In a saturated consumer photography market, where professional photographers are competing for business, it may not seem to make a lot of sense to share a coveted client with your “rival”
After all, getting a client is often hard-won. It goes against logic to expose them to another talented photographer by choice.
That’s exactly what I did this summer...and will do it again!
I met in her in photography school. Veronica and I both have a passion for photographing high-school seniors, and are building our businesses similarly, in communities near each other.
Why Not Work Together On A Project?
She’s an awesome photographer, and she’s marketing to the same clients I am. And I’m sharing my clients with her. In fact...letting her photograph them right along with me…sharing my tricks, and me stealing some of hers.
It would be our second annual “collaboration”, where we’ve combined our resources and planned a photo shoot together with multiple models, a videographer, make-up and hair artists, and a unique location.
We wanted a really cool experience for our clients (and for us)--one that all their friends would not have.
We wanted to work together on our skills and create stand-out portfolio images, all while creating the kind of buzz that would benefit BOTH our individual businesses.
This year’s “Senior Experience” was held at a funky location in Wicker Park, which I stumbled upon “Splacer”. It'a a kind-of-AirB&B-like website that rents out spaces for any event you can imagine. Most importantly it's a lot different than my usual locations, and would be a new challenge.
Once our location was booked, and our models (AKA high school clients) signed on, it was time to build the rest of our team…and do some shopping.
It's A Team Effort
I was lucky to find Elana and Athina Darrus. They're a make-up/hair artist team who were excited about helping with our project. Ther're absolutely awesome artists, and spent the day with us on-location, making our girls look their best and on-theme. The look I was going for was boho/throwback. Veronica’s models were sporting a more classic look. In addition, we had Nik, our videographer on hand all day.
Nik is super-talented at creating cool promo videos for us that will really showcase our event. He’s also fun to be around! Check him out on You-Tube (Nik Adams Productions).
We arrived at our location with plans to complete hair and make-up on-location and start the photo shoot indoors. The requested music playlist was rocking, and there were plenty of snacks around to keep everyone energized.
We exchanged models after each clothing change and snapped away in the space--both of us photographing each girl, giving it our unique spin, with poses and use of the funky props. These included eclectic furniture, an old piano, and a very colorful geometric wall design.
The girls (and their moms) were having a blast!
When our time ran out, it was late afternoon, and time to head out in the nearby neighborhood for some street shots.
Getting Creative
I generally find Chicago to be a treasure trove of great locations, and it look almost no time to scout out some interesting spots to grab the last images of the day (and possibly a Stan’s "Donut"-I hear they’re famous).
An underpass looks a lot like a Roman ruin, and a grungy alley--an unlikely spot to make the environment behind my model really interesting. You just have to “see” it and give it a go. Melina, Faith, Briana, and Samantha were having fun and game for all of it. They were awesome!
The evening ended with new friendships formed--along with dinner--and stories to laugh about.
More importantly, I loved the spirit of cooperation and idea-sharing that Veronica Adams Photography and I have, and the lack of concern that there "isn’t room"--or enough business--for us both. I really believe everyone benefits! And we definitely have much to learn from each other.
To find out more about DWP senior photo sessions, check out our website.
