Senior Spontaneity

Photographer Pierre Stephenson can relate to seniors striving to find what defines them. After his own senior year, Pierre headed for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Photography wasn’t initially in his future. Indeed, it wasn’t until after he changed his major four times—exploring everything from nuclear engineering to pre-med—that he hit on photography, a medium with which he instantly clicked.

Changing directions, Pierre enrolled at Madison Area Technical College for commercial photography. Then, “My brother brought home a flyer from the grocery store about wedding photography,” says Pierre. “And just by chance, I started doing weddings.” In 1995, Pierre’s Portrait Art Co. opened and now shoots up to 100 weddings a year, something he finds ironic since he’d never even attended a wedding before that fateful grocery store flyer appeared. This was the beginning of an evolution that would eventually also encompass senior shoots.

Today, the multi-photographer studio has seven full-time employees including four photographers, one of whom is Pi-erre’s wife, Anna. Additionally, they have an office manager, three employees dedicated to workflow and processing, and seven to 12 assistant photographers. During their 14-year odyssey, Pierre’s Portrait Art Co.’s work has appeared in national and regional magazines. Pierre has also become a familiar face on the seminar and workshop circuit, teaching professional photographers the ins and outs of wedding photography—from posing and lighting, to cinematic storytelling and marketing strategies. Something Pierre is particularly vocal about when advising new photographers is how to remain successful in today’s economy. “Don’t devalue your work by giv-ing it away. That will make it harder for you to succeed down the road.”

Initially, Pierre’s studio chose to focus solely on weddings. Four years ago, a change was in order. “I didn’t want to get locked into being strictly a studio shooter,” says Pierre. “I wanted the flexibility and time to do some really creative things.” The studio strove to accomplish this by focusing on its strengths. “We took a lot of what we do with weddings and location work, including our editorial style, and applied that to seniors,” says Pierre. “It’s been a good marriage.”

Though the studio’s intention is to continue specializing in weddings, Pierre and his colleagues shoot up to 20 seniors per year, which equates to about four percent of their income. “For us, seniors are a change of pace,” says Pierre. “They let us play and exercise that area of photography.”

Most seniors discover the studio through word-of-mouth. “We primarily get our business through ambassadors who were seniors from the year before,” says Pierre. “We also send mailers out for ambassadors.” Their client ratio is approximately 70 percent girls and 30 percent boys. “Girls tend to chat and spread the word better than guys,” says Pierre.
Beyond ambassadors and mailers, the studio maintains a presence on Facebook. “We’re fine-tuning this, but it’s been very promising and has had good results for us.” Pierre feels social networking is vital for marketing to seniors. “It’s so prevalent in this generation,” he says. “It’s really going to be the forerunner of ways to reach 
this group.”

A blog on the company website gets updated several times a week by staff members in a move to make clients feel not only connected to the studio image, but to the personalities behind it. The studio also uses online slide shows through Animoto and Emotion Media and personalized galleries through Morephotos.com to catch the attention of potential clients. Plans are in the works, too, for building a separate senior website and portal.

What initially catches the eyes of seniors is the studio’s signature style. “I call it portrait journalism,” Pierre says. “It has a photojournalistic and fashion portraiture look and feel.” This hasn’t always been the case. Pierre says he first approached shoots based on the style of senior portraits from his youth. “That’s all gone now,” he says of his preconceived notions. “Our shoots run the gamut of looks and styles, moods and purpose.” Vowing not to be a cookie- cutter studio, Pierre’s Portrait Art Co. has presented its ever-discerning seniors with choices that range from classical to urban, extreme fantasy to studio portraiture.

