← The Portrait System Podcast
The Portrait System Podcast
How Meg Loeks Built a Photography Business Around Family, Art, and Education
00:52:29
Loading summary
Transcript184 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hey there, it's Nikki Klosser and I want to let you know about an awesome free giveaway for people on our email list. If you haven't already, click the link in our podcast description or go to theportraitsystem.com signup to get on the list.
- [00:12]
B
If you sign up, you'll get a
- [00:13]
A
free posing 101 PDF to jumpstart things.
- [00:16]
B
It's an epic PDF, so you'll definitely want to get this.
- [00:20]
A
Also, just by being in our email community, you'll get deals, sales, and information about any of our upcoming events and activities. So head over to theportraitsystem.com signup and and sign up today.
- [00:32]
B
You're listening to the Portrait System podcast.
- [00:35]
C
A lot of times when clients are hiring me, one of the reasons they're hiring me is because of my use of color. And so I work with them heavily on wardrobe. And I actually, in my welcome guide, I have like, a bunch of examples with like, you know, different family portraits and then color palettes next to those.
- [00:58]
A
Welcome to the Portrait System podcast. I'm your host, Nikki Klosser, and this show is here to help you succeed in the world of photography and business. To help you learn to become financially free, doing what you love and so much more. With over 1 million downloads, countless photographers have taken what they've learned from both our episodes and from theportraitsystem.com and they have grown their businesses, quit their day jobs, and are designing a life of their dreams.
- [01:21]
B
We keep it real and share stories
- [01:23]
A
about the ups and downs that come with running a photography business. You'll hear real life stories of how other photographers run their business, and you'll learn actionable steps that you can take to reach your own goals. Thank you so much for being here.
- [01:36]
B
And let's get started. Hi there, I'm Nikki Klosser, and my guest this week on the Portrait System podcast is Meg Lukes. There's a moment that so many photographers dream of when you leave that safe job and finally bet on yourself. Meg didn't only make that leap, but she created an entire body of art that feels like storytelling, just like magic. Meg tells us all about how she creates that magic, using color, styling and thoughtful details to bring her portraits to life. All right, it's time to get started with Meg Lukes. Hi, Meg. Welcome to the Portrait System podcast. How are you?
- [02:15]
C
I'm good, I'm good. How are you?
- [02:18]
B
I'm good. I said when I first saw you how adorable you are, your style and.
- [02:22]
C
Yeah, thank You. Thank you. This is the first time I've seen
- [02:26]
B
your like, like face to face.
- [02:28]
C
Yeah.
- [02:29]
B
Although I heard your name a name a million times.
- [02:32]
C
But yeah, it's nice to, to see you. So. Yeah.
- [02:37]
B
Okay. So I just have to say that Meg is a fellow Michigander, which I hate that word. Like, can we come up with something cooler? Yeah, but you live. Oh, go ahead.
- [02:49]
C
I would say, yeah, we need to, we need to have something a little bit better than that, I think. Right.
- [02:54]
B
But you're also a Yooper. So for anyone who knows Michigan, that means you live in the Upper Peninsula. So we're like an eight hour drive from each other, even though we're both in Michigan. So Michigan's so huge.
- [03:04]
C
It is. I mean, we're basically Canada, right? For. Yeah, we're really close to there. So. Yeah.
- [03:10]
B
Yeah. Cool. Okay, so we have so much to cover today. So you were a full time photographer. Like all you did was take shoots and then added in a little bit of education. Some things happened in your life and it made the most sense for you and your family to do only education. So we're going to talk through like how you ran this incredible, incredible, like fine art. I say fine art. I don't want that to scare people away because like the business that you had, it doesn't necessarily have to be fine art. That's just the way that you shoot. Like as far as what you create, it's art. And then like transition into full time educator, which I know people will be interested in. People who are interested in the whole education piece. But anyway, let's start with. You were not always a photographer. Well, okay, you were always a photographer, but you didn't always have a photography business for work. Right, right, right.
- [04:12]
C
So originally started when I was really young with film and developing my own prints and everything. That was like my favorite part of the process. Which totally makes sense now looking at where I'm at now because I love editing. Like, I love that, that part of photography sometimes I think even more than actually shooting. So I can see that, like looking back at my younger self, you know, and realizing, okay, this makes sense. And then I went to college and kind of put away the camera for a little bit and graduated with an advertising degree and then had a family. And when I started having a family and having kids, I picked up my camera again because I wanted to start taking better pictures of my children. And I started getting back into photography education. So I was taking a lot of classes and then things kind of just grew from there and I Ended up launching a business.
- [05:12]
B
Awesome. Okay, when you say you just ended up launching a business, how, like, how does that, how did you make the transition from advertising? Like, did. All of a sudden you have all these brand new clients or, you know, how did you handle that?
- [05:28]
C
Yeah, so I, I was, you know, taking pictures of my kids and sharing that on social media. And more and more people were getting interested in my work and wanting me to photograph their families and sit. So that's really kind of how it started. And I was already working. I had this corporate job in the marketing department of this health IT company actually. And I loved it. But I love photography more. I loved, you know, the artistic part of it. I loved also the flexibility that I had with that, you know, and having really small children at home, it just made sense. So it kind of, you know, I, I realized this is where I, I want what I want to do. And so I ended up leaving my corporate job and, and I launched a business.
