2025 07 24

Jason Little during a Keep it 100 session at See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025.

It is time, I think, for another in my series of Becoming a Portrait Studio Updates. See, previously:

1) Becoming a Portrait Studio: 2025 03 24
2) Update Number One: 2025 05 13

I really dislike getting all negative on here but, to be candid, the momentum has stalled quite dramatically. I’m sure it’s a complicated mix of reasons as to why, and while it’s easy to blame myself I do think a lot of these things are out of your control, to an extent. Consistency is the only real solution, but with the drop in bookings I’ve seen this time around, it’s hard to want to keep pushing forward! All that said, I’m going to commit to carrying on, largely because some of the more exciting things I have planned for this setup haven’t been rolled out yet (namely, the everyoneisfamous.com website, which is admittedly stagnant currently, along with doing on-location versions of the setup).

Rambling aside, and before I get to the numbers for the previous run of dates, the big reason I hit a demoralizing snag is that for the first time my email blast had absolutely zero effect on bookings (I need the good leads — the Annie Leibovitz leads!). I had more people unsubscribe than I had book a session. Relentless social media posts also had basically zero effect on bookings. The only thing that somewhat saved me on the current run of dates that are happening now (nobody booked today, so I’m venting a bit here!), is that I had two families sign up for the higher price point. One of those families then reached out asking where they can get prints made, so I clearly need to work on communication, as I ofter prints myself! Perhaps that is the big takeaway overall: that in treating this like a side hustle and not like a proper business in itself, many things get lost in translation or never communicated to the people who need to hear them.

I won’t get into the numbers for this month but they are quite horrendous and not at all worth the time I set aside to offer this. When factoring in the cost of the space, I am losing money on the endeavor (and not at all covering my rent, which was the goal this month). But again, money is not the sole motivating force here! I’m still hoping to explore a related approach to the Keep it 100 setup in a small town later this summer — the idea is creative and interesting but will also likely require me to fund it myself to make it all happen. These things are only sustainable for so long. Being an artist is hard. But we knew that…

In May, I put some dates on the calendar and bookings were slow. I blamed the late notice I gave people and accidentally scheduling it between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day while people are likely busy with life stuff. Because of all that, I wasn’t too hard on myself, but I was bummed at the tepid turnout. Over six dates, we had nine sessions resulting in $1,400 in revenue plus $300 in tips (which came from one person), or $1,700 total income. This equals $283/day which is about what the space costs to rent. The general lack of tips also inspired me to increase the base fee from $150 to $175 per individual session. This is still a steal in my view but quite in line with what a lot of other local portrait photographers are charging for their sessions. Again, the economics of photography are borderline impossible these days!

The current run, which is still happening through the end of the week (book a session, why don’t you?!) had more dates, far more advanced notice, and has so far resulted in less revenue than May did. Basically, I’m only doing this for myself at this point and it’s not a viable business endeavor. That said, I’m not giving up just yet and want to try to crack the code. Nearly 40% of the few who did book this run are people who previously paid for a shoot, which is remarkable to me! It seems very clear people love these sessions and I generally love doing them (the time commitment for little money is a drag, obviously). This tells me the failure is largely in communication, which might be repairable. I’m also learning things and growing as a photographer, which is an intangible value but not one my landlord accepts as payment. The hard costs will eventually kill me at this rate, however. Eventually the camera will break down. Two strobe batteries just needed replacement and that alone set me back the cost of three sessions! And I haven’t even given a thought to taxes yanking away 40% of the gains. Grim economics.

All that said, I’m excited to get the companion website everyoneisfamous.com in a better place as it’s still in a sort of beta hibernation state. I just haven’t had the time for it yet. Once that happens and I get a few summer popups going, perhaps we’ll see more enthusiasm later this year. Also, while this setup is really fun for me, it’s admittedly not for everyone. I haven’t made an attempt (see: lack of time) to offer more conventional portrait sessions, which I think I’d both be really good at and enjoy, plus could command a higher price point. It’s something I plan to further explore as my entire photography career shifts in ways I am still navigating.

Thanks for reading and good luck shooting if you’re doing so to pay your bills!

-Clayton

PS- it’s fitting that, while writing this, we have WBEZ playing and it’s a constant fundraising plea after they just got their federal funding yanked. As someone who has always been a commercially-focused photographer, I am learning firsthand the economics of the arts and it’s wild.