264: Allison Redmon – How to use photography classes to book portrait clients

264: Allison Redmon – How to use photography classes to book portrait clients

 

Andrew Hellmich: Today's guest is Allison Redmon, American expat documentary Day in the Life film and still photographer based in Saudi Arabia. Alison and I started chatting via email, and in one of those messages, she said something that had me requesting this interview immediately afterwards. She wrote, "Andrew, wanted to tell you about something that I'm doing now that would apply to literally any type of photographer out there. I'm running a beginning photography workshop for mums and dads here in Saudi Arabia." I put word out to see if there would be any interest, and got a huge amount of positive response. So at the end of the month, I'm running three workshops with 10 people in each at $100 a head. So amazing, especially this time of year in Saudi where it's too humid to do any type of outdoor session. Anyway, just thought this tip might be good for other photographers like me, who have dead months throughout the year. Now, since that email, Allison has joined Courtney Holmes, who she says "Literally changed her photography business", and she went on to say that "I was making films before, but after taking her in-person workshop, my business has changed entirely, as her approach is just so much more artistic, and my client base love these films." I'm now fully booked for family films through August 2018. Crazy. And in other good news, I'm now partnering with Courtney and teaching a course for her on choosing music for family films in her online school. It was your interview that really got me into falling in love with Courtney's approach, and now she's hiring me. I'm literally speechless. I can't wait to get into this. Allison, I'm stoked to have you here. Welcome.

Allison Redmon: Thank you so much. Oh, my goodness, that intro was incredible. Wow.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, it sounds like things are going great guns for you in a country that I know so little about. Is it different working in Saudi to being based in America?

Allison Redmon: It's an insane place to live. Oh, yeah, you know, it's a very closed-off country, and so there's lots of rules and restrictions living here, but there's such a huge international base of people here from all over the world, and that's what makes it interesting to live here. You're just around so many incredible different cultures. And I didn't have a photography business in the United States, and so this has been a new thing for me since moving to Saudi. So, yeah, I don't know if I can compare the two, but yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, okay, then first of all, why start a photography business in Saudi if you didn't have one in the States? What got you going?

Allison Redmon: Yeah, in the US, I was a high school band director, actually. Yeah, I did that for many years, and I loved it. And then one day, my husband and I decided we wanted to move overseas and teach, and he is also a band director. And so they only had one job, and he got the job. And so I found myself without work. And photography had always been a hobby for me, but just with my previous job in the US, I just didn't have time for it. And so coming here to Saudi I found myself with a lot of free time on my hands, and I had a lot of really nice friends that allowed me to practice on them, and it just kind of exploded from there. And it's been amazing.

Andrew Hellmich: So are your clients in Saudi Arabia, are they expats? All expats? Are you actually photographing local women and families as well?

Allison Redmon: Yeah, that's a good question. It's all expats as of right now, because where we live, it's kind of like a small town. We call it a compound, but it's kind of like a small town, but everything we need is kind of based on the small town. We live right on the ocean, gorgeous, but, yeah, we live in a, you know, an area with just every culture you can think of. We all live next to each other, and, you know, my daughter's school, I think there's like, probably 12 different nationalities in her class of 12. It's just so diverse. So, yeah, most of my clients are expats. The one exception is, I'm working on a brand film for a local Saudi company in the fall, but that would be the only situation where I'm doing work for Saudis.

Andrew Hellmich: Right, okay. So if you look out or walk out your front door, is there houses? Are there people walking around the streets? Or is it way too hot to even walk outside? Like, what is it like?

Allison Redmon: Not a good question. This time of year, it's amazing. You walk out, it's 60-70, degrees Fahrenheit. I would say it looks like a little southern California Adobe style house town. But then picture like, I can see the beach from my window in my office right now. So it's like, you know, it's a beautiful little beach kind of community, and there's like, grocery stores and, you know, little restaurants and you know, soccer fields and schools, but it's small. I would say there's maybe 4,000 people living here in this little town. But then, you know, about an hour away, there's another oil company town, the company we work for, houses you in these towns. And so the other town is 12,000 people. So it's just depends where you're placed, but where we live is pretty small. There's about 4,000 people. But it's beautiful. Now, this time of year is really nice. From about May till October, it's about 115 degrees with 100% humidity, which is what like 46 Celsius. Awful. It's absolutely awful. Like my camera, I cannot take my camera outside literally between June and August. I can't even take it outside the house, because the condensation, like it looks like I've sprayed water on it. You can't get rid of it. So humid.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow.

Allison Redmon: So, yeah, it's not enjoyable.

Andrew Hellmich: And this beach that you can see from home, like, is this a beach that everyone goes swimming in?