- [06:20]
B
Awesome. Yeah, you. You know, I don't want people to underestimate the current network that you have, because like you said, once you start posting your photos, I mean, as long as you have a strong portfolio and you're, you're like, you know, dialing it in, people will start to notice that, like people within your network. And I think sometimes people forget that they can use their network. And I will say, when I look back when I was first starting at some of the photos I was posting, I cringe over them now, but at the time, like, I really thought they were amazing, you know, so.
- [06:59]
C
And I did.
- [07:00]
B
I got tons of bookings from those. Like, when I look, you know, now I look not so great photos. So I guess my point is, is wherever you're at, it's okay. Like, get your photos out there, get people interested in the fact that you're a photographer. So I just wanted to say that I'll get off my, my soapbox.
- [07:19]
C
Yeah, it's super important. You know, it's, it's. You're ever evolving, right? I mean, we're continuing to grow, especially if we're like pushing ourselves to do that. And, you know, I was putting in a lot of hours. I don't want it to make it sound like this was like an easy thing. Just, oh, I just launched a business. I was getting up at 4am every single morning before my children got up to work. And I was staying up until like midnight. So I was only getting like a few hours of sleep. Now I don't do that. I can't physically do that. But at the time I could. And so I was putting in a lot of hours and I was, like, sharing my stuff. And back then, Instagram was so different. I mean, I was doing four posts. Four, four posts a day, which to me now is, like, crazy. But that was what we did then. Like, this was way back in, like, I don't know, 2014, 2015, early Instagram days when the algorithm didn't exist. And, you know, and I remember looking, I would be on Instagram and I remember seeing people sharing. All of a sudden, I started seeing images being shared that were like DSLR images. You know, they weren't just from your phone. Right. And I saw that starting to happen and I was like, well, I wanna do. So I started early on, like, you know, immediately pushing my work out there. Back in the early days of Instagram.
- [08:39]
B
Mm. And what you just said there is so, so crucial. You were putting yourself out there. Like, I cannot stress that enough, that so many people, you know, so many of my students. I'm sure your students, too, they're. They can be like amazing photographers. But you have got to put yourself out there. You have to, you know, and that means, I mean, I know it probably looks a little bit different now than when you were starting with social media. You know, there's so many different social media platforms and all the things, but however you choose to put yourself out there, you've got to do it. You can't sit back and wait and hope that people find you. It's not going to happen.
- [09:24]
C
Yeah. And it is. It's hard now because you do have to kind of. Now we've got Instagram, we've got reels, and we've got, like, all these things and video that we're supposed to be, like, masters of. And I look back at, like, my degree and, you know, so many of us, I think if we go to college, we get a degree and then we don't end up utilizing it. That happens because we're young. Yeah. You know, if you're young. But I do look back and I'm like, you know, I did get an advertising degree and I am using a part of it. I think we do use in some form, maybe our degrees. I don't know. Yes, I do.
- [09:58]
B
I have a social work degree and I use it, like, just the way that I interact with my clients and the way I speak to people and that's, you know, so.
- [10:05]
C
Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, so it's. It's definitely evolved, you know, over time. But, yeah.
- [10:13]
B
Yeah. Okay, so family is. Is your jam. And so the shoots start coming in. At what point did you actually quit your job? Did you have a big savings? Were you like fully booking all the time?
- [10:29]
C
I was slammed with clients. And honestly, looking back, I definitely should have raised my prices. You know, I've learned a lot over the years, but I did a lot of family focus. I had a small studio in my house, but I also had like a huge meadow around my house. So I'd have clients come to my, you know, either my studio or outside or I go to their house too, as well. And that was my jam. Like, I loved going to clients houses and photographing them in their spaces, in their home. And I did that for several years. And then while I was doing that, opportunities came about where I started, also doing education. And that was my dream. I was. So that was what I was hoping for at some point was to teach some of the things that I had learned over the years. Specifically more targeted towards women, teaching women, mothers, especially about photography. And so I started doing that. And then what ended up happening? I had three kids at the time, three boys. I now have five.
- [11:35]
B
Oh my gosh.
- [11:38]
C
Four boys and one girl.
- [11:40]
B
Okay.
- [11:40]
C
But at the time I had three boys, and my oldest, who was four at that time, ended up getting diagnosed with leukemia. And so it was so much to obviously to juggle both taking on clients and then doing education and taking care of him and my family. And so I decided to close the client part of my business because that made the most sense. And the education part gave me the flexibility to be in the hospital with him, you know, still, you know, working, but not like I was before.
- [12:15]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, God, I'm so sorry. Like, that has to. I. I just can't. I can't imagine as a mom, like, as a parent, what you were going through, what he was going through. Just your whole family and they're like being an entrepreneur sometimes, especially if it's a digital business, like, you know, your online workshops and things like that, I mean, it can allow you to. Because can you imagine your son got sick and you still had this like corporate full time job. What are you gonna do, take take off a year? You know, like, it just. Another reason to really love entrepreneurship is we get to be there during those, like, horrible times that we have to with our family.