When students first come in for a consultation, they’re greeted by the studio dog, Ender, Pierre’s golden retriever. “He’s a big hit,” says Pierre. Equally welcoming is an environment throughout the studio’s galleries, showrooms and seating areas that speak to the younger set via hip music, slide shows playing in the background 
and refreshments.
Prior to booking a shoot, Pierre sits down with seniors to go over logistics, expectations and ideas. “It sets the tone for the day,” he says. “It allows for greater personalization of their session and images.” This is also a time to have a creative meeting of the minds. “We want them to know that their input and ideas go into creating these images, not just the photographer’s. Invest them in that knowledge and they’ll want the images even more.”

The other message clients receive—nothing is off limits. “There’s some crazy stuff we do,” says Pierre. Evidence of this—a senior photo of a client jumping out of a helicopter on a snowboard (above). “We shot in the middle of August with a fisheye lens,” recalls Pierre. “I had the client suit up and jump off a ledge about two feet above me as I lay on the ground. The poor guy was sweating up a storm with all that gear on in 90-degree weather.” As for the helicopter—“I shot a Blackhawk helicopter while running errands a week later. Sometimes you get lucky and everything falls into place.”

During the planning session, a timeline is set with locations for the shoot. “There are definite places they want to go for the memories or experiences they’ve had there.” Pierre says this can vary from a neighborhood playground to a gritty, urban setting. “We end up all over the place.” In-studio shoots are offered, though most clients prefer Pierre’s Portrait Art Co.’s location work. “There are so many things we can do on location and make it look like it was shot in a studio,” Pierre says of his personal preference for location shoots.
Props, clothing and makeup are also discussed. Clients are encouraged to bring along friends and personal items that are meaningful to them to the shoot. On the wardrobe front, “We advise them on clothing choices that can be easily mixed and matched to alter a look. The outfits should allow for quick changes as well.” In keeping with this is the studio’s makeup advice, “We want clients to keep it at a minimum so we can jump from one look to another,” says Pierre. “Heavy makeup might work for one style, but not the next.” Last, but not least, clients are forewarned—spontaneity and craziness lie ahead. “We let them know this is going to be a really fun shoot.”

The day of the session, Pierre or one of his photographers head out with an assistant to meet the client. The next two to three hours are devoted to shooting on location. Packed amongst his gear is some of Pierre’s favorite equipment, including a six-foot Larson Reflectasol. “It provides fast, beautiful light.” So, too, does his Lowel-iD video light. “It gives me a very warm, controlled look with a Hollywood feel,” he says. “I can shoot what would be complex light very quickly in low light situations.” Pierre believes lighting is one of the keys to strong photography. “You can create great imagery anywhere,” he says. “It’s about getting back to the basics of beautiful lighting, simplicity, color and expression.”

Also on hand—the typical reflectors, flashes, strobes, video lights and underwater housings. “It’s something we’re open to,” Pierre says. “We let seniors know ahead of time that we’re willing to push the envelope.” This is one of the tactics Pierre’s Portrait Art Co. uses to ensure its seniors an experience, not just a mere photo shoot. “A senior shoot is not about taking a photo for the yearbook,” Pierre says. “The experience itself is as important as the final result. The excitement generated that day will be reflected in your sales too.”
Then it’s time for the piéce de rèsistance—showing the client the final product. The studio’s art books and senior albums are two products that sell best to seniors. “The [art books] are catchy and cutting edge. They’re what have driven our sales up most.” The more economical client steers toward the senior album, which is less stylistic, but packed with up to 30 photographs.

At the end of the day, Pierre says though the studio’s collaborations with seniors provide a healthy revenue, their goal for senior sessions isn’t about achieving a big payday. Much like their clients, the staff 
embarks upon the experience to let loose creatively and have some fun. “We don’t need to do senior shoots,” says Pierre. “It’s something we choose to do for the joy of that kind of photography, which is unique unto itself.” View more of their work at www.pierres
portraitart.com.

Bekah Wright (www.bekahwright.com) is a Los Angeles-based journalist who specializes in travel and entertainment. Her favorite photo shoots are those where brother Pete Wright tells her to stop making faces. As if!