Allison Redmon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, I mean, yeah, I'm not really an ocean swimmer, but my husband likes to do that, and we take the kids down there. And I have a lot of my clients like to finish their films at the beach, because our kids play there every night. Yeah, it's just open to swimming.

Andrew Hellmich: Great.

Allison Redmon: Beautiful.

Andrew Hellmich: And then if you are going for a walk with your husband, or, you know, with the kids in the afternoon, you know is that when you will see and run into people of all different nationalities, and will you see Saudi locals as well? Or, is it only expats?

Allison Redmon: Yes, yeah. So the town that we live in is a mixed Saudis and expatriates. So I see a lot of my clients. I see a lot of potential clients, because it's so small. I mean, it does make it a lot easier for me, networking wise. I think a lot of people here are on Facebook and so, you know, they see each other's things that they post. But yeah, everybody kind of, not everybody knows each other, but you definitely can't hide around here, because it is on the smaller side. I would say it's similar to being in a small town in any country in the world. You know, everybody kind of knows your business.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure. Are there any other photographers in your little community?

Allison Redmon: Mine, no. But in the big one that I mentioned that has about 12 to 13,000 people in there. There are a couple of photographers there.

Andrew Hellmich: I guess you have got some competition.

Allison Redmon: Yeah, they do very different styles. For me, though they're very good photographers, but they do more lifestyle portraiture, and I'm more documentary lifestyle based. So it's a different animal.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure.

Allison Redmon: In that regard.

Andrew Hellmich: And last thing, just about Saudi, and I'm sure other things will come up. Like my understanding is, I think there's a big change coming where you can start to drive, because women haven't been able to drive. Is that right?

Allison Redmon: It's insane, yeah. So we've lived here for six years, and we have seen so many incredible social changes here. The new king or the new prince, is amazing. He's bringing on just all these different initiatives. And so women are going to be able to drive in June, which is nuts. Like for me to go to town, like to a local store to pick up something, I have to hire a driver, or after work, when my husband is off of work, he has to drive me. And that is mind numbingly infuriating, like I can't get anything done. And so, yeah, to be able to drive is just, I mean, not just for expats, for those Saudi women, it's such an incredible thing. Socially, they're going to be able to get to jobs that they're now allowed to, you know, work. And they're opening movie theaters in the country, which is crazy. Right now, everybody leaves to go see movies. You can't or you download them illegally I guess. You can't watch movies here right now. What else? There's they're going to be offering tourist visas here in the near future, which is unbelievable. Right now, my parents are allowed to come, but that's about it. Like I can't just have a friend come and visit me. It's not allowed.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow.

Allison Redmon: Yeah, so it's just an incredible time to be living here socially, to see the progress that's being made.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, it's so different to what me and I'm sure the listener experiences in their life. It's just incredible. And I mean..

Allison Redmon: So well.

Andrew Hellmich: I think when we were chatting about doing this interview, I think, I mean, you said there's some things you can't ask me about in relation to your husband's work, which is totally fine. And you said..

Allison Redmon: Right.

Andrew Hellmich: That there's a chance that even our call could be monitored.

Allison Redmon: Yes, that's right, yeah. And you know, this whole country is based in oil, petrochemicals and oil, and they take that seriously.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah.

Allison Redmon: So we just have to be careful, you know. And there's other rules about living here too. There's no alcohol, there's no pork, and so we have to be careful about respecting the rules, but also, when we're referring to those things. Just being careful, because you never know if it's being monitored.

Andrew Hellmich: For sure, for sure. So you get this idea, or you start shooting, and you're practicing on your friends, and you get this idea to run a photography class. Is that something you can freely advertise as a woman? Or is this like on the hush hush?

Allison Redmon: No, it's okay, because Saudi, the country, is not as worried about that, because it's essentially just like advertising in any town or city that you're living in. So yeah, I did it because it was a good thing for my business. I mean, advertising it, was, for the most part, simple on my part, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: How did you advertise it? How did you get this great response?

Allison Redmon: So the first thing I did was I knew I didn't want to write the workshop from scratch to begin with, and so I looked around and I saw if there was anything out there. I know how hard it is to write curriculum, because I was a teacher my previous life, and I knew I wanted to get some start with a good, you know, groundwork. And so, you know, my style is documentary. And so I wanted to approach teaching how to take photos, maybe not necessarily from as much of a post. I wanted to teach more candid, how to help parents take more candid pictures of their kids and real pictures of their kids in their lives. And so I found I'm already a part of a group called Fearless and Framed online, and it's run by a lady named Marie Moss, and she provides a template for a beginning photography workshop. So I purchased that from her. So once I had that purchased, then I started advertising like you were asking.