- [13:03]
C
Right? Yeah, exactly. And it, it really, it was like a no brainer. Right. I mean, once that happened, I reached out to all of my clients and they're amazing and of course, understanding. And I had Already been kind of like, I don't know, considering kind of stepping back quite a bit from the client work to begin with just because it was all consuming and the education part was really picking up for me. And so when that happened again, it just, it made sense and it gave me so much flexibility to be with him and to be home. And we navigated that. It was a three year treatment. The first time he was diagnosed twice, so the first time was three years. And then we had a nice long break for like almost four years before he was diagnosed again. And so I just never really went back to that client part because it just, you know, five kids, one that has health issues, severe health issues. So it just, the education part again gave me that, that flexibility to be home.
- [14:09]
B
I can't imagine like being in the clear and then for him to get it again. Yeah, he was doing a lot better now though, right?
- [14:20]
C
Yes. Yeah, he's cancer free as of last summer, so that was great. But yeah, my husband's in the military too, so he was deployed at the time when the God, Meg, the second diagnosis happened. So he was able to come home right away, of course. But you know, all of these things in the back end, you know, that are happening again. It just really allowed me to be home and with my kids.
- [14:50]
B
Yeah, yeah. So for people out there who are interested in education, it really can be a nice balance of two different types of income. Like, I'm part, you know, part time, I still take clients and I do that part of my business. And then I also have my education. It's nice to have that kind of dual, dual opportunity for income. You know, I think it can help you from getting burned out if you are in a, in a place where you're just like so overwhelmed doing so many photo shoots and that sort of thing because is. It's a lot of physical labor for one. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of mental energy. I mean, it's a lot. And education is too. But you know, doing the trading time for money with shoots, it can burn you out once you get to that point. So it's nice to have, you know, with the industry that we're in to have that option. But actually I want to ask you a question because you said you're really, you know, you love the editing part of it and when you like, I know you still take limited client shoots to this day, so I just wanted to, wanted to put that out there. But for your family shoots, I have a feeling you're not like shoot and burn, where you're giving a million images, right?
- [16:10]
C
Yeah. Yep, that's exactly.
- [16:11]
B
Tell us a little bit about how that works.
- [16:14]
C
Yeah. So for me, with the portrait process, like, I love the entire thing, like, the entire concept of it. So from coming up with the idea, the concept, and then, you know, thinking about the shot, how I'm going to style it, what items I'm going to use in props, and where I'm going to shoot this, whether it's in my home or in the studio, it's a whole thing. And the styling and setting up my lights, sometimes that can take hours, But I love that part. It honestly brings me so much joy. And then the shooting part is like a few minutes. It's really quick. I don't typically do a whole bunch of different shots. I just have one concept or one idea in mind. And sometimes that shifts and changes while I'm shooting. It sort of depends, but I end up with several shots. And basically what I do is I cull through that and I pick my favorite one. And that's simply it. That's the one I focus on. That's the one I edit. Because it is, you know, quite time consuming, especially with some of the editing that I do. I do a lot of, like, composite work. And so that can take hours in itself.
- [17:31]
B
Yeah. So your clients, when they book you, they're getting one photo?
- [17:36]
C
No. So with clients, it is. It's kind of like a mix between lifestyle and fine art. You know, I'm going to the client's house and I spend quite a bit of time there. So because I am setting up my lights, like, let's say there's a nursery, I would set up maybe a couple lights in there. I would style the nursery a little bit. Like. And when I say style, I mean, like, I will put some stuff on the floor, like books and toys, and I'll layer the shot. I'm thinking about all those things. And so they end up, you know, it is quite time consuming, but they end up walking away with usually about 20 images that are styled lit. We talk through wardrobe and colors and all of that.
- [18:20]
B
Yeah, I'm scrolling through right now your portfolio, and it is just jaw dropping. And I've seen your work before, but just scrolling through this collection of images, you guys, you have to go to megluks.com portfolio and your last name is spelled L, O, E, K, S. It is just unreal. And it's clear that you use lights not in a. Like, oh, that's studio lit. But just the Just the way you can just tell so quickly. Let people know what type of lights you use.
- [18:55]
C
I use Profoto lighting. My favorite lights are the Profoto A2s. They're really small.
- [19:01]
B
Okay. You're Profoto ambassador, right?
- [19:03]
C
I am.
- [19:05]
B
And Sony.
- [19:06]
C
No, not Sony. So I am Sigma. Sigma.
- [19:11]
B
Sorry, I didn't mean. Yeah, got that wrong. Sorry.
- [19:13]
C
You're good. Wow.
- [19:15]
B
Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, this is. This is pretty remarkable.
- [19:20]
C
Thank you.
- [19:20]
B
I love it.
- [19:21]
C
I used to be, you know, all natural light, and then I started dabbling in created light, and I just loved the flexibility that it gave me, you know, not having to rely, especially, you know, living in Michigan where you. You just never know what the weather's gonna be like. And it's so cloudy in the winter. And so it gave me so much flexibility. And then I just have set many goals for myself over the years. Like, you know, I wanna get better with lighting and I wanna do more cinematic lighting and I wanna light bigger spaces and I wanna use gels. And so I push myself to try to experiment with that.
- [19:59]
B
Yeah. Okay. I'm sure the listeners are sick of hearing me talk about chickens. I love my chickens. Are your chickens in your photos, Are they real? Your real chickens? Are they positive?
- [20:10]
C
Yeah, they're real.
- [20:11]
B
I love it. That Easter egger with the puffy gray cheeks.
- [20:15]
C
I know. I do try to do as much as I can in camera. And we have. We've had chickens for, like eight years now, and we have a few ducks and, like, 35 chickens.
