New York Photographer Caroline Sinno on Photography, Business Development & Always Pursuing Your Passion  

To every adult who has had to justify his or her fine arts degree to their parents and answer the question, “So, what will you do with that degree?” I present New York photographer Caroline Sinno of Caroline Sinno Photography, who has done quite a bit with hers … even if she deferred her dream in favor of practicality for a few years.

Caroline Sinno’s personal passion has always been travel photography; when she was younger, she even wanted to become a photographer with National Geographic. To that end, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, where she eagerly gobbled up photography classes. Upon graduation, however, following her parents’ advice, she worked stable jobs in marketing, account management and advertising.

Thus, until five years ago, her artistic bent and love of photography were relegated to hobby status, with Sinno happily snapping photos while traveling with her husband. Then one Christmas, her husband Neal presented her with a photo she had shot in Germany that he enlarged and printed on canvas. He suggested “this” was what she should be working on because it was her passion — and because she has always said, quite simply, that when she has a camera in her hands, she feels an excitement.

SXSW Live Music Photoshoots – and a NYC Studio

Just five years later, Sinno has now built a business of which she’s very proud, and in March, she will hit the road to photograph SXSW in Austin with her own press badge around her neck. It’s an opportunity that delights her in particular, since Sinno loves live music – she is a self-proclaimed “night owl” who adores the energy of a live show and the way that stage lights naturally end up making no two photos identical.

When she isn’t jetting off to photograph shows, Sinno currently operates her own photography business, chasing a dream that even a decade ago, she wasn’t sure she would ever follow. But she has since mastered the art of starting and growing an artistic business and building a brand, and is thrilled to share her knowledge with other women. For instance: “You might be nervous to follow your dream, but somehow and some way, you can make your way back to it,” Sinno said about her own path of not pursuing photography right out of college. (She explained that photographic equipment is expensive for someone fresh out of school, and digital photography hadn’t taken off yet when she graduated.)

A Circuitous Route to Success, with Smart Lessons Learned

Still, she doesn’t regret the twists in her career path. “I would not take back the route that I took to get here either, with the jobs that I had, because I learned so much,” Sinno said. Case in point: she figured out how to interact with clients very professionally during her years in account management by understanding how to recognize and understand a client’s needs.

Another message that comes across loud and clear: it is okay to change. “DaVinci did a lot of different things,” Sinno points out, saying “he didn’t just draw!” Along those lines, Sinno also encourages women to remember, “You have so much transferrable knowledge; be confident that you can go to the next job or career you choose, and draw from that. You have all these available skills; you just have to re-apply them in a different way.”

She also stresses the importance of networking, saying she used various experiences and connections to launch her photography business. “I kept a really good network from the jobs that I had,” she said, and mentions that when she started out, people were amazingly generous, finding ways to help her get the business off the ground.  She paid everyone, she said, “who would accept money” and even bartered with a few people, trading her professional-grade wedding photography skills for their writing skills and website copy.

Creating a Brand Through Relationships

So how did Sinno finally get her business off the ground?  By reaching out to everybody she knew and offering to take their pictures. She created a website, then joined Facebook, Instagram and Yelp, which has been a very positive marketing tool, given the great reviews that have helped to build her business.

About that online presence: it’s important to keep your business in the public eye, but, as Sinno also notes, “There’s that delicate balance that you can’t post all the time. Find that sweet spot, if you will.” She recognizes that it’s also relationships that make a business grow through referrals. To that end, she likes to use Instagram to offer current and potential customers glimpses into her routine, sort of ”a day in the life of Caroline Sinno” so that her already existing clients feel like they are seeing pictures of an old friend, and feel that they can comfortably recommend her.

In fact, Sinno builds her business relationships so quickly and easily that people have even mistaken her as a pal of her clients!  At a recent shoot for a surprise wedding proposal on a Tribeca rooftop, Sinno and her clients were having so much fun in the moment that an onlooker offered to take her picture with “her friends.” A possible reason for this easy, pleasant rapport: as a photographer, she is present for very intimate moments, so it seems only natural for photography customers to ask her along to drinks afterwards (as many have), leading the way to developing easy, trusted photographer/client compatibility.