Andrew Hellmich: So with Marie's course, is the idea of that, because that's written for photographers to teach potential clients photography with the aim to converting them to your clients. Is that the way it works, or it's meant to work?

Allison Redmon: She envisions it, and I've tweaked it. The way she envisioned it, is a beginning photography workshop for moms who want to take better pictures. Because when I purchased the curriculum, I had to take all the mom word out, because I knew that moms and dads, because I know my client base. I figured moms and dads would be interested here, because it's just the way the market is here. And so mine, I geared it towards moms and dads in the community. It's not a mom focused workshop, but I think a lot of people who buy that workshop do sell it to moms. Because, you know, predominantly moms are the picture takers these days in families. And so that totally makes sense. But my particular workshop, I just tweaked it a bit for moms and dads. And so you can do that. I purchased the template from her, and then I tweaked it, I put my own photos in. I changed it just a little bit to fit, you know, my approach. And then that was ready to go. And then, then, from that point on, I started talking about it with my friend group. I knew it'd be hard to just cold sell it, you know, online, email, whatever, because people here know that I obviously take pictures. They know that I'm a photographer. So I figured if I started with my friend base first, which is probably a cheating way to do it. But I started with my friend base, and then I figured after that it would grow into non-friends, taking it based on word of mouth from the initial group that I taught. So that first workshop that I taught was it back in October of 2017. I wanted 10 spots, because that's how many I can fit around my dining room table. And yeah, so then I just started talking it. You know, at the school drop offs, I would talk about it, and I would talk about it with, you know, people who have done films with. Because they know, you know, a lot of people have that big DSLR camera that they got at Christmas from their husband or whatever, and they don't know how to use it. And they, you know, they keep it on auto mode, and they just want to take better pictures of it. But a lot of times they find that their iPhone does a better picture. So I wanted to help them cross make that change and take a better picture with their camera. So, yes, there is a selling point at the end of the workshop that Marie shows you how to do very gently, and then that can build these people in your workshop to be potential clients. And that is absolutely has been the case for me. I've booked a film, sometimes more than two films from every single workshop that I've run. So that is absolutely the case, but that is not the focus of the workshop for me. I would say 90% of the workshop is actually three hour workshop, and it's teaching, teaching, teaching how to use that camera, how to use it in manual mode. Have a practice portion, a Q and A portion, a watch me shoot portion, and then at the very end, I do gear it towards, you know, you need to be in your own pictures as a mom or as a dad, and sometimes the only way to do that is to hire a professional, and I throw that part in.

Andrew Hellmich: Nice, nice.

Allison Redmon: But it's really subtle, because I'm not fielding, you know, it's just not my thing. And I really believe in the relationship before the sales pitch. And so I think, you know, I think that's important. I don't want to be that person.

Andrew Hellmich: For sure. So a couple of things you told me that you straight away went out and targeted moms and dads. How did you know your market, like you said it so confidently, "I know my market was going to include dads as well." How did you know that?

Allison Redmon: Well, that might be something a little bit more unique to me, but everybody that lives here is married. There are no divorced families here, which sounds absolutely bizarre, but it's one of the rules for living here. You can either be single or married, if that makes sense. So you can't be like your wife lives somewhere else, like everybody lives here as a joint family. And so the way that the life is here, the culture is here is that dads are home a lot more than they would be typically, you know, in the US. My husband comes home for lunch every day at lunchtime, and he's home by like, 4:30 every day.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow.

Allison Redmon: So it's a little bit of a difference.

Andrew Hellmich: Great.

Allison Redmon: I know it's just one of these weird things with the company. And so I figured there would be dads that would be interested as well as moms, just because we have a lot more joint parenting units here than we than I think a lot of places do. And I wouldn't say that, I would say of a workshop of 10, there's usually three guys in the workshop. So, yeah, it's definitely female based. But I'm not just saying moms in the workshop. I know that there will be some men in it as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure. I mean, if there's 30% men, that's still definitely worth targeting men in your advertising.

Allison Redmon: Exactly.

Andrew Hellmich: For sure.

Allison Redmon: Yeah, exactly. And, you know, yeah, I like having the dads there because, you know, sometimes they're a lot more technically interested than the moms are. So you can get into, you know, when you get into the manual mode stuff, they ask some interesting questions, I've noticed, which is kind of fun.
Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, yeah. And did you say the course is only 3 hours?

