How to Run Successful Themed Photo Shoots

By Matthew Rycraft

If you are looking for ways to create an additional income stream from your photography business, themed photo shoots and seasonal mini sessions can be an effective option.

Rather than adding another permanent service to your business, you can create a short run of sessions around a particular theme, open the bookings for a limited period and then move on to the next idea.

Christmas, Easter, Halloween, spring, summer and family milestones can all provide opportunities, but the idea isn’t limited to seasonal events. The key is to create something with a clear concept that gives people a reason to book.

For portrait photographers in particular, themed shoots can also introduce existing clients to other products and services you offer.

Why themed photo shoots work

One of the advantages of a themed shoot is that it feels different from a standard portrait session.

A family who might not be ready to book a full portrait shoot could be interested in a short Christmas session, for example. Once they have experienced your photography and enjoyed the process, they may come back for a more traditional family session later.

The limited nature of the shoot can also make the decision easier. You might only offer the sessions over three or four weekends, with a fixed number of appointments available.

That gives you a defined campaign rather than another service that you have to promote throughout the year.

The other advantage is that you can plan your capacity in advance. You know how many sessions you want to offer, when they will take place and what products you intend to sell afterwards.

Choose a theme that suits your business

Start with something that fits your photography, your clients and your own interests.

Christmas is an obvious example for family photographers, but there are plenty of alternatives:

• Spring family portraits
• Easter sessions
• Mother’s Day or Father’s Day portraits
• Back-to-school sessions
• Halloween portraits
• Autumn family shoots
• Valentine’s Day couples sessions
• Birthday portraits
• Pet photography
• Children’s themed sessions

You don’t need to offer every possible occasion. In fact, it can be more effective to choose a small number of themes that you can produce particularly well.

A strong theme should also give you something visually distinctive to work with. Props, backgrounds, lighting and styling can all help turn a short portrait session into something that feels like an experience rather than simply a shorter version of your normal service.

Work out the numbers first

Before announcing your shoot, decide what you want it to achieve financially.

Start with a target rather than simply choosing a session price.

For example, suppose you want to generate £10,000 in revenue from a campaign.

If your average client spends £250, you need 40 clients.

If your average sale is £400, you need 25 clients.

That simple calculation can help you decide how many sessions you actually need to offer.

It also highlights an important point: your session fee isn’t necessarily the figure that determines whether the campaign is profitable.

Additional products such as prints, wall art, albums and digital images can significantly increase the average order value.

Your goal should therefore be to understand the complete customer journey, from booking through to the final sale.

Don’t rely on the session fee alone

A themed session can be priced to cover the time involved in photographing the client while leaving opportunities to purchase additional products afterwards.

That might include:

• Individual prints
• Framed prints
• Wall art
• Print collections
• Albums
• Digital image collections
• Gift products

The exact products will depend on your market and your normal business model.

The important thing is to work out the numbers before you launch the campaign.

Calculate your costs, your available shooting time, your expected number of bookings and your target average sale. This gives you a much clearer picture of what you need each client to spend.

Don’t simply look at what another photographer charges and copy their price.

Their costs, market, experience, products and customer base may be completely different from yours.

Create a simple booking process

The easier it is for someone to book, the more likely they are to do so.

A dedicated online booking system can be particularly useful for themed sessions because you can make the whole process available in one place.

Ideally, clients should be able to:

• See the dates and available times
• Read the session details
• See the price
• Read your terms and conditions
• Pay when booking
• Receive confirmation automatically
• Add the appointment to their calendar

Taking payment at the time of booking also gives the client a greater commitment to attending.

It can also save you considerable administrative time compared with arranging bookings through a mixture of email, telephone calls and social media messages.

Build interest before opening the diary

Don’t wait until your shoot is ready to launch before telling people about it.

One useful approach is to create a pre-registration list.

For example, you could have a page on your website inviting people to register their interest in your next Christmas sessions.

The form doesn’t need to be complicated. Ask for the information you genuinely need and explain what people will receive in return.

You might offer early access to the booking dates or a limited introductory offer.

