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High Energy, Creative Style:
Ryan and Carrie Phillips
By Linda L. May
Savvy marketing, outstanding service, innovative products and their combined
talents have paid off big for Ryan and Carrie Phillips of Thousand Oaks, California.
Now they are one of the most sought-after photographic teams in Southern California.
In fact, last year they had to build a new 600-square-foot studio space to
accommodate their ever-growing operation. Since the addition, their business has
"just exploded," they say, which proves they are definitely on the right path.
Ryan and Carrie opened Ryan Phillips Photography in 2002 specializing in weddings,
and they have since added portraiture to their repertoire. Of course, they have
experienced their fair share of obstacles on the road to success. For example,
in addition to offering new options to customers, shooting portraits taught them
a valuable marketing lesson. Though they initially named their portrait business
Click Portrait Studio, this name created confusion in the marketplace and began
to dilute the Ryan Phillips brand. Ryan and Carrie are now phasing out Click and
finding ways to re-incorporate those marketing materials back into their original
brand. Lesson learned.
Background/History
Ryan comes from a photography background, and Carrie is the business expert.
Together they make a great team. In 1995 Ryan graduated from the prestigious
Rhode Island School of Design in Providence with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
During his early career in New York City, Ryan assisted many photographers across
a wide range of genres. Ryan says, "I learned more in my first year on the job
than I had in the last four years of school. I was thrown into a wide variety
of situations and had to learn to adapt to them all."
Carrie graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a BA in
communications. For four years after college, Carrie worked in advertising
and marketing for large corporations, thus honing her business skills. However,
Carrie says she's always been an entrepreneur at heart, dreaming up business
schemes even as a young girl. For the past six years Carrie has been learning
photography from Ryan, and she is now the driving force behind the portrait
side of the operation.
Studio Layout and Philosophy
When clients enter the Ryan Phillips Photography home studio, they walk directly
into the impressive viewing/reception room, where large 20x24 and 30x40-inch wall
art surrounds them. There are plush, comfy sofas for sitting and stylish wooden
tables filled with albums and samples of their work. The furnishings and décor
have an old-world, antique flavor. People realize when entering this elegantly
decorated environment that Ryan and Carrie take their photography very seriously.
It's clear they spared no expense to make it special for their clients.
For viewings and presentations, they have a 60x60-inch projection screen that is
mounted to the ceiling and lowered for presentations. Ryan and Carrie say that
projection has changed the shape of their business and helped increase averages
from a few hundred dollars per session to a few thousand. When asked about
projection, Ryan says, "If you are posting online, then you are wasting your
time. For most people, photography has become a disposable medium. People email
an image to their friends and family and forget about it. They have gotten their
use out of it. If you project, they walk away with nothing unless they pay for it."
After the recent wildfires in California, some clients told Ryan and Carrie that
their images would be the first things they would grab when heading out of a
burning house. Ryan says, "That's exactly the importance we want our clients to
place on our work; we make it a point to use that to influence their buying
decisions. When your house is on fire, do you grab your $300 pair of jeans,
or do you grab your photographs?"
The shooting space is just off the viewing room through a set of lovely French
doors. This room houses all their cameras, lenses, lights, backgrounds and props,
plus couches and chairs for parents to sit in during children's photo sessions.
The office and production space is where the couple's formal dining room used
to be. They recently remodeled the entire production area with built-in cabinets
and computer workstations. Ryan explains, "We designed something that made exact
use for our needs. We have a very specific workflow, and the physical workspace
had to match it in order to increase efficiency."
Breanne Thompson, a recent graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography,
works in this room doing production tasks, from retouching and laying out prints
to ordering and shipping. Breanne also does second shooting at weddings and is
now booking her own portrait sessions. Having the flexibility of three talented
shooters has increased total studio revenues. "At a certain point, you have to
invest in employees and the growth of your business," Ryan says.
Equipment
Since switching to digital four years ago, Ryan and Carrie use Canon EOS 5D
cameras with a variety of prime lenses. (Ryan favors the 85mm f/1.2L.) When it
comes to lighting their images, they use Profoto D4 packs and a host of light
modifiers including softboxes, beauty dishes and V-flats.
As far as hardware and software, they use Power Mac G5 workstations and Photoshop
CS3. Although they outsource most of their RAW conversion for weddings, all
portrait work is done in-house. They still rely on Adobe Camera Raw but are
experimenting with Lightroom. Ryan admits to liking the added control of
Lightroom, but from a business standpoint, he prefers the simplicity of ACR.
Maintaining an efficient, reliable workflow throughout the process is vital to
continued success.
Straight off a shoot, Ryan and Carrie download their images into iView (now
Microsoft Expression Media). Ryan explains, "iView builds a retrievable catalog
of full-size images that knows where the media is regardless of whether it's on
your computer's hard drive, an external hard drive or a DVD. Digital asset
management is one of the most important steps in the entire workflow process and
is often overlooked. If you can't find a file you need easily, then you are wasting
time and costing yourself extra money."
Ryan continues, "We burn a DVD of the RAW files. After that, all the RAW files
are FTPed to Studio Workroom in Canada for processing. They color-correct and
turn them into JPEGs and run a pre-determined set of actions on our files.