Allison Redmon: Yeah. I'm sure you could do it longer or shorter or whatever, but I found that's the sweet spot is three hours. I don't want to extend it over a couple weeks. People are busy everywhere. I just kept it at three hours. And I've done it two ways. I've done them from like 9 to 12 in the morning, or I've done it from like 7 to 10pm just depends on the time of the year whenever I do it. But yeah, both have worked really well. I've sold out both.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow, this is so good. So you have this three-hour course, I mean, I'm imagining that's just not enough time. And I've taught photography at TAFE and Community College, and usually, you know, the introduction to photography, or foundation photography that I taught went over weeks and weeks.

Allison Redmon: Yeah. This is a tester. This is just a little sampling. But I mean, we're covering the important things. We're covering light composition, moment that's big with documentary, how to grab that moment and wait for that moment. But I'm also being very simple about my approach. When I say I teach the manual mode, it's the very basics. And I also go back to, if this is too confusing, set it to aperture priority, and call it a day. You know, and we get about 20 minutes in the workshop for practicing manual mode. I give them a Starbucks mug, and like I have the Starbucks mugs that have all the little country names on them, and I give each person one of those, and they practice taking pictures of the mug. And then, if we have time, they practice taking a picture of each other. But we're it's very basic, you know, I'm just covering light, I'm covering composition, and I'm covering moment, and then the technique behind shooting in manual mode, and that's it. And, you know, it fills that three hours. It goes by really quickly. But again, I didn't have to write it to begin with. So it's not as intimidating as it sounds, because I purchased into the curriculum initially.

Andrew Hellmich: What did the curriculum cost?

Allison Redmon: I believe it was, "Oh gosh. It's probably changed now, but I want to say it was around 450 US dollars."

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so you get your money back after a couple of classes.

Allison Redmon: Yes. So if you can fill one class of 10 people, those first five seats have paid for it, so, or at least at 100 bucks ahead, which is what I'm charging you to charge about. You can charge whatever you want. That seems to be a happy medium for me.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so it sounds to me like, if this is a three-hour course, and you're filling it pretty easily that there must be room to, you know, do an advanced course, or go out and shoot or do one on one mentoring. Like, have you looked at those avenues or not really?

Allison Redmon: Yes, yeah, I've had my first mentor student from the workshop about a month ago, which was, I really enjoyed that. I hadn't thought that that would ever come of that, but she was, you know, on the more advanced side. And so she came in from the local town nearby, and spent about two hours with her, which was really fun. But based on that, actually hanging out with her, we did a photo walk, just her and me, and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this would be such an easy thing to tack onto the workshop. And I'm going to do a photo walk, either in April or May." I haven't decided yet. And so the students, the alumni, if you want to call them that, from the workshop, then we'll sign up for the photo walk, and we'll go around the community, to the beach, whatever. I'll be there, and it'll probably be a smaller group, because I think that's going to be a little harder to manage if you had 10 people, maybe like eight or seven people, and we'll go on a walk, and we'll take pictures, and I'll be there taking it with them in person. So it's just a great way to practice manual mode settings. I want to do that. I have not scheduled that yet. What I have done, though, is post workshop, I tell the workshop people I'm going to be at our Starbucks, because we have a little Starbucks nearby. I'll be at a Starbucks for, you know, from four to 5pm or five to 6pm on this day. It's about a week after the workshop. You have any questions, you're stuck, come, I'm sitting there drinking coffee, we can chat. And I've done that, and it's been really successful, too. And I'm not charging for that, which might sound crazy, but I just feel like it's building a rapport with these people, and that's a good thing. Because I like coffee, so I'm just going to sit there and have a coffee, and it's not a big deal for me to spend an hour doing that. But it's investing into the potential clients that I have potentially made from the workshop. But then they come to Starbucks, they have a coffee, they ask questions that their husband isn't able to answer at home about the camera, and they leave feeling good. I leave feeling good, and I think it helps me in the long term with them potentially being a client as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Absolutely. I love that. I mean, I think you're establishing this trust and they get to know and like you. I mean, they're sharing a coffee. You're not charging them for every second that they spend with you.

Allison Redmon: Exactly.

Andrew Hellmich: I mean..

Allison Redmon: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Who else are they going to call if they ever want a photography session with a family?

Allison Redmon: Right. Right, right. Yeah, it's investing forward, I think, is the way it is. And it's fun for me, you know, it's fun to just, I get so busy with this filming thing, and so it's just nice to do something different, you know?

Andrew Hellmich: Ah.. so I understand that in the beginning, you know, you talk to the moms and you talk to the dads, and sort of got word out through friends. How do you advertise these courses now?