This creates a list of people who have already expressed an interest in the shoot.

When the dates are released, you aren’t starting from zero.

Use your existing audience

Your existing clients are often your best starting point.

If you have been photographing families for several years, you may already have a database of people who know your work and trust you.

Your email list, website, social media followers and previous customers can all become part of your marketing campaign.

Start building anticipation before bookings open.

Show people the theme coming together. Share behind-the-scenes images. Give them an idea of what the finished photographs could look like.

Then make it very clear when bookings open and how many appointments are available.

Limited availability can help

A themed shoot naturally lends itself to limited availability.

You might only offer 20, 30 or 40 sessions because that is what you can realistically photograph during the campaign.

Be honest about that number.

If there are only a certain number of appointments available, tell people. When those appointments are booked, close the diary.

This is much better than creating artificial scarcity simply to pressure people into booking.

You should also avoid overbooking yourself. A campaign that generates lots of bookings but leaves you exhausted or unable to deliver the promised service isn’t a successful campaign.

Think about the customer experience

The shoot itself is only part of the experience.

Think about what happens from the moment somebody sees your advert or email through to the moment they receive their finished photographs.

The booking process should be straightforward.

The information before the shoot should be clear.

The session should feel organised and enjoyable.

And the sales process should feel like a natural part of the experience rather than something that has been added as an afterthought.

This is particularly important with themed sessions because part of what people are buying is the experience.

Make the most of the sales appointment

If you sell products after the session, consider how and when clients will see their photographs.

Some photographers prefer a separate sales appointment. Others find that showing the images immediately after the shoot works particularly well.

There are advantages to completing the process while the client is still engaged with the session.

They are excited about what they have just experienced and can see the photographs while the event is still fresh in their minds.

You can then help them choose the images and products that work best for them.

The important point is not to make the process unnecessarily complicated.

Have a clear range of products and packages, explain what is included and make it easy for the client to understand their options.

Physical products can add value

Digital files are convenient, but there is still something special about leaving a photography studio with a finished print.

A themed shoot can be particularly well suited to physical products because the images are often designed around a specific occasion.

A Christmas portrait might become a framed print or a gift for a family member. A child’s themed portrait could become wall art. A series of images might work well as a small album or collection.

If you can offer a fast turnaround, that can make the experience even more memorable.

Same-day printing isn’t essential, but if your workflow allows it, immediate delivery can become a genuine part of your service.

Plan the campaign around your availability

One of the biggest attractions of themed sessions is that you can control when you offer them.

You don’t have to run them continuously.

You might choose four or five periods throughout the year and build your campaigns around your existing workload.

For example, a wedding photographer who has a quieter period in the winter could use Christmas or Valentine’s sessions to bring additional portrait work into the studio.

A family photographer might choose seasonal sessions that complement their normal portrait work.

The idea is to make the additional income stream work around your business rather than allowing it to take over.

Learn from every campaign

Once a themed shoot has finished, look at the numbers.

How many enquiries did you receive?

How many people booked?

What was your average sale?

Which products sold?

How much did you spend on marketing?

How much time did the campaign take?

And, most importantly, would you do it again?

You may find that one theme generates lots of bookings but relatively little additional product sales, while another attracts fewer clients but produces a much higher average order.

That information is valuable.

You can use it to refine your pricing, marketing, products and future themes.

Make it your own

There are plenty of photographers offering seasonal mini sessions, so don’t simply copy what everyone else is doing.

Think about what makes your photography different.

Perhaps you have a particular style of lighting, a love of vintage props, a distinctive studio setting or an unusual approach to photographing families.

Build the theme around that.

The strongest themed shoots aren’t simply a backdrop and a date on the calendar. They give clients something they can’t easily get from a standard portrait session.

And that’s ultimately the opportunity.

A well-planned themed shoot can provide an additional source of revenue, introduce new customers to your business, encourage existing clients to return and create opportunities to sell products alongside your photography.

You don’t need to run themed sessions every month. Start with one idea, plan the numbers carefully, promote it properly and see what happens.

If it works, you can build the next one around what you’ve learned.