Acquiring a Varied Portfolio of Skills and Smarts

Looking back to the early days: when starting out, Sinno sought training in studio lighting because she hadn’t studied that in college. She also shadowed a couple of photographers and learned to talk to people easily whom she didn’t know, a necessary skill when putting people at ease during a photo shoot.

Sinno still loves travel photography, but earns her living now doing a variety of special event photography (like weddings and engagements), children and family photos, business shoots, and even taps her formal art training to shoot stills of merchandise for boutiques. She also employs a photo assistant and a second shooter for events — but reserves the editing/retouching of photos for herself to maintain a consistent brand.

In fact, this sort of hands-on, detail-oriented approach is important to her because, as she notes, the wrong photographer can tarnish your memory of a special day. Even a great photographer who is having a bad day or isn’t experienced in the type of photography you need can pose a problem. Sinno also explains that sometimes a photographer isn’t the ideal fit with a potential client; if for example, a customer wants a genre of photography that doesn’t align with her brand, she will respectfully decline the project.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Hiring a Photographer

With all these variables in mind, Sinno offered some tips to review when interviewing photographers:

• Your Photographer Can’t Have an “Off” Day. Sinno notes, “It’s like being a comedian — you can’t be off and you can’t have an off day.” So your photographer should be able to check whatever is happening to him or her that day at the door.
• Your Photographer Should Have a Personality. If you are going to spend 6-8 hours with someone photographing your wedding or a big event, and then spend another two hours together choosing photos for the album, your photographer should be someone with whom you are able to relate easily.
• Ask to See a LOT More of Their Work. Ask to see a catalog or an entire wedding shoot. You want to see untouched photos too. Anyone can show you five good photos, but you should see a lot of them, not just the best ones they have picked for their website. Also, if some of the poses seem very odd, maybe this is the wrong photographer for your job.
• Go with Your Gut! If you have a weird vibe about someone, don’t choose that photographer. Missed moments – such as those at a wedding — can never be reproduced.
• Are They Able to Quickly Develop a Rapport?  If they are working with your children, what kind of tricks do they have up their sleeve to manage kids? Do they even have enough experience with children? If you will be getting business headshots, does the photographer make you feel edgy or uncomfortable? After all, that feeling could easily come across in your photos and change the way your clients see you.
• If you Don’t See What You Need, Ask. If you don’t see a particular genre, you can always inquire, “Do you dabble?” Ask if they do the type of photos that you require, and if they can share some samples of that type of work.
• Consider Asking a Photographer to Correct Images taken by a previous photographer. It may seem an odd request, but if you love the image — but hate the way it has been edited —  see if it can be corrected.  As Sinno notes, “I have actually corrected people’s wedding albums that were terrifyingly bad.” There’s a certain natural style that a photographer will have, like a signature, to their retouching.  Sinno’s style is art-like, with a lighter hand on the retouching than others in the industry.

Selecting the Ideal Photos for Marketing Collateral or a Website

• Stick with professional photos whenever possible, and avoid stock photos. Hire a photographer to come along to company events to shoot real photos that show the company culture and a glimpse behind the scenes.
• Choose photos that align with your brand image, particularly for a business head shot.
• Along those lines, make sure the photo is logical and doesn’t make a customer turn away from your brand. Images that are too dark, hard to see, or that appear frivolous detract from your brand.
• Don’t post gratuitous images on social media or company website. If a photo doesn’t “fit” or tell the story that you want, skip it.
• Crowdsource feedback. If you’re having a difficult time choosing a headshot, for example, don’t be afraid to ask friends to vote on it. Sinno has had clients post several of their photos on Facebook to get their contacts to vote on an image. People, she noted, are generally honest and willing to help you make a decision.

At one time in her life, Caroline Sinno had a recurring dream in which she never finished college. Interestingly, or maybe prophetically, the dream coincided with a yearning to become a photographer. Since changing careers, Sinno’s mind and body have rested easier and the dream has disappeared. Coincidence? Likely not: through this lens, it looks as though following one’s passion puts old nightmares to rest.

Photo credit:  kate backdrops