Become Better Photographer: How to Break into Headshot Photography with Vanessa Joy

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One of pure jewels from Vanessa Joy’s podcast “Breathe Your Passion” in collaboration with AdoramaTV is the interview with yet another successful photographer Moshe Zusman. While at Lake Tahoe, Vanessa interviewed Mr. Zusman about his success in transition from a wedding to a portrait photography.

Vanessa Joy : Why don’t you tell me first, why did you  decide to change paths in the photography  world? 

Moshe Zusman: When my son was born six years ago I  just decided that it’s time to chase my  kids, instead of chasing  brides and grooms.  I was at the beach doing 10, well,  more like 40-45 weddings a year. Then 10  destination weddings and I really felt  like it’s time to slow down and spend  more time with the family. 

Vanessa Joy : Ok, so how did you start that because, as  a wedding photographer, we spent so much  time trying to build a clientele and  having to start all over, that’s daunting.  How did you tackle that? 

Moshe Zusman: Well, as busy as I was  working 330 days a year, I started a  headshot business almost three years ago.  Any free time I had, as I was  slowing down with weddings, I started  doing head shots.  I have a studio so  that was a good place to start it and  slowly grew to working  the headshots, fashion and  portraits every day of the week. 

Vanessa Joy : How different is the marketing aspect  in how you have to market, who you have  to network with for headshots and studio  work? As opposed to how you did it for  weddings. 

Moshe Zusman: Well, when you do headshots, most of my  clients come to me by  word-of-mouth, I even consider social media  word-of-mouth.  Digital word-of-mouth!  Someone will come in and say,  “Hey, you photographed my friend’s wedding,”  “You photographed my friend’s headshot,  I need one too.”  It’s a lot shorter engagement so  the marketing is different, you not to  talk too much. Just show your work,  name the price. It’s a quick engagement.  People don’t think as much as they do  before they book a wedding photographer.  So I always say, you know, they book you  yesterday, you shoot today, you deliver  tomorrow and you’re done.  Versus a year relationship with a bride  and groom. 

Vanessa Joy : That must really affect  how you live your life now.  So what kind of  lifestyle changes were you able to make now,  not having to devote so much time to  each individual client? 

Moshe Zusman: I said it with a  lot of passion for weddings but  I live a very much stress free life. 

Vanessa Joy : That’s nice. Even though, ironically,  you are here in Lake Tahoe to shoot a wedding.  But it’s a little bit different because  it’s one you got to pick, it’s  friend of yours and it’s a more fun.  You get to be more selective about  that.  What would be something that you  would tell a fellow wedding  photographer that’s looking to branch  out?  What are some of the first steps that they  can make to, maybe, their market or build  their portfolio, anything?  Give us some help. 

Moshe Zusman: Well, be bold, master your craft  and technique. Work on human skills.  You got to have those people skills, it’s  all about that at the end of the day.  If everybody had the same caliber of work  and the same kind of gear, it would  break down to human skills and  personality.  Get a good marketing plan.  We have a workshop called ‘Headshot Bootcamp’  and that’s what we do; we teach  people how to run a business, how to  start a business, how to create that  marketing plan and the whole  plan to start a business and continue  doing it. Whether your transitioning from  weddings, like I did, or just starting  fresh.  It’s all about marketing, in  my opinion, aside from personal skills and  personality it’s about  marketing. 

Vanessa Joy : Ok, talk to me lastly about gear.  Again, as wedding photographers  we made such an investment in our gear.  How much more do we have to invest to  become a studio photographer? 

Moshe Zusman: Some people already have the gear, some  people could use new gear.  You need about  two or three studio strobes, couple of  softboxes, maybe a reflector. 

Vanessa Joy :  I agree with you,  I love ProPhoto for example,  and I use ProPhoto but, could I do it with  speedlights? 

Moshe Zusman:  You could do it with speedlights,  it’s just probably not the most ideal.  For the simple fact that,  most of the headsets I  do are in a studio and I do need that  modeling light to see what I’m doing  there.  A little more control over strobes  versus speedlight.  But a light is a light.  You can do it with almost anything,  it’s just about the comfort and the  quality of light. That’s why we  choose ProPhoto. 

Vanessa Joy :  Ok and finally, talk to me about the  money. The dollars and cents at the end  of the day. Are you now making more money  shooting headshots, being in the studio,  having a better life, having a shorter  engagement with your clients,  than you were with weddings? 

Moshe Zusman: Yes, that’s the best part!  The money is better, it’s quicker  and the cash flow is a lot better.  There a whole chart that I run with  everybody that comes to our workshop.  Even as a high-end  wedding photographer, my  average contract used to be $10,000-15,000.  It breaks down to an  hourly rate of $50-$150/hour.  As a headshot photographer, you make  close to $400 or $500/hour  and sometimes more.  That’s awesome, alright, I love it!

 

Check out our WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles that teach you hands-on how to make great photos!

One of our closest workshops – Studio Lighting 102 : Portrait Photography Lighting will take place on July  3rd, 7-9pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios !!!

Watch the full episode with Vanessa Joy and Adorama TV: