We were lucky to catch up with DANIEL RIVAS recently and have shared our conversation below.

DANIEL, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

I work with a lot of brides and grooms and with that comes nerves from them on their big day. Most handle the nerves very well, but in the cases where I see they need help to make it through the day I step in and offer help. I have seen brides in the getting ready stage of the event and have found them alone and very nervous. I offer them a drink of water and a snack and a calm voice explaining they will be okay and get them through it all. Sometimes they just don’t know how to put on their veil and when I show them they are just the happiest person seeing that I cared. I have this one story about a wedding I did and during the getting ready process the brides’s mother found that she had the security tag clipped to her dress. She was freaking out, but I brought out my tools and took it right off without any damage to the dress. Seeing her face was all the reward I needed. Grooms and groomsmen are also at times found not knowing how to tie a tie or put on studs on the shirts or folding a handkerchief into their jacket pockets. When I offer my experience in this they act like I’m a superhero saving the day, haha.

I also show them that I’m not looking to get rich on their event. I show them the best ways to save money with my services and they are always giving the look of disbelief that I am telling them not to spend money with me on certain products.

I appreciate my clients and I want them to come back for more during their lifetime. I do engagement sessions, then weddings, then maternity portraits, then newborn portraits and family portraits and more. I have been doing this for so long and loving it that I have had the pleasure of photographing weddings of clients that I did their parents wedding.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My story is a long one, but I will try to keep it short.

I started my love for photographing people in high school. At the age of 20 I was lucky enough to meet a professional photographer at a wedding of a family member that was looking for an apprentice. He taught me how to run a photography studio and how to do wedding photography. From there I started working for many studios as a contracted employee doing weddings and portraits.

My big move was to start working for one studio full-time. This was a new studio that had only been open for 6 months. I was allowed to treat it as my own studio and build it with the knowledge I had gained with my apprenticeship at the first studio I worked for. I did the marketing, management and photography mostly of children and family portraits. We did great quickly. As these children became of age to become a Bar/Bat Mitzvah I moved into that field and with the experience I gained my clients started calling me an honorary Jew, haha. I also started doing wedding photography for this studio and we were a big name in the San Fernando Valley in California.

I now have my studio in Lancaster, CA and after 43 years of being a professional photographer I am happy to say I still love it and will continue to help my clients with great service and excellent rates.

We kept clients coming back for more with great service, awesome rates and a true caring for our clients.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I am so happy that I can create awesome memories for my clients. Whether it’s portraits or some type of event I enjoy the happiness my images give to my clients. I try my best in all that I do to be a people pleaser. When my clients are happy because of what I offered to them and they say they believe they got the best, then I am given a great reward.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The vendors I work with are awesome. I try to show them how I take care of my clients so they will be very comfortable to recommend my services to their clients. I have a network of vendors that I have worked with for many years. I am happy to recommend their services or products and they do the same for me. It’s a great relationship for us that benefits the clients.      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danielrivas.net
• Instagram: daniel_rivas_photography
• Facebook: daniel.rivas.photography

Image Credits
Daniel Rivas Photography