We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rick Law. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rick below.

Hi Rick, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I decided that I wanted to open a photography business, I did the bulk of my research on understanding the most common mistakes made by people starting their own photography business. I wanted to focus on the business and many of the behind-the-scenes aspects — the stuff that isn’t as sexy as taking actual pictures. By this time, I had a fair bit of training on photography itself so that was already a known quantity. Being a skilled photographer doesn’t guarantee a success business in the field so I knew that generating leads and marketing were going to be, and still are, the areas that I needed to focus on.

Rick, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been involved with photography since college and had been more dabbling in it until 7 years ago when I decided to start my own portrait photography business.

I purely enjoy creating high school senior portraits because you get the opportunity to capture a pivotal time in a young person’s life as they grow into a major part of their lives. It’s important to me that people have these images, not just because it’s a rite of passage, but it’s an opportunity for people to have art in their homes that represents them in a personal way. There are a plethora of people photographing high school seniors in Texas, and what I want to offer my clients is not only fantastic photography, but make it a memorable and stress-free experience for both the senior and the parent. Many clients get caught up not looking good in front of the camera, not knowing what they want to do with the photos after the session, or feeling overwhelmed with the entire process. I walk through the session with the senior, help them feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera, and help the parents find the right mix of products that they can display in their home or share with family and friends. But, most of all, my client should feel like they walked away being the hero providing their senior the fun experience and memorable images of it — I want them to be the hero of the moment.

The one type of imagery that I’ve been trying to build on is something called Sportraits. Sportraits are “sports portraits”. These aren’t your pictures of your kid with a soccer ball or a baseball that get taken on team picture day (and I still get those for my own kids), but these are more environmental, sports-themed portraits. Sports or any type of athletics is such an important part of young people’s lives, and I love the dramatic, editorial nature of the photos you’d find in sports magazines, or in graphics you’d find in video games or watching a football or baseball game on TV.
What kid wouldn’t want to be depicted in the same way as their sports heroes? I’m a sports junkie, more from a spectator perspective. I try to learn about different sports, so when it comes time to do a senior portrait session with someone who plays basketball or volleyball in school, I’m able to talk with them using the same terminology they would use, and create images that are authentic to their sport and not posed in a cookie-cutter fashion. I also try to capture and create images that show the hard work, the discipline, and the successes of the people I’m photographing.

I’m always trying to find different sports and athletic disciplines to photography, like figure skating, martial arts, dance, cheer, and probably ones I’m not aware of. I’m also always trying to find new and unique locations to photograph. Sometimes I like to put the person in a different environment that may be different, like maybe a swimmer in a fountain or a kiddie pool, or something that is off-beat and humorous, especially if the person has a quirky sense of humor like mine.

My visual style is very definitive of my sports influences, as I prefer the dramatic look that exudes strength, some level of tension, and action.
I’m also exploring other areas, such as fine art photography, and ideally incorporating and extending sportraits into that look and feel. I still want to maintain the editorial and dramatic looks, but with a refined feel.

I’ve also introduced headshots to the services I offer. I want to bring the same type of bold style for this all-important need

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFTs provide an interesting, but yet unproven, avenue for photographers. I believe it’s unproven because it’s currently in its infancy and the process for minting and selling NFTs is still very clunky and confusing.

While many people have heard of cryptocurrency, the average is person is likely not familiar with what NFTs are or what makes them unique. Right now the audience for NFTs is very limited, and at the surface, is very much more about trading.

For photographers, it offers a great avenue to create unique products in a new marketplace. It allows photographers to charge a premium for their work but in the digital medium, something that photographers have been struggling with and fighting against since the dawn of digital photography. I see NFTs as a burgeoning opportunity but many fear that NFTs are a pyramid scheme of sorts that could collapse.

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

The best way to build reputation and best form of marketing has always been grassroots, word of mouth. People trust the opinions of others, especially close friends and people with shared interests. With social media especially, it’s easy to share photographs and for people to share their experiences that can turn into testimonials for your business. Giving your clients the type of service and experience that they will rave about to others is the best thing you can do for your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ricklawphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricklawphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ricklawphotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricklawphotography/

Image Credits
Rick Law Photography