Great Gems in this 1 on 1 With Tyler, Niching down, getting consistent bookings, editing smarter, and making your brand actually work for you, Etc.

📸 One-on-One with Tyler Recap: April 21

Call theme: Niching down, getting consistent bookings, editing smarter, and making your brand actually work for you.

🔥 Big Takeaways

1. Stop trying to shoot everything.
The most important advice I got today: niche the hell down.

“If you try to shoot everything, you're not gonna make as much as you think you can.”
His focus is grad + studio. Mine? Still figuring it out — but grads and equine are two strong contenders. Gotta pick one and go deep.

2. Consistency gets clients.
People don’t book based on one-off bangers. They book when they see a clear, consistent look and vibe. That includes editing, portfolio, and social layout.

“If I scroll down and see one banger, then a mediocre shot, I’m like ‘wait… is he consistent?’”

3. Only show your best — not everything.
No more linking full client galleries or cluttering the site. Curate only the top 1% of images — only what I want to get booked for.

“Let them ask to see a full gallery. Don't put it all out there. Show them what you want to sell.”

4. Word of mouth = gold. But ads work too — if done right.
He spends ~$300/semester on boosted IG ads and books $50k+ grads. Key?

• Seasonal timing (spring, summer, fall)

• Simple, dope flyer with strong CTA

• Link straight to pricing/booking — not the homepage

“If they’re clicking your ad and hitting your homepage with no info on booking, 8/10 they’re gonna bounce.”

5. Market what’s already in demand near me.
Boston = graduation hot zone + horse country. If equine shoots are big here and grads are common — lean into that.

“You said yourself, horse people are everywhere. That’s a niche.”

📂 Editing & Delivery Insights

Evoto = secret sauce.
He swears by Evoto for editing — retouching takes minutes, not hours. Skin cleanup, color grading, masking… it’s Lightroom on steroids.

“I retouched 20 photos in 10 minutes. No cap.”

Cost? ~$112/year = insane ROI.

JPEG workflow??
Bro shoots almost everything in JPEG now. A7R V, 60MP files, max quality. Saves time, disk space, and honestly — if you’re nailing settings, it’s enough.

“I don’t care what pixel peepers think. I care about what the paying client thinks.”

Deliver the full gallery — just price it in.
He gives all unedited JPEGs + a few retouched ones (based on the package). Previously charged extra for full gallery, but now bakes it in and ups the rate.

📱 Social Strategy Checklist

✅ Start a second IG page just for grads
✅ Only post what you want to shoot
✅ Space out posts (don’t dump a whole shoot at once)
✅ Reuse older bangers — most people never scroll
✅ Post behind-the-scenes (BTS) every time
✅ Use reels to drive traffic (your photos alone won’t go viral anymore)
✅ Capture every shoot on video — even 30 secs of BTS is gold

💡 Tactical Moves I’m Gonna Make

• Pick a niche (leaning grads & equine)

• Build a killer flyer (Etsy + Canva combo)

• Clean up the website (remove Lorem Ipsum ASAP)

• Curate portfolio to only my best, most niche-specific shots

• Launch an Instagram ad — $30/day for 1–2 weeks

• Redirect ad link straight to pricing/booking page

• Start using Evoto for retouching

• Try JPEG + RAW for next shoot and test

• Get BTS footage on every shoot

• Post less but more intentionally

🔁 Final Reminder

He said I could book another 1:1 in 2–3 weeks if I’ve put in the work and have progress to show.

“Take what I said and go execute. Come back with results.”

Let me know if you want this restructured into a Notion doc, Instagram carousel, checklist PDF, or anything else. I can format it however’s most useful for you.