- [20:26]
B
35. I'm down to 10. 10 chickens.
- [20:29]
C
You need more?
- [20:30]
B
Over the years, over the last, like, almost five years, eight of mine have either predators, illness, all the things.
- [20:38]
C
Yeah, yeah.
- [20:39]
B
Okay, so let's talk briefly about pricing. So if you're comfortable sharing. So someone books you, they end up with these 20 photos. What's your average sale on that?
- [20:50]
C
Okay, so I keep things incredibly simple, so base. Like. Like where it starts is 1750, and that is the starting point. But it all depends on, like, travel and stuff, too. And most of the time I'm not booking locally because we live remote and all of that. So I'm traveling. How.
- [21:12]
B
How are people finding you if it's not locally?
- [21:15]
C
They're finding me on my. Through my website, social media, all that. But I don't. I don't push my client part of the business too much. But, like, even if I am at, like, workshops and stuff like that, I'll have people, like, reach out to me and just be like, I'm really interested in, like, a client Session. Do you do that? And I'll send them like a welcome guide, but it's pretty limited. I like to keep it that way. I don't really advertise that part of my business too much.
- [21:40]
B
Okay. Yeah. Okay. So it starts at 1750, and then do you do prints as well?
- [21:49]
C
So all I do is they do with their package. They do get an album included in their package. It's through Miller's. I love Miller's. I've been using them forever. And I love their signature album. So they do get an album. Anything else outside of that, they actually can order right through. I use Pixie set. They can order right through Pixie set. They can order their prints all through me. So if they decide that they want to purchase additional things, they can do that. But yeah, it just. It starts at 1750, goes up to, like, upper. Like just under 3000, depending on what they want for packages.
- [22:33]
B
Do people typically order extra. Additional prints other than the album?
- [22:38]
C
They do, yes, but the album, usually that's the thing that they. They want the most. Right. So. And that's. That's the thing that. I mean, I always. I love albums. I don't know what it is about them that, like, gets me teary every time I get one, but. So that's why I wanted to include that in the package. But, yeah, it sort of depends.
- [22:59]
B
Yeah. Okay. Well, it's interesting because we, you know, we sell what we love.
- [23:04]
A
Hey, just a quick break to tell you that since you're here listening, you
- [23:07]
B
have access to a really great offer
- [23:09]
A
for our listeners only. We have a special promo code you can use to get 50% off the cost of membership. Just go to theportraitsystem.com or click the link in the description and use the promo code PODCAST50 to get 50% off of a membership. We rarely discount membership, so this is a big deal. As I hope you already know, the membership is how I and so many guests on this podcast reached our success. And it gives you access to countless amazing videos, an awesome community, and all the tools you need to build build a massively successful business. So use the code podcast50Now to join the community and to start building the business of your dreams.
- [23:47]
B
I'll see you there. Okay, so let's move on a little bit to the education piece. How do you begin or how did you begin to start that side of your business?
- [24:01]
C
So I originally, years ago, was taking classes through QLIK Community, still around, and a wonderful organization, really specifically targeted towards women. And an opportunity arose through them to start Teaching.
- [24:22]
B
Oh, okay.
- [24:23]
C
Yeah. And so I was teaching a long time through QLIK Community and just recently started launching my own educational platform classes and everything. I mainly focus on storytelling, so narrative driven portraiture. And with that said, it's also heavy on color and color theory and lighting. I can see that in the images. Yeah. And it's funny, I think that's where the advertising in me comes out. Like, because I've been working with color since my college days, the psychology of color as an advertising degree. And so I think that kind of comes out to play within my work.
- [25:10]
B
Can you kind of take us through what do you mean by color theory? Clearly there are themes of color in your images and I'm not. And they're not just like monochrome one tone images. Like, what does your brain go through when you're figuring out the colors of an image?
- [25:30]
C
Usually what happens is it starts with first of all an idea. Let's say I've got a concept, something that I saw one of my children do, for example, that was like, that would be a great idea for a portrait. Then from there it goes into. I usually have at least one prop or one item that I have to have in my shot. And so that item is the start of my color palette, typically, whether it's a dress, clothing item, or, I don't know, something within the kitchen. And so that's the start of the color palette. So I pick secondary and supporting colors that work well with that color, you know, and I'll repeat colors as well throughout my frame. So that's often how it starts. But I also look at the space that I'm shooting in, you know, the wall color. And my house and studio are really colorful. I'm looking at those colors. I do have lots of options to shoot in spaces that have different colored walls. And so I'm wanting, of course, a harmonious, cohesive color palette. But at the same time, there are portraits I have where psychology of color comes into play, where I was very intentional with like, maybe I'm wearing red. And that was a very intentional piece. Basically there was thought behind that and why I wanted to wear that color.
- [26:54]
B
How would people learn more about the color? I mean, is that that's something you teach through the color theory?
- [26:59]
C
Yeah, yeah, it's something I teach. I will say that I feel like as with anything, the more you practice with it, the better you become. I feel like I have gotten better over the years with color, like more complicated color palette. So, you know, I. When I would style my frame years ago, it'd be like, my brain could only, like, wrap up. I could only wrap my mind around, like, maybe a couple colors in my frame, maybe three. And now I have a lot more than that. And I think it's through practice and pushing myself.
