It was a truly inspiring afternoon with Mike Larson and his celebrity panel on finding your style. Below are some great bites for all business owners from the event.
To view the entire article, comment or contact us at studio@dparkphotography.com to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter Photographer’s Corner containing exclusive tips and resources for photographers, from hobbyists to full-timers.
Now to the good stuff:
Who is Mike Larson?
- An adventurer
- A surfer
- A musician
- A man who loves to make his wife laugh
- A loving father to his new baby girl, little Hannah
A photographer for 13 years, Mike Larson confided that he began with no style. Years of soul searching later, he found it.
What’s his style? Mike Larson is a West coast photographer who loves shooting vineyards and weddings.
(Photos below courtesy of Mike Larson: www.mikelarson.com)
Having grown up in the Bay Area, Mike moved with his wife to where his style led him: the wine country in Central Coast.
You can view Mike Larson’s work here.
His Platform Class
His challenge: Define yourself. Where? In 3 areas:
1. Your Style
2. Their Style (Clients)
3. Your Business
1 | your style
To find your style, answer these questions:
• Who are you?
• What excites you?
• What do you love?
But how do you show this? Sometimes this means having another photographer or writer showcase you. But he boldly challenged all of us as photographers:
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“BEFORE SUMMER HITS, BECOME A CONSUMER OF THAT WHICH YOU SELL, BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T, YOU’VE TAKEN AWAY THE ABILITY FOR YOU TO SELL CREDIBLY.”
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2 | their style (clients)
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“PEOPLE DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE.”
– DALE CARNEGIE
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Unless we care about what our clients’ style is, they have no reason to care about ours. We need to answer the following questions on our clients:
• Who is your client? Who could you work with? Fill in the blank: I want to attract people who are ____________.
• Where are your clients? Is it through a venue, a coordinator, wedding blog?
• What are the connectors between you and them?
• Why should they value you more? When you become an expert at what they value, you won’t get people calling you for discounts. You get people calling you because you’re the only person who does what they want.
3 | your business
Now, define your business. Organize it based on how you’ve defined yourself and your clients.
Be consistent, concise in your messaging. You shouldn’t be able to Google your description and find 500 people who do the same thing. Choose a category. You may already be doing it. You just have to claim it. This will enable others to evangelize you when you’ve chosen your category.
Become a helpful expert. Once you know where you want to be, become an advocate for your connectors to help with their brand. Pay it forward.
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“WHO WE ARE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT WE PRODUCE. IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A TO-BE LIST. WHAT GOOD IS A LIFE WITH JUST A COMPLETED TO-DO LIST? IF WE FOCUS ON WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WANT TO BE, THE TO-DO LIST WILL FINISH ITSELF. ”
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The Star Studded Panel
Mike then welcomed his celebrity panel: Mike Colon, Jose Villa, Jesh De Rox, Summer of Grey Likes Weddings, Kimberly of Style Unveiled, and Amanda of 100 Layer Cake.
Mike Larson’s first question to each panel speaker, “How did you find your style?”
It was all about Mike Colon’s connection with people. With his camera, people look natural, comfortable, confident. He can portray who they are.
Finding your style is something we can learn from children. If you stick a kid in a room filled with all kinds of toys, do you think that kid walks in and says, “Hmm, which toy is my style?” That absolutely doesn’t happen. They run to the toy as long as it keeps their attention. They play with it as long as it interests them. At the very moment it doesn’t interest them, do they set it nicely in place? No. They throw it! There’s beauty and truth in that.
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“DO WHAT DRIVES YOU WILD. IF IT DOESN’T DRIVE YOU CRAZY ANYMORE, STOP PLAYING WITH IT. THE STYLE SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY AUTHENTIC AND COME FROM WHO YOU ARE.”
– JESH DE ROX
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For Jose, it was just about what feels good to him. He never puts his logo on a photo. His goal was to create imagery with a very organic and timeless look at the images 20 years from now and it can look exactly like it did the day of. He wants people to see his photo and know that he was the photographer. Now, people can.
The most touching style is when you, as a viewer, are taken into the photo, where you feel the love, where you want to be the bride in the photo. The image needs to exude emotion. The images need to reflect who you are.
Don’t make your client fit what you’ve seen everywhere. Not every client wants to hold a balloon and sit on a suitcase. Go with how your clients feel, who they are.
Bloggers have a catch 22: Brides recycle ideas on blogs. But blogs are dependent on brides and photographers to give awesome editorial content. Don’t use props to distinguish you. Be organic. Push your clients further to reflect their style and personality. It doesn’t have to be over-exaggerated.
meeting the panel
It was such a blessing to be able to get to speak to each of the panel speakers individually. These people have such inspiring stories and amazing businesses. If you haven’t already, you’ve got to check out their work!
where can you read the rest?
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- Read our other Photographer’s Corner posts here for more exclusive tips.
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