Evolution of RMP Part 2: Wait, is this a real business?

Let me first say, this blog post will make a lot more sense if you check out Part 1 of the Evolution of RMP series! I would recommend going back now and reading that post before joining me back here…..I’ll wait.

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Hey! Welcome back!

All I can picture is Bilbo Baggins yelling, ‘I’m going on an adventure!’ from The Hobbit. There, you officially know that I am a nerd. Surprise, surprise! Honestly, though, that one-liner was my RMP motto for the last half of 2017 and nearly all of 2018.

It’s a funny thing, thinking back on the earliest days of RMP. I was still learning as much as I could about my camera. You could find me location scouting after work and on the weekends. Cincinnati became more familiar. Hidden gems I had never visited before were becoming my evening stomping ground. I would shoot long into the evenings. Once I got home, I would spend the rest of those nights culling and editing. Eyes tired and body buzzing with excitement.

On the weekends, I would go to those same spots I had been the night before. I wanted to see what the light looked like in the morning. Would that spot be as dreamy in the sunrise lighting as it was last night? Ah, maybe not, but over here is perfect this morning!

Every time I went out, my confidence grew. Good lighting revealed itself to me quicker and more consistently. I was teaching myself how to prevent lens flare, or provoke it. I was outside more than I had been in years! I had to buy more sunscreen (if you haven’t met me yet, I am super pale).

During this time, I did a number of free and discounted sessions for friends and family. I even tried working with a tripod and posing myself (FYI, this is super challenging)! I would bring my boyfriend out for an hour every couple of weeks to practice posing and movement. I practiced on Rocky, my dog. I played with composition, layering, framing. All of the things.

But while I was building up my technical skills each week, I was still waiting for my First Paying Client.

This was the Unicorn.

Oftentimes, when I would be location scouting, I would see other photographers with their real-life clients with them. It was thrilling to watch! The excitement. The dressed up couples. The twirling dresses and little suit jackets of the littles. The laughter. My goodness, I lived for hearing that laughter. All I wanted was to have my very own Unicorn. I knew they were out there somewhere.

And, guys, she totally found me!

Annie was a previous coworker of mine, but I had not seen her in a few years. She first reached out to me in search of an individual portrait session. Annie had recently started her own blog and was gearing up to start her Etsy shop. She wanted a photo session to capture personal content that she could share on her growing platforms.

There were some large, flapping, hooting and hollering butterflies in my stomach when I walked up to her Jeep in the parking lot the day of her session. I think I kept my cool, but I was so nervous! My very own Unicorn found me, trusted me, and invested in me! And now, she was on the other side of my camera! Once I got behind that camera, though, my nerves floated away. My goofy side came out. I talked so quickly my mouth dried up. My voice got really high. I could not stop smiling. And Annie and I were off. Our first session. My First Paying Client. It was in the books!

As I was pulling up to my home afterwards, I noticed a text from Annie. She told me that she had a blast during the session! It was at that moment I knew I was doing something right. Annie had not even seen one single photo from her session, and she was already sharing her excitement about the session with me. It wasn’t even related to the photos. This was just her being excited about the experience! It was a pinnacle moment in the early days of RMP. I knew I was in the right place.

Here are few photos from that very first session with Annie! Isn’t she gorgeous, y’all?! And the best part? I just photographed her and her husband’s baby announcement! I have been so blessed to embrace all of these beautiful souls into the RMP family (and they keep growing)!

Once I wrapped up my first, real-life, non-family, client, my mindset changed. I vividly remember asking myself one night while I was piecing together my very first website, ‘Wait, did I start a business? Is this what ‘having a business’ looks like?’

Once I said it out loud, I figured I needed to learn a lot more about how to run a business.

Starting a business as a ‘creativepreneur’ is a lot like eating an ice cream cone on a very hot, very humid August day. Constantly trying to hold onto the good stuff before it falls to the ground in a big, sticky puddle. The good stuff? My constant question of ‘how can I best serve my clients today.’ The big, sticky puddle? All of the things about running a business that this new business owner did not know!

In the wedding industry, many photographers will have one or multiple meetings with their couples before the wedding day. As a portrait photographer, I can sometimes receive inquiries for a session on short notice. As such, one of the first goals I had to serve my clients well was a client questionnaire. RMP’s curated client questionnaire is a tool that I use to learn more about my couples and families! I have fact-gathering questions (such as names and ages of who all will be attending), and then I include personality-type questions. These are the fun ones! I might ask you to describe a perfect weekend with your family. Or help you visualize what a week might look like after your precious bundle of joy makes their appearance. Reading through these questionnaires is one of my favorite moments of the ‘Welcome Packet’ process! By the time we meet for your session, I have a little peek into your personalities (I even answer a few of my own questions right on my home page)!

As much as I love to learn more about you prior to our session, I also want to teach and give you tangible advice for your session! That is why, my second goal to serve my clients back at the beginning of RMP was to craft the Portrait Session Style Guide. I have come to find that there is an age old question everyone asks when they are planning for their professional photography session…

What is it going to be like?

I am going to be totally honest, guys. Photography sessions are not normal. What I ask my clients to do on a session is not normal. Asking your fiance to ‘softly put your nose on her temple, not too close that you are all smushy, but close enough that you are touching her forehead.’ Or the ‘rapid fire kiss your hubby’s nose, and then cheek, and then forehead, and again!.’ Or the classic, ‘giggle down that shoulder.’ These things are totally not normal. But, the biggest response I get at the end of a session? That was so much more fun than what I was expecting!

And that, my friends, is why I do this. I love making people laugh. Love capturing candid moments of you and your loved ones. I love taking pretty pictures in glowy light. I am so blessed that I discovered photography. I am so happy that this business of mine lets me laugh like a goofball during your session. Because I definitely would not have made a good stand up comic. My timing has always been a little bit                                  off.

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One final note!

I went back and counted how many clients I had in the first two months of starting RMP. Six. I was completely blown away! Six people wanted me to photograph them and their loved ones. Six people were inviting me into their family’s life for an evening. Each of these six people, couples, and families have no idea just how much your support meant and continues to mean to me. Without your enthusiasm and trust in me in those first months of being a small business, I would not have gained the confidence to keep going!

Thank you.

Also, I didn’t start the RMP blog until December 2017 (with the stunning Renner Family, pre-Henry!), so this is the first time these images are being shared on here! Happy debut, beautiful clients!

Join me next week, when I dive a little bit more into the actual business side of learning a business!

Your girl,
Rach