This week I had four middle school students job shadow me, and one of them asked what my favorite thing was about my photography business.
Without question, it is the relationship I build with my clients. It is the power my craft gives me to empower them, feed them, help them to see the best version of themselves. It is the ability to indulge them, serve them, leave them feeling important and loved.
I am constantly working to improve on that mission to better serve the people who put their trust in me, and recently I have hit the “pamper my clients” jackpot.
Enter Session Reveal Nights.
In the past, I have uploaded an online gallery for my clients to view their images after their session. They made a list of the pictures they wanted, usually purchased on a disk with print release, and our time together came to an end when I delivered their disk and thank you note.
I always felt there was something missing from that approach for me, because there was little follow through after the great personal connections we had made during our shoots.
Now the personal experience continues, both for my clients and for me.
The families get their first glimpse of the images from their session on their TV through a DVD Slideshow I have created to music. In Ashley’s session, the audible gasps and tears from her mom were worth their weight in gold. Most people schedule photo sessions to document life events. With these reveal nights, the shoot itself becomes an actual emotional, memorable event. I flipping LOVE it, y’all.
After the slideshow, I gift my clients with 4×6 proofs of every image in their gallery. The pictures are theirs to keep, but we use them to figure out which pictures to order at what sizes, and where to place them in their home.
I have both product and sizing samples that we hold up to their walls, and I am able to give them my experience to help solidify their choices.
Every person has a story, and my job is to capture and tell their tale. The Reveal Night is the exclamation point I put at the end of the last sentence I write for them.
Please hang with me a few more minutes, and allow me to tell you the story of Ashley’s Senior Session. It is a good one.
Ashley’s Uncle Greg was the person who first contacted me about scheduling her senior pictures. Greg and Ashley have a special bond. He told me once that since Ashley has no living grandparents, he decided that he would stand in that gap for her. And he has done so in every facet of her life.
But there is so much more to their story.
Greg was diagnosed with cancer, and was given three months to live… three YEARS ago.
In the time since, he has fought his health battles with courage, grace, and HUMOR.
The man is an inspiration. He is the definition of a giving spirit, and proof positive that faith in all circumstances produces miracles, if we just open our eyes to them.
When he told me that he had no idea that our photo session, the reveal, and the total experience would be emotionally overwhelming in the most wonderful way, he blessed me in an priceless way. As does looking at this photo, and the very real emotions within it.
There are good people in this world. You are looking at two of them.
Reveal nights were designed as a way for me to pour into my clients. In the end, I also come away enriched and blessed.
I am giddy with excitement over my next one. Won’t you let me edify you?
See the video slide show of Ashley’s entire gallery here.
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Meet Brandon, Ashley’s sweet boyfriend, whom Greg lovingly calls “What’s his name.”
[…] Ashley Conover’s video can be seen here. You can see more images from her session, and read more about her story, especially her special relationship with her doting Uncle, who is the definition of grace under hardship at Session Reveal Nights: Full Bellies, Full Service, Full Hearts * Senior Session Feature * Roanoke Ra… […]