Photo by CoffeeAndMilk via iStock
Working in portrait photography is an enjoyable genre of photography, especially if you’re comfortable with dealing directly with people. In addition to the standard portrait sitting, there are several other portrait photography services you can offer to clients.
We’ve compiled a few portrait photography tips, including some of the various portrait photography services you can use to improve your bottom line.
Table of Contents:
- Portrait Photography Services - Headshots
- Portrait Photography Services - Environmental Portraits
- Portrait Photography Services - Classic Canvas Prints
- Portrait Photography Services - Fun Themes
- Recommended Photography Gear
Portrait Photography Services - Headshots
photo by FangXiaNuo via iStock
Many classic or formal portraits are head and shoulders, ¾ length, and full length. All of these poses go all the way back to the pre-photography days of painted portraits.
Think of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer for head and shoulders, “Portrait of a Young Man” by Bronzino for ¾ length, and Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud for a full-length portrait. All of these show that formal portraits are a time-honored art that has carried over into photography.
A relative newcomer to poses for portrait photography is the straight-on headshot. I’m sure this pose and crop was around for a while, but it really came on the scene with images used for self-promotion. The “Glossies” that actors, models, and other performing artists passed out are most often tightly cropped headshots.
A use for headshots in digital photography and web-based communication is putting a face with a name in online applications, ID cards for businesses, and also for adding to a business card’s info pack.
Providing a well-crafted, properly focused, nicely lit portrait with some post-process smoothing makes your client stand out from the crowd of low-quality, poorly lit selfies from a cell phone.
It’s a simple task to add this to a regular portrait sitting...
Just have the portrait client square up their shoulders with the camera as you tighten your framing. You can use the same lights (but in a butterfly lighting pattern). The result is that you've added portrait photography services to their package while also adding to your bottom-line profits.
Portrait Photography Services - Environmental Portraits
It will be a little different than adding an extra simple pose to your studio portrait sitting, but environmental portraits are an important part of portrait photography that can be added to your portfolio of portrait photography services.
The setting of the portrait characterizes environmental portrait photography. Environmental portrait photography services can be framed as a long shot with all sorts of things in the frame that help define a person or their job, or you can crop in tighter while still showing an interesting side to your client.
Artists, artisans, and craftsmen like to have their work area or their finished works included in an environmental portrait. In contrast, a dog lover environmental portrait could work with a closer view of the person and their pets.
Environmental portraits can be added to your repertoire of portrait photography services and can set your portrait photography business apart from your competition. Whether it’s done for group portraits, families, couples, or individuals, environmental portraits can both to your good reputation as a portrait artist and to your bottom line profits.
Portrait Photography Services - Classic Canvas Prints
How a client displays your portrait photography work creates additional portrait photography services that can earn your business more money.
Two excellent products that come to mind are Canvas Prints and Wood Prints from Printique, the professional printing company under the umbrella of Adorama companies servicing professional and other serious photographers.
Canvas Prints from Printique are printed on durable, long-lasting cotton canvas material and hand-stretched over 1.5” pine frames. These can be made from black and white or color digital files and are perfect for displaying your gorgeous portrait photography.
Wood Prints from Printique are a unique way to display portrait photography and can be added to your portrait photography packages for increased profit potential.
Whatever style of portrait photography services you provide and what prints you offer, here is a helpful YouTube video from the Printique channel covering how to post-process for the best results with the various printing methods available from Printique:
Portrait Photography Services - Fun Themes
Another idea for extra portrait photography services that you can use to add extra sales and extra profit for your professional portrait photography business model is to step away from the formal approach and add some light-hearted elements to the portraits.
This can be done in several different ways. In the studio, props can be added for all kinds of themes, from holidays to events like graduations, or for the interest of the portrait photography client, such as hobbies or sports.
Besides props, simply going to a different location can add a fun theme. It doesn’t have to be environmental portrait photography; it can be all of the regular poses and styles we already do, just in a different, fun location.
Another idea is to use post-processing portrait photography tips such as filters, overlays, and plug-ins to create fun themes after the photoshoot. From an easy sepia-toned vignette to making an animated GIF, these can be added to your packages for extra profit.
Make use of these portrait photography tips and ideas for adding new portrait photography services to your portrait photography business.
Recommended Photography Gear
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