Transform: it's a single word, with deep implications.

Read on if you want to make a difference, and subsequently have that change you for the better and potentially, richer.

“Do you transform people's lives through your photography business?” When I first heard Steve Saporito pose the question, I didn't know what he was talking about. I admit, it felt a little woo-woo. After a week-long workshop with him, the light bulbs started going on.

I realized that most photographers wait to discover their clients at the photo session or at the wedding. In fact, I confess doing just that.

I would excitedly send out a questionnaire the second someone came knocking on my website for a family portrait session or wedding. As soon as I had hit “send”, I figured my job was done and all I needed to do was to just wait for their responses.

All I got back in return were … crickets. Frankly, the replies came but often only minutes before a session or not fully completed. It left me feeling helpless and slightly frustrated because I did not know my clients at all. We were completely out of sync from the get-go. Can you imagine the quality of their photographs? They were emotionally flat, almost absent. And that was my doing, not theirs.

I foolishly figured my branding, website and messaging had to change. Or, was it my portfolio? Or, did I have to up my social media game?

No, in all honestly, none of that mattered more than the experience I was providing my clients. And it was poor. Something had to give and that's when I approached Steve Saporito at his New Haven, Connecticut workshop. My photography business was in a critical condition. I had to make changes and fast.

Thanks to Steve, I experienced a mind-shift. What would happen, I wondered, if I took the time to get to know my clients in a meaningful way that helped them be seen, heard and loved by the people in their lives right now? Ahead of their session, our clients would have an opportunity to reconnect with their family in a way that makes the entire process of being photographed together a joyous event. That's where and when the transformation takes place. And the transformation isn't limited to just your clients. Indeed, you as their photographer experience it as well.

Ultimately, clients reward you for giving them this beautiful experience before their session and for the artwork that become a permanent anchor to their heightened emotions. The

Really, there is a lot more to this than a blog post can cover. If you get a chance to listen to Steve speak (podcasts or at conferences), don't miss out. A couple of weeks after attending his workshops again (yes, again) in New Jersey, I invited Steve to a Skype call that I figured wouldn't last more than 10 or 15 minutes. But here we are chatting about all of this for about 45 minutes. It's a good long listen, but I assure totally worth your time:

As a business coach out of Melbourne, Australia, Steve Saporito teaches photographers through his Empower & Effortless Premières workshops and education platform called Intuition To Succeed.

I want to thank my friends Jasen Arias and Mike Allebach for persuading me to attend Steve's workshop in New Jersey. Like a lot of you, I hummed and hawed about going. I conjured up all kinds of excuses. In the end though, my goal to know how to be fully present for my portrait clients, trumped all attempts to bow out.

Without hyperbole, let me tell you that Steve's workshops ARE the best business workshops I've ever attended. And, I will go back for more in the future.

If you are spinning your wheels and have no clue how to resuscitate your photography business, ping me and I'll let you know more about my experience at the Empower & Effortless Premières workshops. The next one in North America is going to be in Toronto, Canada, from October 5th through October 11th.

To quote Jasen and Mike, “Just put it on the credit card and go dude. You'll pay it off in no time.” So true!

A Different Genre

I must have stumbled across this quote about wedding photojournalism several years ago, when I was starting to transition from being a photojournalist to a wedding photojournalist:

“The hallmark of the concept is both perspective and attitude, based on a mandate to be truly reactive rather than proactive, and a dedication to record events as historian rather than director. Content with reality, the wedding photojournalist quietly documents while anticipating action, sensitively observing details and nuance, capturing moments without subjects actively aware of the process.” – Denis Reggie, the Godfather of Wedding Photojournalism

And it took my breath away.

If you ever pursued anything without knowing that it was valid and that there would be a demand for it, you'll also know that sense of calm that washes over you when you know all will be well.

No one had so succinctly defined the kind of photography I wanted to deliver for my wedding clients. That someone had enunciated it so lucidly assured me that I was on the right path.

So began my pursuit at studying Denis Reggie‘s work. To be honest, I wasn't attracted to it because he had photographed the Kennedy's or that he comfortably commanded five figures for his services. No, it was this “hands-off” approach that captured my imagination. I'll bet you see it in my work at Amata Pictures. Take a look!

