, an Uncle that’s gone to cocktail hour instead of sticking around for family photos… You can prepare for the unexpected by adding buffer room, and if you don’t need it, perfect! I’m always telling my clients that it’s way better to be ahead of schedule than behind, and I’m sure all of you listening will agree with me!

From there, remember it’s so important to be flexible, and reasonable. Each vendor has their own time requirements, but everyone has the same end goal – to give the couple the best wedding day possible. It’s important to remember that the day isn’t about us or our priorities, it’s about our clients and documenting their story. While we’re sharing our expertise and guiding them through the planning process, ultimately the decision is up to them and we need to be understanding of that.

So let’s say you’re designating three hours for portraits with the newlyweds on their own, and are wanting to keep them an hour passed the time dinner service is scheduled to begin. This will not only be exhausting for your clients, but it’s extending cocktail hour – meaning more food, alcohol, and staff are required. It’s delaying dinner service, meaning a longer period of time where kitchen staff have to be on-site with nothing to do, or food is sitting under warmers, which absolutely NO ONE wants. And in all honesty? It’s disrespectful to the guests, who will have to occupy themselves on-or-off site for almost five hours when you start factoring in things like family photos and wedding party photos, too. Photography doesn’t happen in a bubble on a wedding day – nothing does. It becomes a domino effect, so it’s important to consider every piece when setting your expectations for the day with your clients. 

So with all of that said – what does a typical wedding day timeline look like for me?!

I’m SO glad you asked!

My team calls me the queen of timelines and it’s a title I am honoured to have!

Let’s start at the beginning – I’m going to walk you through my exact process of building one.

First, I start with the time the ceremony is starting at, and I work backwards from there to the beginning of the day, when we start getting ready photos. Once I know the time we’ll be starting, I’m able to figure out the time we’ll be ending photography at the end of the night, based on the amount of time included in my clients’ package. From there, I jump back up to the end of the ceremony, and start figuring out how to fit everything into the time that’s left.

Here’s a scenario of what this could all look like on an actual wedding day:

At 1:15pm in the afternoon, I arrive at the first getting ready location. Most often this is with the bride, so that’s what I’ll use for this example.

At 1:30pm we start the Bride’s Getting Ready photos – doing photos of her details like her dress, jewelry, and flowers. Candids of her putting her dress on, and portraits of her and her side of the wedding party.

At 2:00pm my assistant arrives at the second getting ready location, most often this is with the groom. She does photos of his details as well, like his suit jacket, tie, and cufflinks. She gets candid photos of him putting his suit jacket on, and will wrap up with some portraits of him and his side of the wedding party.

At 3:00pm we will all travel to the venue. This is a 7-minute drive, but I’ve allowed 15 minutes in the timeline.

At 3:15pm we’ll start the First Look, and then head right into newlywed portraits at 3:30pm.

At 4:00pm the Wedding Party will meet up with us and we’ll start wedding party photos. And during this time my assistant is going to head over to the reception area to get photos of the details without guests in attendance.

At 4:30pm we’re going to start Ceremony Prep – this is when we’ll be taking photos of the ceremony details, getting candids of the guests as they arrive, and making sure our batteries, memory cards, and camera settings are all ready to go for when the ceremony starts at 5:00pm.

The ceremony is 20 minutes, but we have 30 minutes set in the timeline.

So, we’ll start Family Photos right after, at 5:30pm.

And then at 6:00pm we’ll do Reception Prep – getting final photos of the reception space, including a reveal for the couple if the space wasn’t finished earlier in the day. And, also getting our camera ready and flashes prepped for the indoor reception.

At 6:30pm this is when the newlyweds and wedding party will make their grand entrance, and we’ll get some Candids of the welcome speech

At 7:00pm Dinner Service is going to start with speeches throughout.

And then at 8:45pm we’re going to head outside and do some Sunset Photos.

We’ll come back inside at 9:00pm for the First Dance. 

Parent Dances around 9:05pm.

At 9:15pm the dance floor is going to open and we’ll get some candids until we’re finished at 9:30pm.

And that’s it! That’s the whole day!

After the last two years of constant changes and hurdles to jump over to make a wedding day come together, you deserve to remove as much stress as you can and bring the joy back into this job you love so much.

It does require a little more work upfront, but I promise you won’t regret it when you start having clients rave about how easy, stress-free, and enjoyable their experience has been with you! You’ll be so proud of the work you’re doing and filling your portfolio with because you won’t be rushed and forced into doing the most basic ideas, eliminating all creativity in the process. 

And as a THANK YOU for listening to this week’s episode, I have a little something to help you out this wedding season – head to simplysandrayvonne.ca/timelines for a FREE spreadsheet booklet – this is the exact booklet that I use to plan for my clients. It’s so easy to use – there’s a section for important information – I love using this space for my client’s contact info and to write any notes for the day. The next tab is where you’ll build your timeline. There’s a dropdown menu that includes times in 5-minute increments so you can be as specific as you need to be in your planning. The family photos tab includes spaces for names, and a dropdown menu so you can easily reference the relation of the guests to the couple. And finally, the last tab is where you can put information for the vendor team. I like to include their Instagram handles so I can easily find their info and tag them in my posts!

Anyway, friends! That wraps up this week’s episode. Thanks so much for listening, as always. Happy planning, and happy wedding season!

(Outro Music)

Thanks so much for listening to Keeping It Candid: Wedding Photography Unfiltered with Sandra Henderson! You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime – let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram @simplysandrayvonne, and on Facebook in the Wedding Photography Unfiltered community! If you’re loving this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave me a review!

Until next time!

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