- [27:35]
B
Color is so fascinating. Like, I'm redoing my website right now, and, Meg, I have gone through. I cannot tell you how many color palettes. Like, I just did a website for my mastermind, and I landed on, like, neon purple and turquoise, and I did my whole website. It doesn't match my brand whatsoever. And then, like, a week later, I came back to it, and I was like, no. Completely started over with a different color palette, a more muted tones. Like, color is so magical and frustrating because it's like, when you can be drawn to so many different colors, you, you know, like, different palettes. And, like, look at me now. I'm in, like, peach with, like, a floral background. Because that's what I felt like today, but tomorrow I might. Anyways, color is just so it can really, really make or break something. I feel like, yeah.
- [28:32]
C
And that's going back to client work. A lot of times when. When clients are hiring me, one of the reasons they're hiring me is because of my use of color. And so I work with them heavily on wardrobe. And I actually, in my welcome guide, I have, like, a bunch of examples with, like, you know, different family portraits and then color palettes next to those.
- [28:56]
B
Okay.
- [28:56]
C
And for me, it's very important of when I'm photographing a family to see them in multiple colors and even multiple patterns. That's. That's what I want to see. And that could be very, very hard for someone, especially if they're not artistic. Like, if they're not, what is it? Right brained is right. Is that right? Then they don't.
- [29:19]
B
No idea.
- [29:20]
C
There's, like, left brained is like the, you know, really good at math and all that. And then right brained is like, the creative side of your brain, I think.
- [29:28]
B
And I think that's right.
- [29:30]
C
Yeah.
- [29:31]
B
Yeah.
- [29:31]
C
And so it's hard, you know, I think, sometimes for people, especially when they're not artistic. So that's where I really like to have control is, especially with, like, client sessions, is like, let's get really quirky and creative and colorful, and I'm here to guide you and help you with that.
- [29:51]
B
Well, that was one of my questions is what if you walk into a client's home and you're just like, oh, boy, you know, like, oh, am I going to be able to create what I want to create.
- [30:03]
C
Yeah. You know, I think that's why it's so important for lots of communication beforehand, and especially if it's like, a place I haven't been to before, I try to see the space before I go there, if possible, you know, because, yeah, my ideal client is like. And I've had this type of client is. Is someone that has. And I know this is very niche, but has, like, a historical home that's really quirky and old and colorful, mismatched a little bit. You know, it has character. That's what I love to see.
- [30:42]
B
Right. Well. And you. You got to that point in your business where you were so slammed with clients that you could kind of pick and choose at that point. Right. Like, where if. If people are listening. Like, I know you can't always be choosy and always. You know, your ideal client isn't always going to be the people you're shooting, but sometimes you have to just do it anyway and go through it for the sake of paying your bills and continuing to practice and grow and build your portfolio and. But, man, it's kind of a great feeling when you can get to that point where you can kind of pick and choose who you're gonna work with. Yeah.
- [31:18]
C
Worked really hard to get to that point, for sure. I mean, it's. I don't ever want to say or sugarcoat it and say, like, oh, you know, it just happened, because it's not really how that works. But, yeah, I just. I love everything about color, and it's everywhere for me. Within my home, within my studio, within my personal work, and within my client work. And so that's the other part of it, too, is, you know, I'm putting out work that I love and that, you know, if a client does book me, that's what I want to do for them. I'm not putting out work that I necessarily, like, don't want. Right. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying?
- [31:54]
B
So you show what you want to shoot. I mean, that's.
- [31:56]
C
Yes.
- [31:57]
B
Yeah. Yeah. It's funny when I get someone who reaches out and, you know, because mostly I do high school seniors, but personal branding is, like, my jam. And I typically. But I typically do it in my studio. And sometimes people will say, like, oh, we want you to come to our office and this and that, and I'm like, you've seen my portfolio, right? Like, if you want. If you want the images that you see that are similar, you know, if that's the look, you're going for. I don't know if the office is the best. The best spot for that, you know, anyway, so.
- [32:26]
C
Right.
- [32:27]
B
Yeah.
- [32:28]
C
Yeah. Seniors are so much fun. I, you know, I remember, like, when I first launched my business and I was taking all the clients because I didn't know what I wanted to. I was doing wedding, and I was doing everything. Pose, newborn, all of this stuff.
- [32:42]
B
Right.
- [32:42]
C
I was really nervous about seniors because I was just like, I don't know, you know, they ended up being one of my favorite parts of my client business.
- [32:51]
B
I love it.
- [32:51]
C
Gosh.
- [32:52]
B
Yeah. Yeah. Seniors are so fun. I know you mentioned you have a meadow. I grow wildflowers on my property, so it's always really fun to photograph the girls and the wildflowers. I love it.
- [33:03]
C
Oh, yeah. That sounds amazing. I'm ready for that right now. Like, I would love to see grass
- [33:09]
B
maybe, but I know it's crazy. It's April and you're still covered in snow. Thankfully, we haven't had snow for a while. Brutal. Okay, so let's go back to the education piece. Like, you have a massive following on Instagram, like over 100,050 or something like that. How do you, like, how did you grow that? How do you get to the point where you have so much exposure for your education?
