Tips & Tricks – What I Learned In a Year vol. 2

Happy anniversary to me! Well, to Rachel E.H. Photography, LLC, I should say 😉 August marks the one year anniversary of REHP being a legit business – yay! I’m celebrating this month with a three part blog series on lessons I’ve learned during my first year in business.

Last week I shared how important it is for me to create fun in my business. Whether it’s making my clients laugh & have a great time during their photo shoot, or finding ways for them to reminisce on their special day in a positive, fun way, I’m always looking to add an element of fun. People who hire a photographer to capture important or special moments of their lives are generally doing so in good spirits because they want to celebrate something. So making the photography aspect fun is a must in my eyes.

Today I’d like to share a second thing I’ve learned in the past year of business as a photographer, and that is the importance of being consistent.

Lesson 2: Consistency

I’ve learned that consistency is key to building trust with your clients & future clients. They want to know the quality of your work is reliable. This year I improved the consistency & quality of my work by learning some new techniques as well as upgrading my equipment, all of which have positively affected my customer’s experience & satisfaction. 

At a basic level, this year I was able to upgrade a lot of my equipment (yay!). I purchased a new camera as well as three new lenses (weeee!), which has greatly improved the quality of my final product photos.

I also found a reliable place to rent equipment, allowing me to use equipment I can’t afford to purchase yet, but can be integral to getting the best quality photos for my clients. 

One of the pieces I’ve rented a bunch of times this year has been off-camera flash equipment, with the biggest news being that this year I learned how to use off-camera flash, thanks to the Justin & Mary Lighting Guide (total lifesaver!). This has taken my wedding & event photography to a whole new level & I feel way more confident capturing photos in low light or mixed light situations than I ever have before. 

And one of the biggest improvements to the quality of my work is taking the Katelyn James Consistency Course for editing. I now understand how important it is for a photographer to have a consistent editing style & thanks to Katelyn’s detailed explanations, I’ve become even more proficient at Lightroom, my editing software.

Check back next week for the final installment of the series & find out what the third big lesson I’ve learned during my first year in business.