Today I am SO thrilled to have someone extra special on the podcast. She was the Photo Editor at The Knot for going on 5 years working in New York City with photographers like Nigel Barker, Jose Villa and KT Merry. She produced magazine covers, still life, and fashion stories. She has worked on branded content campaigns for Crate & Barrel, The Black Tux and Men’s Warehouse and has spoken on panels for Two Bright Lights and PDN Magazine. She is now on her own using this knowledge to help photographers get published through consulting and guidance and produces editorial and commercial photoshoots for various publication and media outlets. So welcome to the podcast Sarah Kay Love!
WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS PODCAST:
- Who is Sarah’s ideal client?
- Why is it important to be published
- Tips on how to get published
- What is Two Bright Lights?
- Mistakes made along the way
- Mistakes others are making in the industry
Who is the ideal client?
Sarah’s clients range from photographers and florists in the wedding industry to high profile businesses. She is ready to help anyone on a mission to increase engagement, generate revenue and and inspire audience through beautiful imagery. Sarah helps curate the content to help businesses rise above the competition!
Why is it important to be published
First and foremost it is important to just get your work out there! For example, when you post a wedding, it is read and shared, then linked to Pinterest, then shared and tagged on instagram and Facebook. This automatically increases your engagement and SEO ranking, with the potential to be ranked #1 on Google. The more awareness you bring to your brand by being published, the more credibility you earn. You earn this credibility through couples who are thinking of hiring you and the vendors who would like to work with you. Saying that you have been published and you know how to get published will set you apart from everyone else and potentially attract a higher clientele.
Tips on how to get published
The first thing Sarah tells her clients is to take 75-100 photos and try to tell a story in the best way possible. These images should express a theme and color palette. It is so common that Sarah sees galleries that lack chronological order and correctly sharing the details of the day. Editors are looking for the real moments of the couple and the one image that really draws in the whole wedding. If you choose from all of your photos, find the one photo that really draws you in, and base the remaining choices from that one image. Another tip is to make sure that the editors have enough photos. Consider adding pictures of just the venue and guests to show the editors where they are and who is attending the wedding. Finally, each submission may have different requirements, be sure you are following the guidelines of the particular submission!
What is Two Bright Lights?
Two Bright Lights is an online submission platform that photographers, planners and other creatives can use to potentially have their work featured. Two Bright Lights simplifies the process by using a tool to help match your submission perfectly by filtering through all of the different submissions to choose from. Two Bright Lights guides you where to post your particular submission which helps make the process much more efficient. If you are interested in signing up for Two Bright Lights, use code “SARAHLOVE” for a discount!
Mistakes made along the way
A few years back, Sarah was a photographer and having trouble getting her work featured. Looking back, she sees the mistakes that she made. She realized that she never would take the time to read the questionnaires about the couples she was photographing, which would have helped her choose the best images for the galleries being submitted. She was missing the key pieces to tell the story of the day. With all of the mistakes Sarah has made, the biggest takeaway she has learned is that taking the accountability for your mistakes and learning and accepting the fact you made mistakes is so important. Then trying to figure out how to maneuver to the right direction is also super powerful.
Mistakes others are making in the industry
Today, the market is over saturated and we are beginning to see the same content repeated over and over. It is so easy to get caught up in the world where everyone’s images look the same. Take a leap of faith and do something different that feels good to you. Believe in your brand and your vision, then no one can take that away, which creates magic. As artists, we need to figure out who we are, what we want out of life, what our vision is and where we are going. Waking up everyday and challenging ourselves with these questions and going for it! Do not let anything stop you, even if it is scary!
“…Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated” – Paul Rand