- [33:34]
C
Honestly, I feel like two big pieces to that. One piece is consistency. And I think that consistency looks different now than it did, I mean, years ago. Right. Because Instagram was constantly changing. Yeah. So, yeah, let's say you're doing two posts a week. Be consistent with that. Right. So keep. Keep making those posts twice a week, roughly around the same time, if you. If you can, because that's when people know to maybe expect something from you. I. I definitely don't think, especially nowadays, to be that you would want to post every day. I don't know. I feel like Instagram's changed now, you
- [34:18]
B
know, like, they don't want to see my face, you know, it's hard, though, because I.
- [34:22]
C
Then I hear on the flip side to still post every single day. You know, I just. It's like you get all this flood of information from different people, like saying, you should do this or you should do that. I know for me, like, it's. It's basically. I don't really post on the weekends. I'm off on the weekends, Monday through Friday. I basically try to post once a day, if possible, not always. And that's. I'm pretty consistent in that. And I share some stuff in my stories, but weekends, I'M off. And again, that's changed. Like, years ago, I would post like multiple times a day. What are you posting?
- [34:59]
B
Are you posting old work, new work? A combination of both. Are you posting videos of yourself? How do you, like, share with everybody about that?
- [35:09]
C
A combination of both. So I am. I share a lot of new work, actually. I do try to pick up my camera, do a new shoot, like two to three times a week at least.
- [35:20]
B
Wow.
- [35:21]
C
So I'm. Yeah, I'm sharing a lot of new content and I do record that content. So a lot of times I'll also share behind the scenes and reels. But this, all this content is going into my education too as well. So I'm sharing it on social media and I'm putting it in my workshops and all of that. I do a lot of self portraits, you know, living in a remote area and my kids are getting older, so I've really photographing them a lot less than I used to. Just the natural way of things. And so, yeah, I'm sharing a mix of different things between, you know, still images and reels.
- [35:59]
B
Okay. Are you using, like, hashtags or anything like that, or it's just all coming to you organically?
- [36:05]
C
So I don't know if hashtags work anymore.
- [36:07]
B
I have no idea.
- [36:08]
C
I don't know. So I stopped using them. I've looked into it a little bit and it just seems kind of like a mess, like it's not actually working. So what I do is when I'm posting, I don't do location tags either. But I do know some people that do it, and that works great. I would say, especially if you're really wanting to target clients, you want to be putting, like, location tags on your work. I do tag brands like crazy. I list gear and my captions at the very bottom. But I do like to have a clean caption. No hashtags at this point. One thing I do do, and I wanna mention this, is when I do post on social media, let's say I have like an image or reel, whatever I'm posting, I also post in stories at the very same time. That way I'm like hitting multiple places, so I'm letting people know, hey, I'm on. I just made a post.
- [37:03]
B
I do that too. I had no idea if I should. Every time I do that, I think, I wonder if I should wait and then share it to my story later. So then it hits the different people who are looking later or whatever. And I don't know, who knows?
- [37:15]
C
Yeah, I know I do that with reels. So my still images, I will get on stories and share it in stories. I often will share my image in stories, but then cover it up so people are required to go to my page and actually look at the image instead of just in stories.
- [37:37]
B
I like that sneaky technique.
- [37:39]
C
Yeah, Yeah. I think, you know, I also do heavily engage with people, so I have a community. I have a community that I've built over the years. And I've gotten to know a lot of these women. It's mainly women. And so I follow them, I engage with them in their work. I like to see what they're up to, what they're doing. I reply as much as I can. I shouldn't say as much as I can. I can always do more. But I do reply to a lot of comments on my posts as well.
- [38:08]
B
Yeah. All right.
- [38:10]
C
Yeah.
- [38:11]
B
That engagement, that connection, whether it's with clients for photoshoots or students or whatever, it is that making people feel, heard, seen, important, and do it genuinely, of course. But it's very, very important. Very important. And even keeping tabs on past clients to remind them I'm still here. You know, I, I do that. I follow a lot of my old clients and I comment on their stuff and that sort of thing. So next time they want to photo shoot, they know I'm still here.
- [38:42]
C
Right. Yeah, I, I, I do heavily focus on, on social media, too. I mean, specifically Instagram. With. When it comes to social media, I, I'm on Facebook. I'm not on TikTok. I got rid of that. But, you know, I will say I feel like I'm terrible at expanding outside of, like, Instagram. I feel like I could only devote so much time.
- [39:07]
B
I'm with you.
- [39:08]
C
But I do also occasionally like Threads as well, which is tied to Instagram, but Threads is like a whole different thing. I post on Threads, like once or twice a month, and I do no engagement. There's. So it is very, very minimal for me.
- [39:25]
B
I have a personal question about photographing your children. How do you bribe them?
- [39:35]
C
Yeah. So this, I love talking about this because I think it's a great topic to talk about. It's evolved over the years. So most of the time I like, there was like, recently I went a whole month without even photographing my daughter, which she tends to be my muse. Out of all my kids, like, I photograph her the most. So I'm really not photographing them as much as I used to. But one of the things that first and foremost I always do is try to center the portraits that I do do with them around play and things that they're interested in. So, like, I've got my oldest boy, he's a teen. If I do a birthday portrait, it's going to be about NASA, it's going to be about science, it's going to be about things that he really, really loves. I don't require them to look at the camera. I like, you know, I just have them, like, maybe play with something or do something and then photograph them doing that. And so there's like that art of play that's happening when I am photographing them.
- [40:34]
B
Are you bringing them into the studio or outside? Combination.