Allison Redmon: Yeah, so that's a good question. At first, it was easy because it was a friend base. So I've been building my email list, of course. And so now what I do is I essentially set the dates for the workshop first. So this last one, I think it was in February. I set that date, you know, back in December, and then I work backwards from setting the date. And so with my email list, I set the date, and then I have a series of emails that follow up, leading into that workshop when it opens for the seats to be sold. And then, in addition to the email newsletter, I use Facebook. And I know that's tricky for some people these days, but I seem to have some success with it. So I don't not sure if that's helpful to anybody, but what I do is I use my personal Facebook page and my regular business page. On my personal page, I make it super subtle. I'm like, "Hey, thinking about offering a photography workshop in February, is anybody interested?" You know, just real, like, nothing salesy or pushy, just, "I'm thinking about it. If you're interested, just let me know." And sometimes people comment, or people comment, or sometimes they private message me and I collect an email from that. Literally, like, I'm like "Hey, what's your email? Can I have it?" And then that I know it's there are much more advanced ways to do it, but when it's only 10 seats you have to fill, because, you know, I'm the small house, that's what I go with. But then on my business Facebook page, I usually do an actual official post. And if it doesn't get as much interaction, I have no problem boosting it, and I target the community, and then that "I'm in here," and as well as that community that's nearby that I told you about. And I target them through boosting. And from there, I've got their emails collected, and then it's just a matter of sending out the information as to when the seats will be open to be purchased. The third thing I do is, again, I use Facebook, but we have these community groups, so our little town has a group, a Facebook group page, and it's okay on there to put an ad for something. And I do, but what I make sure I do, and I think this is really important, I don't just say, "Hey, I'm having a beginning photography workshop. You should come learn how to use DSLR." I don't do that. I take a picture that I've taken in this town specifically. So it's very recognizable that this is the horse farm right down the street where all the horses are housed. Or this is the beach, and it's my kid playing on the beach, or this is a boardwalk beach path thing, and this is something happening on that beach path, very recognizable place, and it's a good photo. And I put that photo up, and I create the ad or the text on Canva, then I put that on the Facebook community group. And so people, not only you know, it's like, "Oh, that's a cool photo of the horse farm. I like your photo. " And, "Oh, look, you're doing a photography workshop as well." So they recognize it, but then they're also, you know, drawn in by the photo.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. I love it. Okay, so the post that you put on your personal profile, that's a very soft, "Hey, I'm thinking about doing a course." There's no links or anything in that one that relies on your friends who are people to comment or pm you.

Allison Redmon: Yes, it's just super subtle, because I don't want to be also that person who's like, trying to sell essential oils on my Facebook page. Super annoying.. you know, but I know. But the other thing is, like, with my film clients, like, I am friends, and I don't know if you're supposed to do this or not, but I do. I am friends with the husband and wives of every single film client that I've done, and I become friends with them on Facebook before we have our film together. That's really important for me, because I need to be able to tag them when the film comes out, or tag them when their photo session comes out. And so having that friend base online means that I have a lot of former clients that I'm friends with on Facebook. We're not necessarily friend friends in real life, but we're friends on Facebook. So they're seeing that when I'm putting that subtle thing on Facebook, they're seeing, "Oh, she's running a photography workshop." And, you know, it tends to work.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, I can see that for sure. I mean, those people that have booked you for a film or a photo session, I mean, they know you're the photographer and now you're running a photography. I think it all works together, doesn't it? You're being more recognizable as the professional photographer for that family or in that area.

Allison Redmon: Exactly. Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So, so when you run an ad, an actual ad on your business page, do you then have a link for them to sign up? Like, what are you doing to get their email addresses? Take them from Facebook to your email?

Allison Redmon: Right. So it's taking them to a landing page on my website, and then it's collected there. Actually, it's taking them to a landing page on my website where they can immediately sign up. So the one that's run through my business page is actually, I usually do it right when sign-ups are happening or not. Sign-ups you can purchase into the workshop. So it leads them right to the landing page. They purchase it. They've got their seat. They're done. And I run that, I want to say about two weeks before the workshop happens.

Andrew Hellmich: Is that the same time that you would run the ad in your community group?

Allison Redmon: Yes, yeah, they time about perfectly. I can run the community group a little. I feel like, I don't know if it's this way in Australia or the US, but people are very last minute about their lives around it's just very beach community around here, you know. So with the community group, you know, it's like this, with a lot of Facebook groups, you can put something up three days before the workshop, and that's fine. If you put it up three weeks before it, people are gonna forget about it and not do it because they've still got time for it. So with the community group, I tend to be just a couple days before the workshop. This last one I had in February, I actually had somebody sign up for the workshop, literally like the night before. So much so that I didn't even see the email, and they show up and I'm. Like, "Oh, I don't have a seat for you." Like, I didn't even see the email from Squarespace saying that they had signed up because I just hadn't checked my email between 10pm and 7am. Yeah, so it's people are very last minute around here. So with the community groups I do it very much closer to when the workshops gonna happen.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay, so now I'm curious, because it sounds like all the emails that are coming in are only through registrations for the course. Are you collecting emails from people that just might be interested, or may be interested in doing the next one because they can't make this one?

