We’re into the second week of our countdown to the Societies’ Convention in January 2019. This week in the Road to the Societies’ Convention series, we chat to family portrait photographer Helen Bartlett about her masterclass and how she keeps her photography style fresh.
Improving your family photography
Helen’s masterclass focuses on staying creative. If you feel like you’re stuck in a rut and don’t know how to improve or change your style, this seminar could be the one for you.
She chose to focus on this topic because it’s a subject she feels everyone can relate to. Every photographer has struggled creatively at some point in their career, including Helen. She wants to help delegates get themselves out of that creative rut:
“I spent some time exploring what the techniques are that I use when I’m shooting, and I realised that I could write a really interesting talk on the subject. I hope the audience will find it equally interesting.”
A career spanning 14 years and counting means she has a wealth of experience when it comes to finding new sources of inspiration:
“One of the great challenges is how to improve my work year-on-year. I have returning customers and I need to make sure that each session is better than the last, that I can always produce something interesting and unique from every photoshoot.”
Helen hopes her masterclass proves to be useful for delegates who are looking for new ways to explore and improve their craft:
“I hope that delegates who come to my masterclass will learn some techniques for improving their own work whatever their style of photography.”
Despite being a skilled family photographer, she believes her masterclass will be useful to all photographers:
“The ideas I’ll be talking about aren’t limited to family portraits, they are ideas about developing images and pushing yourself creatively which can be applied in any genre.”
Getting creative with your products
Helen offers clients both digital files and prints as part of her photography packages. She likes to provide keepsakes, but allow clients to freely share them too:
“Most of my customers choose to get both – prints for the wall and albums that they can enjoy every day and also the files if they want to make prints for their family and friends.”
Providing clients with the highest quality prints is important to Helen for maintaining the reputation of her business:
“I’m passionate about high quality prints and albums and so think it is important to ensure that my clients have beautiful, archival products that will stand the test of time and won’t risk being lost in the bottom of a drawer.”
Explore your creativity
If you’re struggling to keep your photography style fresh, Helen has a few tips:
“I would encourage them to get out and play with their camera. Set themselves a challenge, maybe shooting one subject in a variety of different ways or with a wide selection of lenses. Or the opposite, limiting themselves to one camera and one lens for a shoot and seeing how that affects their work.”
Finding the momentum to get up and try something new can be difficult, if you’ve been stuck going round in circles. Helen says it’s crucial to push yourself to try new things:
“Sometimes we need to push ourselves to try something new and that gives new enthusiasm which we can apply on our day-to-day shoots.”
Find your new enthusiasm by attending Helen’s ‘Improving Your Family Photography‘ masterclass on Wednesday 16th January at the Societies’ Convention. Get your tickets before time runs out and prepare to be inspired and take your business to the next level.