- [40:38]
C
Combination. One of the things also that I like to stress is that I have everything ready to go when I bring them into the shop. So I have already done a million test shots. I put myself into wherever they're going to be to make sure my lighting, my settings, everything is ready to go. Because I have, like, just a couple of minutes and then they're done. So there's that whole piece in regard to bribing. Yeah. Like, some of my, My younger ones, my little, little ones, my youngest is four for. It could be as simple as, like, you know, give them a little sweet treat or something along those lines. My older boys, like, sometimes they will actually help me, like maybe hold a light stand or whatever. And I. I pay them for that, so I love that. Yeah, I also pay them. I've had. Yes. I actually had my daughter model for a video I needed to do and I paid her for that as well, so. And she got a sweet treat too, But. But I, I do pay them, you know, if they're. Especially if they're helping. Like, it's like a little job. Right? So.
- [41:47]
B
Yeah, it is. Yeah. I mean, I was asking for a friend, clearly. No, no, my. Yeah, my boy. Even, like at Easter, I just. My family likes to take all my aunts and uncles, we like to take at least one group photo like once a. I mean, I'm literally putting my iPhone, like, it's like, it's a terrible photo. But anytime I'm like, okay, guys, like, photo. My kids are like, mom, like, they get so irritated with me anytime I want to take photos. And I'm like, whatever. I need to get. I need to get better at the. Like you said, doing it during play and that sort of thing.
- [42:24]
C
And I don't want to say that I don't have that happen because, like, in full transparency, it happens. I feel like that's a very normal thing. And I Have, like, a few shots every year that I try to get all my kids in, you know, like, that's standard, right? During Christmas and all of that. And I get grumbles. And I'm like, you guys, it's just like this one, like, we have a few times a year. I just want this one. Like, please, like, the quicker we, you know, you guys get together and all that, like, the faster this will be, like, done, you know? So it does happen. I. You know, I have sometimes grumbles and all of that.
- [43:01]
B
Yeah. And I don't. Meg. I don't even take that many photos of them, I swear, because they just get irritated with me.
- [43:08]
C
Yeah, it's. It's. It can be hard, but I. I
- [43:11]
B
do feel like my older. He's nine. He will be very. He's gonna be very bougie, I think, when he's older. So I think he will. He will like that idea.
- [43:22]
C
They get more expensive as they get older, too, so, you know, they, like, demand more money. But it's. Yes, Starlo, It's a good idea.
- [43:33]
B
Well, this is all very interesting. And tell people just a little bit about the type of workshops you offer.
- [43:42]
C
So I just actually launched a color workshop, and it's all about color. But we deep dive into not just, like, the fundamentals and the technical part of color and color theory and color palettes and stuff, but I also dive into the creative side of it, like, the psychology and the meanings behind color and how it can be used to strengthen the narrative within your frame. And I also do a lot of, like, editing within that workshop as well, kind of showing how I enhance color and tweak color. Because I do get the question sometimes, like, is everything that you like, if you're styling a frame, is that all cohesive to start right off the bat, like, right from the beginning? And I'm like, no, it's not. You know, sometimes things don't perfectly match or work well, and I just know that I have to tweak that in post. So I cover all that kind of stuff. I just launched that. That workshop, like, a month ago. A month and a half ago. Exciting. Yeah. So. And then I have another one coming out this summer, and it's actually. My old workshop was called the Artist's Eye, and it's all encompassing. So talk about, like, inspiration and storytelling. So where do we find inspiration? That's, like, the first chapter part of it. And then we go into lighting, and we go into color, and we go into all the things. It's all encompassing and I'm relaunching that again this summer and it's going to get revamped. So basically kind of, you know, updating a bunch of material in that.
- [45:20]
B
That sounds interesting. Very cool.
- [45:22]
C
Yeah. And then I have more stuff on my website, some that strictly just targets editing, all of that. All right, very cool.
- [45:31]
B
Awesome. Well, thank you. Thank you for giving us a little peek into your world. I'm glad we had you on. Yeah.
- [45:39]
C
Thank you. It was honestly just an honor to be here. I had a lot of fun and, yeah, I always enjoyed talking about my process and hearing about other, you know, other photographers processes as well. So.
- [45:52]
B
Yeah, you're not off the hook, though. I just remembered I still have to ask you. I have four questions that I always ask at the end of each episode, and the first one is, what is something you can't live without when you're doing a photo shoot?
- [46:06]
C
Something that I can't live without, probably my Sigma Art 50 millimeter 1.2 lens. I have that on my camera. It's such a good camera. Or such a good lens. I have that on my camera probably 90 to 95% of the time. So I have that 50, which is wild to me because there was at one point in my career that I didn't have a 50. The nifty 50. Like, I went years without it and I'm like, how did I do that?
- [46:37]
B
That's funny. I know. I use my 50 most of the time, too. I do love my 85 when I'm outdoors.
- [46:43]
C
Yeah. I go for the longer lenses outside as well. So the 85 and then Sigma just came out with the 135.1.4.
- [46:53]
B
Ooh. Yeah. That would be good for my son's hockey. Hockey shots. Getting the. Oh, yeah. Although it might be heavy. Well, you know, when I was looking between Sigma and canon for my 70 to 200, the Sigma was so much lighter that I. It doesn't break my back like the Canon, so I specifically got it because it was lighter. But I love that lens.