Allison Redmon: Hmm. Yes, that, yeah. So let's see, back in October, when I initially put out an ad and I put out just that soft sell, I collected a bunch of emails. I think that first time, I had maybe 40 people give me their emails, which to me doesn't sound like a lot, but that's 40 people potentially interested. They might not be able to make a workshop date that I have, but then I have their email for future workshop dates, and so then they go on my email list for workshops. And actually they go on my entire email list too, but based on that 40 I was able to say so in the fall, I think I could probably offer three workshops and fill at least three of these. Probably that's a guess, but if there's 40 people signing up, I can probably get about 30 of them at some point into a class. And then in the spring, I know people are busier. I know how culture is around here, with kids and sports and all that. So I've only run one workshop in the spring, but the spring is also my busy time of year here. You know, it's nice and cool here right now, so I don't need the income right now. So for me, running it in October, November is when I need to run it, because that's my dead time of year. But that wasn't your question. Your question was about the emails. And so, yeah, I was able to base how many workshops I had based on the emails that I initially collected.

Andrew Hellmich: Can people come into your email list without signing up to join the course, they're just interested?

Allison Redmon: Yes, yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so how do they do that?

Allison Redmon: Through my website. That's how they do that.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so you're not sending, you're not creating ads on Facebook, or inside this group, you know, six or 12 months out, saying that there's something coming up in the future, get on my list here.

Allison Redmon: Not yet. I probably should do that.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. That's okay. I was just curious if that's something that you're doing and you know, talking or staying with the emails. And you mentioned Squarespace, are you using something like MailChimp to handle all these emails?

Allison Redmon: I am, yeah, yeah. I know I should probably be using ConvertKit, but I am not.

Andrew Hellmich: No, no, no, just fine.

Allison Redmon: Yeah, MailChimp is working for me right now, so that's what I'm going with.

 
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Andrew Hellmich: So when after a session, let's take you back to when you first started shooting these films, even for money. When you walked away from a session, what were you most worried about, as far as capturing. I'm thinking, are you think in your head, I haven't got enough video. I've missed some moments. I didn't shoot enough still, I'm worried how I'm going to edit this. Like, what was going through your head when you started?

Allison Redmon: Gosh, all of that probably. It really depends on the family, because every family is different. Some families just have the little kid, cute baby factor, and that makes it a lot easier, and so you're.. But some families move quickly, and they do a lot, and that's very hard. So it depends on the family, is the first part of the answer. The second part is definitely me based. I think initially, I took too many pictures and not enough video. Nowadays, it's the opposite, I take a lot more video, I take a lot less pictures. But I'm also better nowadays at waiting for the moment and knowing how to capture the moment better and knowing what story I want to tell when I'm in that family. And I like this last session, I left the film that just came out for me recently. It was a great film session. There was a big hammock scene and a kite scene, and it was really fun. But I left thinking, I didn't get enough of when we went to the beach, and then I realized I didn't have enough video, and the kids went running, and I wasn't able to run fast enough to capture them. So you just don't know what's in them like sessions. And so I do worry like, "Oh gosh, I'm not going to have enough footage of what's going on." But that comes with I think that just comes with experience. To be honest, I think the way you edit it later can help. So if you look at that particular film, I don't have a lot from the beach session, but the clips that I do have show connection, which is what's important, and they show what's important to that family at the beach. And so I think it was done well in that aspect, but it's hard. It takes practice. And what I love about the filming thing, and the way that Courtney teaches it, because I learned from her, is she teaches it from a storytelling approach. So it's not just snippets of what's happening on family's day. It's finding the story and what's important to that family in each scene, and then editing in a way that tells that story in a really cohesive, beautiful way. And that's what she teaches. And so that's what I use in my, and the way I make films.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. Okay, I'm gonna add links to, I think, Courtney's program you can find at filminglifeacademy.com. And I'll add links that in the show notes, and also to the interview that I did with Courtney, which I think was 211. And when you started shooting these films, you said that you learned this storytelling technique from Courtney, and you know, you don't just shoot snippets, but you are looking for the story within the scene. How do you know what that story is, unless you've done a pre consultation? How do you know what's important to that family at the beach, you know, or in the hammock? Or do you just sense that and shoot what you want?