Wedding images are posted online using Troy Widner's PickPic
(www.pickpic.com) while
portraits get loaded into ProSelect
(www.timeexposure.com),
which Ryan calls "the single most valuable software program we own."
With ProSelect, Ryan explains, "Clients can see things in any configuration,
black-and-white or color, any size up to 60x60. The software keeps track of all
their orders and prints out everything so there is no confusion during
production--which ProSelect also does." The next step is posting an online
slideshow set to music with Showit Web,
(www.showitfast.com).
"Clients love this show and email it to everyone they know, which gives us added
exposure as well," Ryan says.
Marketing & Promoting
Portrait sales have tripled this year since Carrie, who handles the office work
and marketing efforts, started targeting pregnant women, infants, children and
families. Their Baby's First Year Program has proven to be extremely popular.
Most of the maternity sessions result in baby pictures after the child is born.
"For the Baby's First Year promotion, we shoot three sessions: infant to three
months, six to nine months and the last session when the baby turns one year old,"
Carrie explains. "We also do baby announcements from the first session, which gives
us an additional product to sell. Clients pay for the entire package at the first
session, which is $795. The second session, clients get an 11x14 collage of the
baby's different facial expressions. The last session, they receive a coffee-table
book of their favorites from all three sessions. People can't say no to pictures
of their babies, so we get a lot of add-on sales from each session. Our average
is now about $2500 per portrait sale, so this promotion has generated a lot of
additional revenues for us." Carrie notes, "While these are not new ideas,
consistent execution and constant client contact has helped fuel our popularity
in our area. Customer service has been one of our most valuable assets. People
want to receive custom care and they are willing to pay for it."
Most of Ryan and Carrie's clients come through word of mouth and referrals, which
are priceless. Their website and blog also bring in new faces to photograph.
"Blogging has been one of our most valuable tools," Ryan says. "Originally I was
against it and Carrie kept pushing it. I finally caved, and it's a good thing too."
With over 5000 unique visitors a month, there seems to be no shortage of interest.
"A blog gives people a way to connect to you," Ryan says. "It also helps your
business attract clients that are attracted to you. Many photographers think
they want all the business they can get. In reality, you should want the business
that wants you. You can charge a premium, and people will pay for it because your
blog has already made that personal connection. They will pay for that connection."
Another successful method the couple uses to attract new clients is donating gift
certificates for photography services to popular local charities. Presently they
donate to 40-50 charitable organizations annually, including American Red Cross,
Make-A-Wish Foundation, Boys and Girls Club, The Wellness Center and Children's
Hospital of Los Angeles. This promotion has proven to be quite profitable because
people always buy more than the donation amount, and most become repeat customers
from then on. Carrie and Ryan always exhibit an 11x14 collage of their images
at each fundraiser or auction so attendees can see the quality of their work
before they bid. Giving back to their community is very important to this
innovative team, and it helps generate new business as well.
Because they have a two-and-a-half-year-old son, Ryder, and a brand new baby
daughter on the way in January 2008, Ryan and Carrie understand the needs and
wants of young parents firsthand. This connection has led to being invited to
the twice-yearly boutique event given by Mothers of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS), a local
mom's club that has hundreds of members. "This club has a boutique event in the
spring and again in December," Carrie says. "Numerous vendors who sell children's
products are invited, but we're the only photographers. Last year at one boutique
we sold 20 gift certificates, which the moms redeem at their leisure in the future.
They call throughout the year and always buy large orders because their children
are important to them. The moms in this club talk and spread our name around.
Hooking up with this club has been amazing for our business."
WPPI Membership
Ryan and Carrie joined WPPI in 2002 and went to their first WPPI Las Vegas
convention the following year. "We didn't even know what was possible in the
wedding and portrait industry until we went to WPPI. It opened up a whole world
for us."
"The WPPI Las Vegas convention is a great place to catch up on the lives of old
friends we have met in this industry," Carrie says. "We also enjoy the seminars
because we like hearing how others are doing it successfully. We always pick up
ideas there. But we haven't entered any prints into WPPI competition yet because
we're too busy with the business. However, in time we do plan to compete."
Hot Tips
Ryan's favorite quote about himself is "the best photographer you've never heard of."
While not exactly true, this illustrates one of his most important tips for
photographers who are just starting out. He says, "It is easy to get swept up
in everything going on in the industry, but the most important thing is to stay
focused on your craft and your business. There is no magic software or business
tip that is going to make it happen. To get to the top, you need dedication and
hard work. Lately this industry seems to be overrun with people who claim to be
rock-star photographers and develop a following based on that. The real heroes
to me are the people who are able to make a living and support their families
with photography. That's who you should really be paying attention to. And most
likely, you have never heard of them."
Future Plans
Aside from preparing for the arrival of their second child, this energetic
couple has several ideas for the future. Carrie is currently working on a
toddler promotion patterned after Baby's First Year to keep the kids coming
back as they grow up. They are also building on another 500-square-foot room
to be used for additional office space. Ryan and Carrie plan to continue growing
their business and attracting new clients without compromising their high
standards of artistry and customer service.
For more on Ryan and Carrie Phillips, view their website at
www.ryanphillips.com.
Or visit their blog at
www.ryanphillips.com/blog.
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