- [47:22]
C
Yeah. I feel like the 135 is similar to, like the 85 in weight, in size, a little bit bigger.
- [47:29]
B
Oh, well, that's good to know because in my head, it's gonna be massive. All right, cool.
- [47:33]
C
Yeah, it's not too bad.
- [47:36]
B
All right, number two is how do you spend your time when you're not working?
- [47:40]
C
Oh, okay. I love to be outside, so I do spend quite a bit of time outside. Even in the winter, like, we'll snowshoe quite a bit, but I Love to garden, I love to hike. We love to vacation to like national parks and stuff. That's our type of, our kind of vacation, family vacation. So I do that a lot. And then we also live right near Lake Superior, so we go to the beach a lot too. And I like to antique and my husband and I like, that's what we did a lot when we were dating. He likes to antique too, so. And I really like to find like weird things. Like I'm one of the. I told my husband the other day, I was like, I really aspire, like when I retire to be one of those like crazy old ladies with like a bunch of really weird things from antique shops. They're like random, like trying to find the weirdest thing.
- [48:30]
B
Yeah, that sounds so fun. All right, number three is. I know you said your lens, but is there another photography specific product that you would recommend for photographers to have in their kit?
- [48:43]
C
I like, cannot do without my Profoto A2s. So I know that not everybody shoots with created light, but if you're going to get into created light, that is my go to light. It's super small and portable. It's a hundred watt, so it's not like crazy powerful. But it has definitely enough power for what I need especially like within the home and studio. It is off camera.
- [49:10]
B
I'm looking up now.
- [49:12]
C
Yeah. It's so small and so tiny that like I can easily like, I bring it to clients houses with me. Like I can pack like four of those in my camera bag with all my other gear.
- [49:23]
B
Do you put a diffuser on it?
- [49:25]
C
Yeah. So I typically like to have my profoto a 2 with like 1 of the clic softboxes. So they have several Clic softboxes that are different sizes and they're small as well and they collapse down. They're all one piece. So again, everything super portable. Like when I traveled, I had a client session last year in LA. I went and I think I bought like three or four Profoto A2s and I brought all my clic softboxes. I just threw them in my luggage, my checked luggage. Nice. And it was great.
- [49:57]
B
Yeah, yeah. The size. I'm sorry, the size matters in this situation. Like, it needs to be. I don't want to lug around a ton of stuff. I don't want to have to have a cart in order to set up a shoe.
- [50:12]
C
Yeah, Modifiers really do matter. They make a huge difference. Right. And so I do love those clic softboxes. I will say this though, sometimes I just take that light, and I just bounce it off of, like, a wall or ceiling or whatever. Especially if it's, like, light. That works great, too. But modifier is, like. It's such a good thing to invest in, even if you just have one light. Like, getting some sort of modifier is going to be huge.
- [50:35]
B
Definitely. All right, number four is, what would you tell people who are just starting out?
- [50:40]
C
Oh, okay. So it's. That's changed for me over the years. You know, it's funny, I. I used to say to have tunnel vision, and I think part of that is true in regard to. I think being a photographer. It's so saturated, especially when you go on Instagram and you see all these posts from other photographers. So part of me always says, really try to have tunnel vision. Focus on what you're doing, what you're creating, and not to follow trends. But then there's another part of me that really finds value in following all sorts of different photographers. So I pull inspiration from, like, I follow photographers that shoot all in black and white. So the complete opposite of me. I follow documentary photographers, I follow street photographers, I follow landscape photographers. Like, people who are just shooting way different than me. But I learned something from all of them. So I feel like, for me, it's more of, like, a mental state. So if I'm not in a great mental state, then I often try to have more tunnel vision and kind of, like, try to get away from the noise. Right. But then when I'm feeling like the creative juices flow a little bit more and I'm in, like, a better mental state, then I try to, like, open up myself to receiving, like, different kinds of art from different photographers and all of that. So it's a combination of both.
- [52:04]
B
Yeah, I really like that because you're right. There are different. I have different mental days when I don't want to be creative, and then I have days where I really do. So it's, like, compartmentalizing that. And that's really smart. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Will you tell people your website and your Instagram?
- [52:21]
C
Yes. So my website is just my name. It's meglukes.com and my Instagram handle is Meganlo.
- [52:34]
B
All right, well, thank you again, Meg. This was awesome.
- [52:37]
C
Thank you. Thank you. It was nice to be here. If you ever come down to state,
- [52:40]
B
want to hang out, let me know.
- [52:42]
C
Yeah.
- [52:42]
B
Yeah.
- [52:43]
C
I'm honestly debating it right now because I'm sure it's probably a little bit nicer down there than it is up here.
- [52:49]
B
Yeah. All right. Well, I hope you thaw soon out there. And thank you. Thank you again. Thank you.
- [52:55]
A
Nikki, thank you so much for listening to the Portrait System podcast. Your 5 star reviews really help us to continue what we do. So if you like listening, would you mind giving us a review wherever you listen? I also encourage you to head over to soubreiseducation.com where you can find all of the education you need to be a successful photographer. There are over 1000 on demand educational videos on things like posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business and self value. There's also the 90 day startup challenge plus so many downloads showing hundreds of different poses. We have to do checklists for your business, lighting, pdfs, I mean truly everything to help make you a better photographer and to make you more money. Once again, that's suebriceducation. Com.