Allison Redmon: So ahead of the film session, I require the dad and the mom to meet with me in some way, shape or form. So most of the time it's coffee at Starbucks or, you know, nearby. But like, I have a session coming up. I have a couple films coming up in Houston this summer and in Georgia this summer. So I obviously won't be able to do that with these people ahead of time, so I'll be Skyping, or, excuse me, FaceTiming these people. And I do really like for the mom and dad to be in that meeting. I know a lot of times the dad necessarily doesn't want to be there, but I think it's so important, because that way the dad is on the same page as the mom who usually paid for the session as to what's going on. And at that point, I asked them a couple of questions that give me an idea for the flavor of the family. Like I asked them, "What is it that you love about each of your kids specifically that you want to remember five years from now." And then they tell me, "Oh my gosh, this kid, you know, he's four years old, and the only thing he will eat out of is this purple cereal bowl with a purple spoon." And I'm like, "That's ridiculous sounding", but then I make sure, and I include that in the film. And if this film that I came out yesterday, there's a shot with a kid with a purple bowl and a purple spoon, and everybody else might see that and go, "Why is that? Why are we watching a kid eating cereal?" But mom and dad wanted that. They said it was important. They didn't say, I want it in the film. They just mentioned that it's something that's super cute, that's important to them about their kid. I had another client be like, she says this phrase all the time right now, "My three year old, and I really want, I just love it", It's so funny when she says that. So that's me taking a mental note if she says that phrase, that audio needs to be in the film later. Or "My kids really love to play, Play-Doh, right now", or whatever it is, I just take these mental notes, or I write it down, and then I make sure that that story is told somewhere in the film. But the other part of it comes in that, you know, they're like, "Oh, we're outdoorsy people. We love to do X, Y and Z outside. "So then I think, okay, so this family story is probably going to be more outside" or, you know, "We just had a newborn baby, we're going to be at the house a lot." So then I know that to expect that about the scenes that I'll be filming. But even just talking to the mom and dad, you get a feel for the type of family they're going to be and, to be honest, you get a feel for the music that you're going to be choosing for that family when it comes to choosing the music. Because that's a huge part of the process as well making sure that the music fits the vibe of the family that you're editing the music to, or you're editing the film to.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. Got it. Allison, have we still got five minutes with you? Are you still good for time?

Allison Redmon: Oh yes, of course. Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. I mean, I feel like I'm chasing my tail and I'm selling you so short, because you've got this massive knowledge around music, and that's what you're going to be teaching in the course with Courtney. And I meant when I watch your videos or your films, it's the music is what makes it so moving. I mean, yes, it's your you're filming in your images, but it's the music that takes me there, and that's the part that brings the tears, I think, or maybe it's in conjunction. What is it? What do you do? How are you so good at that?

Allison Redmon: Thank you. That's extremely kind. I think there's a lot that plays into that, but I think some of it is teachable. So that's why I'm teaching this course discovering the power of music, audio and film. That's the course I'm teaching in April at FilmingLife. And I think photographers know that the music is that kind of icing that glues the cake together and it makes the cake work. And so teaching that is something that I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to convey. You know, it's finding the music that fits that family and then being able to edit to the music. So being able to understand the music, understanding the beats, understanding the melody, and how you can edit to that melody, so that you can create these goose bumpy moments, because they are created, I don't think they just happen. Like, if there's a drop in the music where all of a sudden the music drops away, and then it comes in a little bit louder, and like, two seconds later, I use that so there's a drop in the music. And I put a clip there of a mom swinging the daughter up out of the ocean. So the daughter is essentially, kind of flying up in the air, and the music is dropped out, and then she lands, and the music starts again. That's intentionally done. And people watching it are like, "Oh, that's cool", you know? Or maybe you don't know it, maybe you just see it. You're like, "Wow, that's cool." I don't know why it's cool, but it's cool. That's all editing, but it's editing smartly in relation to how you're putting your music and your film footage together. So I'm teaching that in the course. I'm teaching how to use the melody I'm using how to hear the beats. I think a lot of times, you know, if you're not trained in music, or you weren't in band and choir or dance or orchestra, as a student, you might not know how to hear beats in music. And it's so important to be able to hear the beat, and, you know, and edit to the beat in the music. It's just little subtle things like that that take your film to the next level. And that's something I'm kind of good at. And so..

Andrew Hellmich: You are, you are, you are. So are you teaching this? Is this in conjunction, does this go with Courtney's course, or is this totally separate? If I know how to edit video already, can I just do the audio course?

