New Jersey Photographer Laura Short specializes in horror photography and dark art portraits.
Warning: Some may find the portraits in this post disturbing.
Reaching your target market and marketing can be a little tricky if you don’t know where to start. Right now, it is busy season for photographers, and so many of them are frustrated that they are not selling sessions. They are burning out from working for pennies. I always ask them two questions, what are you doing to market and what are you doing to stand out from the rest of the photographers who are dragging couches out into the middle of a field and throwing up props all over? Because let’s face it, social media is great, but it is not the only way to market. In 2015 I decided I was done killing myself for the fall rush. One personal photoshoot would change my whole brand niche and target market. Below are some tips on what I did to find my people.
What do you like? I have photographed many genres in photography, but my favorite is the weird stuff, the dark stuff, the horror! I October of 2015 I wanted to photograph my oldest with his violin in a tall grass field by my house but on the day of our shoot the field had been mowed down, so I chose a cemetery by my house instead. I painted my son like a skeleton and off we went. I decided I wanted to become a child horror photographer and now that we live in New Jersey I am the New Jersey dark art and horror photographer. Or “this is the photographer that does all the creepy and horror photography” as my wonderful friends say when they introduce me to others.
1. Figure out what you like. Look at yourself away from photography. I like Halloween, monotone and pale colors, masks, skulls, stars, etc. Write down about 20 things you like in your own life and see if it translates into your work. It works for me. Really think about it when planning your next shoot. Look at your last 10 sessions and see if there are commonalities. I like to use solid color outfits in my original work. I use a lot of white and black in my clothing choices. I like masks, skulls, candles, and flowers and use them in most of my shoots. You might prefer pink or red or whatever color. When I shoot my costume or cosplay photography, I obviously dress them as they are supposed to dress.
2. Are you any good? While I enjoyed maternity and birth, I did not enjoy newborns and I am kind of glad I reinjured my back on a session. It gave me a guilt-free out and it let me focus on what I wanted. I was not a good newborn photographer and I am okay with shouting that. It is okay to say you are not good in a genre of photography. We are not a jack of all trades. Specialize because when you specialize it really shows in your work. I like horror and love the prosthetics and bloody make-up, so I excel at that. The thought of a hot two-hour newborn session makes me want to vomit but I could do a two-hour Jason Voorhees and camp counselor shoot and want to keep going longer.
3. What is your brand? What are you known for in your life outside of photography? When people look at your work can they tell it is yours or does your work look like the other thousands of photographers out there? I am a horror girl. I am the one in my group of friends that watches horror shows and movies for fun. We are a horror family, our kids are all named after horror characters, we watch horror shows and movies, and my son now even does a bit of SFX makeup for me sometimes. All my posts on my personal Facebook page are all horror related. I’m tagged in everything horror and dark humor by all my friends. You get the point. I have built a personal brand of the strange and scary and that has spilled into my work. When I am not actively shooting, I am creating costumes, masks, and whatever props I need. I find masks terrifying and 10 times more terrifying on children, so I put them on children in my work a lot.
4. Do personal work on the side if you can. My horror photography started as personal work. When I moved on from maternity and newborn work, I struggled a little but still did family sessions, events, and headshots. This helped me to build my horror photography portfolio and still pay bills. I slowly removed the old work from my site and replaced it with my horror. Then my site got hacked in February and it was all gone but I am working on putting it all back on.
5. Find your people! What is your target market? Where are you advertising? Since I am a horror lover, I like to attend all the conventions from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. I am a vendor at the Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, I attend the New Jersey Horror Con and the Monster-Mania Con when I can. My people are at these conventions. These people love horror, cosplay, anything with costumes so it is a must that I go. I enjoy Steampunk too, so I attend those conventions as well. Sometimes I am a vendor and sometimes I just attend for fun, take photographs and give out my business cards. I don’t fuss around with the local mommy vendor shows. My target client is not there. Those women want $50 sessions and one costume in my wardrobe is close to $200 including hair and makeup. This goes back to #1, what do you like? I know what I like, and I advertise in those places. I currently advertise at conventions mainly because there seems to always be one around me. I also started to work on my SEO with those areas in my keywords. My studio is in a tattoo studio so there is another set of people that see my work.
Write out what you imagine your target client to look like. Be as detailed as you can be and then look back at your last 10 clients and look for what they all have in common. Your target client profile will start to shape. A few of my target client’s traits - love and has good knowledge or horror, has tattoos, has long hair, attends conventions, usually has bought at least one item at the convention – you get the picture. Rich or wealthy is not a target market.
6. Look for galleries to display your work. In the last two years, I have had my work in a few local galleries and art shows. I make sure to go to the opening night of show and pass out cards and talk to as many people as I can. I also have a printed portfolio of my favorite photographs from each session that I have with me to show everyone that I talk to. It usually gets passed around. If you do not feel your work will be suited for a gallery or art show, then look for places in your genre. When I did newborn/birth photography I networked with 3D ultrasound places, boutiques specific to newborns, birthing centers, etc. Maternity won’t work on the walls of a coffee house, but seniors might, and landscapes will. Think about who is going into that coffee shop mainly. I display some of my less bloody and scary photography in a coffee shop in October.
7. Social media! Scroll social media and look for hashtags that are related to your work. I use Instagram more than Facebook to connect with others and one of my kids just started a TikTok for me and is going to manage that for me. This is pretty much a given but I look for hashtags that are related to my work and use as many as I can. I don’t use the same ones on every photo. I try to post daily too but don’t always so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t. The key is to post during times that you know your hashtags are the most relevant to. I also started experimenting with Eventbrite so we will see how that goes.
8. Network with others. I cannot stress this one enough. Yes, I can make my own costumes or buy them, and do my own makeup and SFX work when I am feeling spontaneous. But why would I only do that when I can reach more people by collaborating with those in the same genre? The owner of my studio is a makeup artist and she does most of the makeup and SFX makeup for my shoots. Reach out to people in the same genre to work with. Be ready to make it about them and pay them and if they won’t let you pay you better tip them. I’ve networked with popular horror cosplayers, SFX makeup artists and prop makers, costume designers, and even some “celebrities” in the horror and convention community. Those people will have a whole group of friends and acquaintances that might want what you have to offer. I am a vendor for and do the photography for a local Ghost Walk in the town next to mine. I was introduced by a friend of a friend that I photograph that likes creepy things too.
I hope you found even one thing on this list useful and can use it in your own work.
Website – laurashort.com
Instagram – Instagram.com/laurashortphotography
Facebook – Facebook.com/laurashortphotography
More info: laurashort.com
