The business of senior photography has changed a LOT over the last five or so years. 

If you've been around for a minute in this industry, you probably know this.  Maybe you've noticed the subtle differences in how your senior clients use social media now ... how they consume more than they create most of the time.

Maybe you run a model team and have noticed that your team just doesn't share or post the way they did in the past - even if you "require" it.  (By the way, requiring them to post doesn't really work; I'll go into that in just a bit.)

If you haven't seen these changes yet, there is a really good chance they're coming; this just all depends on where you're located. I started noticing these changes back in 2017 because I'm in Los Angeles; we tend to see trends a little sooner in general.  But you can be sure that all high school senior photographers will see these changes because of the combination of the pandemic and how popular TikTok became. 

Yep - TikTok ushered in ...

We're movie fanatics in my family ...

we don't just watch movies, we critique them.  We discuss them.  We rip them apart 😂

It's part of being married to an actor/writer/director and all-around super creative person. My husband's brain NEVER stops, so when we watch movies, we go deep.  

Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with photography marketing???

I'm getting there ... stay with me.  

Last night, we were watching the bootleg cut (director's cut) of Almost Famous.  You can only get it on Blu-ray as part of its 20th anniversary - released last year.  It's hands down one of my favorite movies of all time - it's truly a work of art.  And right in the middle of it, as I was losing my mind watching the scenes that were cut from this masterpiece, I had a revelation.

A director's cut is the entire vision of the director and in this case, also the writer.  It's the whole story - all the little nuances that add to the exposition.  

And very rarely do the movies that m...

If you've followed me for a bit, you know that I talk a lot about how different Gen Z is in terms of what they want from a senior team or senior portrait experience.  I have tons of info out there about why this is and how to ensure your Gen Z clients feel seen and understood, including an entire Style Guide that will help get them prepped for their session - and I'm always updating info in my Facebook group for senior photographers.  

We will be serving Gen Z clients for a while, so I highly encourage you to make sure you're well versed in what they are looking for in a senior photographer because this generation is SO specific and vastly different from their millennial counterparts.

That's not the topic of this blog post, though - TEENS are.  And by teens, I mean younger than high school seniors.  Now, you may be thinking, "Renee, aren't they still Gen Z'ers?" 

Yep, they are!  But younger teens are historically more excited to shoot and SHARE their images online (that's the key di...

There's been a lot of chatter in my Facebook group & in my Clubhouse chats recently about PROM :: how to shoot minis, how to charge, how to market for these - how to put on your own prom session for your team or clients who aren't able to have prom this year (like mine).

Make no mistake, prom sessions can be AMAZING for your marketing, even if no proms are being held where you live this year.

I've run prom minis just about every way under the sun over the years and there is definitely a science to it - in order to make money, anyway.  

Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned pro, prom is a great way to add value to your client base AND capitalize on some killer organic marketing.

 AND PINTEREST??!!

Holy crap, you guys …. if you're not incorporating Pinterest into your organic marketing, you are truly missing out. 

Your posts on Pinterest – aka “Pins” – live up to 1,600 times longer than on Facebook or any other platform!!!

When you think of it, Pinterest SEO...