The Engagement Shoot: The Product Possibilities Are Endless! $50 B&H Gift Card Coming Your Way!

Good Morning Everybody,

Boy, I have to tell you, it really was one hot time in the city yesterday as I continued my Kelby Training video shoot. 7 of us, LaDawn and I, our two models, and the 3 person video crew were getting toasty red from our all day shoot in Tampa’s direct, blazingly hot afternoon sun.  Too bad we didn’t think to apply about an SPF 60 screen.  We all were really feeling the heat by the end of the day which ended about 7:00 p.m. – Whew!

On the upside though, we did get some fantastic images.  I’ll continue to share a few with you these next few days.  The thrill for me was being in non-wedding mode.  All day yesterday, I got to just PLAY.  It was a wonderful exercise in seeing. 

That’s the topic of the second video I’m doing while here in Tampa.  It’s an entire video on the art of seeing – first discerning the location, determining what that location brings to the portrait, and THEN placing the subject within that scene to photograph what you’ve seen in your mind’s eye.  It was a way cool, good time and guess what?  I get to do the same thing again today!

But, how about we get right on with today’s post.  Here we go…

The Engagement Shoot: Bringing It All Together – The Final Product Possibilities Are Endless!

OK, let me ask you – what is the purpose of your engagement portrait sessions?  Is it to go out and just get a few images that your client can use for a 5x7 or two to sit around their home or on their office desks?  I hope not!

Digital shooting gives us more opportunities than ever to offer our clients a myriad of exciting product possibilities.  Those product possibilities are the result of both the images and video clips we make along with the surprising large number of new products our labs are offering.

The fact of the matter is this;  Back in the film days, we would typically shoot about 50 images – two rolls of 220 film.  Now with digital, the number of images soars to a couple of hundred!  Hey, that’s a good thing.  It’s that greater number of images available that gives us the opportunity to offer our clients so many product options.

Let me point you towards just a 5 rock solid profit building ideas:

1. Videos and DVD’s:  Combine you best stills with the 5 second video clips you made during the photography session.  Animoto makes it totally easy to create both a low res video for posting to your Facebook page. 

They also make it just as easy to create a high res version of the same show.  The high res DVD version can be offered as a booking bonus or included in your higher priced image collections.

2. – Engagement Albums:  This one is a no-brainer.  You’ve taken a gazillion pictures – what are you going to do with all of them?  The quick answer is to offer your clients several album options.

Those album options can range from the very elegant (and expensive) leather bound album down to a more affordable press printed book from say, ACI Labs [link].

3.  Save The Date Items:  Labs including ACI, are offering all kinds of possibilities in that department, too.  Now when the couple sends out their invites, they can easily and affordably include a “Save The Date” reminder with a few of your images on them.  You get the “Save The Date” item sale and extended use of a few of the photographs you took.

4. Wedding Photo Invitations: I just recently saw a photo wedding invitation and it looked very cool.  This is yet another way for you to “repurpose” a few more of your images from your engagement shoot.

5. Wedding Sign In Book:  This is another of my favorite ideas and several labs are offering such a product.  The small book sits near the cake or gift table where the gusts are offered the opportunity to offer the newly married couple their best wishes.

Each turn of the page shows another photo of the couple romantically photographed by you.  This is a great way to showcase your work to future possible clients attending this wedding and also allows you to “repurpose” a few more images.

As you can see, the list could go on for pages.  Maybe you even have a few ideas yourself you could share with our DPT readers.  Once again, if I get at least 20 good ideas posted in the comment section below, I’ll award the winner a $50 gift card from B&H camera.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  Shooting begins in less than an hour and we’ve got to get moving.  Have a good one, don’t forget to post a few ideas below, and I’ll see you again tomorrow.  -David