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

June 11, 2019

*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with Vanessa on Instagram @VanessaJoy.

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:

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