The Interview

It was on Facebook that Denis Reggie and I finally connected. I must have asked him a question or responded to something he had posted about wedding photojournalism. What follows is a short interview with Denis Reggie about wedding photojournalism:

We talk about:

– Photographer as a witness, not a director on the wedding day
– How to blend in as a wedding guest to photograph weddings as a photojournalist
– Photographing people without them being aware of the camera
– Why documentary weddings are specific to a particular age group of clients
– How Denis doesn't really use Photoshop to create fantasy photographs
– The Achilles Heels for any new photographer
– Creating consistent lighting, understanding flash to create quality light
– Producing matted albums vs. flush albums for high end clients
– Knowing your client's needs and experiences and delivering on it
– How wedding photojournalists are historians with a camera
– Getting started in the business of wedding photojournalism
– How Denis literally starved for 7 years before making it in his 8th year of business
– Working with wedding planners, banquet managers
– Time, education, practice, staying current all cater to a photographer's progress
– Whether we are sitting in a wedding photography bubble or not; will prices come down?
– There is a market for excellence in wedding photography
– Creating original works of art for discerning clients

The Wedding Photojournalism Gallery

Check out some of Denis Reggie‘s work below and visit his website:

Where Do You Stand?

Are you a photojournalist looking to enter the wedding market? Would you abandon all that you know about narrating visual stories and pose people all day long or would you prefer to work with clients who will respect your work at the end of the day? As Denis Reggie said in the interview, there is no right or wrong approach to wedding photography. If your clients expect (or even demand) a certain approach, then you are in essence only delivering on that promise you are making them at the very start of your relationship.

Dani Fine Photography is a Northampton, Massachusetts studio that caters to both wedding and portrait clients. Dani Klein-Williams, principal photographer, will be presenting at Inspire Photo Retreats in February.

Like the other interviews in this series (check out 1 – Doug Levy, 2 – Jane Ammon and 3 – The Scobey's), we scheduled a quick Skype chat about her presentation at Inspire – “Let's Get Down to Business… Why Sales are Sexy”

Here are a few examples of Dani's work:

Find out more about Dani Klein-Williams here.

For more information about the Inspire Photo Retreats conference please visit the site. I urge you to register early and secure your hotel room.

If you are still on the fence, please take a look at all the speakers who will be coming to Portland. I believe speakers like Dani and others have one mission: to inspire you to do your best work in the new year. Everybody needs that kind of motivation. If you agree, I expect to see you at Inspire Photo Retreats in 2015!

I am 6'5” tall, weigh around 16 stones and have size 12 feet. When I want to use it I have a voice like a fog horn, I'm naturally fairly clumsy and I have been told that I have a certain “presence” – in a good way I think! I therefore take it as a huge compliment when my wedding clients remark that they hardly noticed me taking photographs at their wedding, that I was discreet and, as one wrote to me “I don't understand how someone so tall can be so unobtrusive!”

My natural photographic inclination is as a photojournalist so blending into the crowd is of paramount importance. I don't want to influence events unfolding in front of me and the less my clients and wedding guests notice that I am there the more natural and telling my photographs can be. I want to observe and record, my presence has to be one of neutrality.

Consider How You Look And Sound!

It's important that, like any animal trying not to draw attention to itself, that you are camouflaged. I'm not suggesting that you go to a wedding in full army gear but rather that you blend in with the surroundings! Wear what everyone else will be wearing in a slightly low key way. Here in the UK most men would wear a suit, shirt and tie to a wedding. I therefore wear a shirt and tie (no jacket as I get too hot) and suit style trousers, but I always tend to wear rather subdued colours. I have some hideously garishly coloured ties for example but they are simply going to draw attention to me so I just wear plain dark colours. Blend in and then tone it down!

Shoes are also really important. Not so much how they look but how they sound, they really need to be completely silent so that you can walk quietly around a church during the ceremony for example without drawing attention to yourself with clicking heels and endless squeaking!

On the subject of noise, it's also imperative that you switch your phone to silent for the whole day. There's no point in trying to be a ninja photojournalist with a constantly blaring phone in your pocket!

Go Anti Flash Gear

There's nothing screams “photographer” more than a huge DSLR with a massive gleaming white 70-200mm lens stuck on the front. At the very least using a smaller body and smaller, possibly prime lenses, is considerably less intrusive. The new generation of mirrorless cameras are also considerably less intimidating and quieter as well.

Even if you are still using a DSLR switch off the focus beeps, put it into silent or quiet mode and consider black taping over the logos so that it looks much more low key. Even the straps you use carry a subconscious message, large hand or belt straps are much more conspicuous than the basic neck straps that are generally provided. They may be a little less comfortable but they are far less conspicuous.

However, the most obvious thing to avoid is using flash. Nothing makes the photographer more obvious than a firing flash and using natural light wherever possible is an absolute must. There are very few situations where a modern DSLR, used with a reasonably high ISO setting and a fast prime lens, can't cope.

Super Stealth Body Language

The photographer's physical demeanour is of paramount importance and probably most important of all is that you look happy, alert and relaxed. I am aware that when I am concentrating I often frown and this sends completely the wrong message to people around me – I consciously try to keep a more pleasant expression on my face and this does have a noticeable effect on how people perceive you. Having a silent frowning photographer taking your picture is much more stressful than being photographed by a happy, confident looking one who displays open body language and this will often show in the pictures.

However, despite needing to look happy and confident in your work it can be a good idea to actually try to avoid eye contact and looking intently at people for too long. Remember, as a photojournalist, you are trying your utmost not to influence the scene before you so drawing attention to yourself by smiling and making eye contact with your subject can be detrimental to the authenticity of the final image. That's not to say you can't be friendly and often a subject will realise they have been photographed after the moment has passed as you take the camera from your eye and at this point it can be nice to smile and possibly say a thank you.

Avoiding actually looking at your subject is hard but can be an effective way of ensuring that they do not react to you. Try approaching them whilst looking intently at something beyond them or to the side of them so that it seems as though your interest lies elsewhere whilst all the time keeping a watch for the decisive moment through the corner of your eye. Using wide angle lenses can be extremely helpful in such situations as they allow you to have a subject in the frame whilst it looks as though you are not pointing the camera directly at them.

Another way to make your presence less felt is to keep circulating around the wedding party. Try to be “everywhere but nowhere” at the same time. Not only does this have less impact on people it also increases the chances of you being in the right place at the right time to photograph important developments and action. You should be constantly looking for images and positioning is vitally important – often it can be possible to be observing two or three possible scenarios from a distance without influencing any of them before decisively moving closer to one of them at the vital moment to photograph.

The “floating about” technique isn't always appropriate however and sometimes it can be just a case of seeing the potential in a scene and waiting for something to unfold and happen. Again, during this waiting game, it's important that your presence doesn't influence the scene and often waiting crouched down, standing casually, leaning on a wall or even sitting can make you much less noticeable. Other times, I will stand waiting to take the picture looking through the viewfinder of the camera and not moving – this is pretty obvious to anyone the other side of the lens but, after a certain amount of time, assuming that you haven't moved, you just become part of the surroundings and life carries on fairly much as normal around you.

Down Time

All of this incognito photography can become quite taxing after a while and it is vitally important that you have regular breaks and down time. Obviously there are times during a wedding day when you need to constantly on the go but, at a typical reception for example, it isn't necessary to be constantly photographing and having regular breaks will help keep you alert and also will mean that there are times when, from the guests point of view, you are completely absent. A break can be as brief as just heading back to my camera bag in the corner, having a quick drink and checking the timing schedule or can be a slightly more prolonged. On longer breaks I am careful to leave the main part of the wedding and to get away from the guests – this helps me to clear my brain a little and again means that I am intruding on the wedding as little as possible as well. I am always happy to chat to people if they approach me but I don't see it as part of my role as a documentary photographer to socialise with guests, at least not until I have finished work for the day, the camera is back in the bag and I am having a well deserved drink before heading home.

Whilst maintaining some of the tactics above it is also really important to balance this with your emotional involvement and empathy for the people you are working with. You are an outsider who has been given the privilege of recording a very personal, emotional and often private event and, as such, it is the photographer's duty to be as respectful and unobtrusive as possible. With the correct balance of unobtrusive behaviour and emotional empathy it becomes possible for the photographer to record the day with authenticity and integrity and produce images that will resonate for the people in them in a genuine and meaningful way. This is a hard balance to achieve but, when combined with technical mastery is the key to producing the very best photojournalistic photography.