Allison Redmon: Yeah, yeah, you can. Yeah, you can take it just separately. The way that we have FilmingLife set up is there's different membership levels. So there's a beginning you don't know anything about film. You're like, teach me everything, there's that level. There's an intermediate for people who have been filming a little bit, but they want to incorporate it more into their business. And there's the advance for people who have been doing this while it is in their business, but they really want to take their film game to the next level. Those are the levels. But then we're offering master classes at FilmingLife. So once you're at kind of the stage that I'm at, you want to be able to still grow as a filmmaker. But the way we do that at that stage is through master classes. So my master class teaches music and audio and films. Another one is birth films. I mean, there's a huge portion of the photography industry that does fresh 48 that does labor and delivery films, does coming home from the hospital films. So we have a teacher teaching that, there's films for stop motion, there's films for doing master classes for doing films in the community. There's master classes for doing moving portrait films for more of a lifestyle photographers. That's what we're doing for, you know, people who want to explore more specialized niches in the film industry. So it's a lot of different offerings. But what's so cool about this whole FilmingLife thing, is that I think it's the only place like that if you're wanting to learn film. It's the only school out there, just for filmmakers like that doesn't exist in the photography world, and now it does as of April 12, and it's cool, because, you know, it's helping people who are beginners and it's helping people who are advanced. And so I'm obviously biased to it, because I'm a manager there, but, like, it's incredible. I'm so excited about it.

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. I can hear that. And you know what I love about the whole thing is the fact that you and Courtney are actually doing this in real life. You know, it's not like you've done your two years as a photographer or a filmmaker. You've made some money, and now you're teaching everyone else how to do it. You're actually still in the trenches. You're still out there. You've uploaded videos or films yesterday. You're out there shooting. You're teaching photography, still doing all this stuff, I don't know why, when you have a driver, but still, actually in the trenches, doing this stuff and teaching at the same time. I love that.

Allison Redmon: Yeah, I think that's so important. You know, I can't imagine just doing the teaching, part of part of it. I think I would die a little bit like I love the creative portion of just being able to keep, you know. Being able to be in client homes and getting back to my computer and spending hours making one of these. I love the creative juices that have to go into that. It just keeps my brain happy. And I think it's important, because how else are you going to keep growing as a creative, as an artist, if you're not constantly producing work? I really think that's so important. I think you need to be just like a musician that stops playing their instrument like and is teaching. I think that the same thing applies to this. I think you need to be producing work consistently, so that you're constantly growing and you're pushing the boundaries of what's artistically happening in the industry. Brittany is one of the forerunner in this, in the link people would want to be taking from her. She wasn't and I feel the same way about my work. I think it needs to be ongoing and developing.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, I totally agree, and I love the way you think about and express that. I totally agree with you.. Allison, I'm going add links to anything and everything that you mentioned in today's episode in the show notes. But where is the best place for the listener to check out your work and see the films that I've been talking about.

Allison Redmon: You can go to allisonredmonphotography.com, that's my main website, and Instagram as well. I'm pretty active on Instagram, which is fun. So allisonredmonphotography on Instagram as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. I'll add links to those. And like I said, anything else that you mentioned, the FilmingLife and the other podcast with Courtney, so the listener can check those out. One thing I probably should have asked you, and I didn't earlier, you talked a lot about the templates or the I guess the program from Marie. Wasn't it Marie?

Allison Redmon: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, that was $450 when you first told me that "I've done some teaching, so I know the value in buying someone else's curriculum instead of writing it myself."

Allison Redmon: Right.

Andrew Hellmich: But my first thought was, $450 I could probably teach photography myself without buying that. Was it a worthwhile investment?

Allison Redmon: It was, yeah, that's a really good question, and I can see what you're saying. $450 is a lot, but it was worth it for me because A) I didn't have the time to write it, and B) it teaches it from a more taking photos, non-posed photos. So if you want to teach your moms and dads how to take those kind of photos, this workshop is geared to candid photos. It's not geared to posed photos. And I think that's what distinguishes it from every other workshop out there. And the feedback I get from clients is "This is so cool. Now I know how to wait for these moments that you're able to capture and get these photos." Whereas, you know, I think everybody can take a pose photo, not necessarily good, but I think teaching them to take a really interesting in the moment photo is something that sets this workshop apart. So yes, "I would highly recommend it. I can't recommend it enough, actually."

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, awesome. Allison, I can't believe, can you believe that when we first talked about doing this interview, you thought, "I don't know if I could really fill up an hour." That's what you said.

Allison Redmon: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: You have been a wonderful guest, and it's been an absolute pleasure chatting to you. And I just want to say again, thanks so much for sharing everything you have. I had fun, and I hope you have too. So again, thank you so much.

Allison Redmon: Thank you so much. This was a blast. I really had fun.