The Portrait System Podcast

Kristina Svirskaite built her photography business from $150 sessions to an average of about $1,800 per client, all while keeping a full-time corporate career, raising three children, and working without a permanent studio. She joins Nikki Closser to explain how she made part-time photography fit the life she actually wants.

Kristina shares what happened when the referrals that had sustained her business slowed down, why she returned to SEO and Google, and how clear website copy and transparent pricing helped attract clients who were already prepared for her rates.

The conversation also gets practical about session fees and collections, selling albums and wall art in clients' homes, combining lifestyle and posed newborn work, creating relaxed family sessions, and building a proven pricing structure around limited time.

In this conversation:

Growing from $150 sessions to an approximately $1,800 client average

Balancing a corporate career, three children, and four to eight sessions per month

Rebuilding demand through photography SEO, Google, and consistent marketing

Showing pricing online and attracting clients who understand the investment

Selling albums, wall art, and acrylics without maintaining a studio

Build your photography business with PortraitSystem.com. Use code PODCAST7 for your first month for $7.

Chapters

00:00 Part-time photography is a real business

01:13 From $150 sessions to a $1,800 client average

02:32 Natural family and newborn photography without a studio

05:34 Balancing a corporate job and four to eight monthly sessions

07:40 Starting a photography business after becoming a mom

10:45 Why referrals slowed and consistent marketing matters

13:54 Photography website SEO and Google leads

15:30 Showing pricing before clients inquire

21:44 Collections, products, and a $1,800 average sale

29:18 Instagram strategy for attracting paying clients

33:40 Creating relaxed family and newborn sessions

42:55 Building a proven pricing model around real life

Rejection, unpredictable income and self-doubt can be harder to manage than lighting or posing. Photographer and filmmaker Ajani Charles joins Nikki Closser to talk about the mental side of building a photography business—and the relationships, routines and practical business habits that help him keep going.
Ajani shares the story behind Project T-Dot, his long-running documentary project on Toronto's hip-hop culture, community and history. He explains why he stayed with it for 15 years before monetizing it, how commercial work supported him along the way, and what a personal project can offer beyond an immediate paycheck.
The conversation also gets practical about finding photography clients: being useful, solving a client's problem, defining an ideal client and following up. Alongside those business habits, Ajani discusses the role that meditation, therapy, journaling and a trusted support system have played in his own life.
In this conversation:
Personal photography projects, long-term relationships and creative identity
Rejection, financial uncertainty and clearer business goals
Remembering your wins and finding support during difficult periods
Marketing through usefulness, trust and client problem-solving
Ideal client profiles, CRM follow-ups and consistent outreach
Build your photography business with PortraitSystem.com. Use code PODCAST7 for your first month for $7.
Chapters
00:00 The mental side of a photography business
01:34 Ajani's start in art and photography
04:10 Project T-Dot: photographing Toronto hip-hop
10:11 15 years to monetize a personal project
17:34 Rejection, money and creative-career uncertainty
22:15 Remembering your wins when criticism sticks
27:32 Meditation, therapy and journaling
33:58 Photography marketing: trust and usefulness
37:24 Ideal clients, CRM and follow-ups
39:46 Taking action after a no
45:27 Mentors and a creative support system
47:51 Four final questions: routines, gear and getting started

Drew Forsyth is an award-winning portrait photographer and director based in the North West of England, working with commercial and advertising clients across the UK and internationally. His work centres on people who've given everything to be extraordinary at what they do — from dancers with English National Ballet and musicians of the BBC Philharmonic and the Hallé Orchestras, to Nobel Prize-winning scientists, politicians, and performers at the height of their careers. His photography has been featured by BBC News, The Guardian, The Times, and Rolling Stone, and recognised by the Royal Society of the Arts. He's an AOP Accredited Photographer and Fellow of the RSA, and speaks internationally at events like Photo North, Pas de Deux Photo Conference, and the Royal Photographic Society.
In this episode, Drew and Nikki trace his path from a JCPenney-style family portrait studio to photographing world leaders, Nobel laureates, and major corporate campaigns — and he breaks down exactly how he prices that work today. They dig into setting boundaries on set (and how to say yes to more without losing your mind), why those early "conveyor belt" studio years became his real technical training, and why he believes his biggest competition isn't other photographers — it's being forgotten. Drew also walks through how he actually quotes corporate jobs (day rates, itemized breakdowns, and the cautionary tale of a client who blamed him for "cheap-looking" dresses), how personal passion projects like his "Breaking Ground" series and a helicopter shoot over Manhattan became his best marketing, and the "Helsinki Bus Station Theory" — his framework for why so many photographers give up on their style right before it becomes distinctive.
Topics covered:
Setting boundaries with clients without losing bookings
Why "conveyor belt" studio work builds indispensable technical skills
The accidental path from individual sessions to corporate/organizational clients
Pricing corporate shoots: day rates, itemized quotes, and scope questions
Why past-client relationships and personal introductions beat cold outreach
Marketing through consistent presence, not constant hard-selling
Passion projects as a client-acquisition strategy
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory: staying the course creatively

If you're building a photography business, want to grow your portrait photography income, or are curious about how to make money from photography online, this conversation is packed with actionable advice.
👉 For more videos like this, visit: https://theportraitsystem.com/
ABOUT THE PORTRAIT SYSTEM:
The step-by-step system to turn your portrait photography into a profitable business.
Build a solid foundation for the portrait business you want. Attract the right clients over and over again. Confidently create the work you're proud of. Streamline, scale, and grow with purpose.
Join an international community of thousands of photographers learning to build and succeed in their portrait businesses.
With hundreds of specially designed courses to help you create and grow a profitable contemporary portrait business.
Whether you're starting out or scaling up, The Portrait System gives you the tools to build a portrait business that supports your life.
FOLLOW US:
JOIN The Portrait System: https://theportraitsystem.com/
FB: /theportraitsystem
IG: /theportraitsystem

Caroline White has been a professional photographer for 21 years — starting as an actress shooting headshots on the side before a burglary wiped out her equipment and pushed her into photography full-time. Since 2011 she's averaged six figures a year shooting personal branding for women entrepreneurs and coaches, and more recently has pivoted into a passion project: underwater portrait photography.
In this episode, Caroline and Nikki dig into pricing high-touch branding packages (from $2,500 simple sessions to a $20,000 two-and-a-half-day shoot), the "asshole insurance" strategy that protects her boundaries while letting her overdeliver for great clients, how AI is affecting (and not affecting) the personal branding photo market, and her transition from packages to in-person sales for underwater work — including handmade, rhinestone-embellished prints. Caroline also opens up about the near-drowning experiences that shaped her fearlessness in the water and her ability to help nervous clients feel safe underwater.
About Caroline White
Caroline White is a Los Angeles and San Diego personal branding, portrait and underwater photographer with more than 20 years of experience, known for photographing entrepreneurs, executives and women building distinctive personal brands.
Visit Caroline's website: carolinewhitephotography.com
Topics covered:
Building a 6-figure business without weddings or paid ads
How marketing lag works — and what happens when you stop
Add-ons that increase average sale (rush orders, retouching tiers, split-day shoots)
"Asshole insurance": overdelivering for good clients, holding boundaries with difficult ones
AI's real impact on personal branding photography
Underwater photography: gear, safety, and working with non-swimmers
Transitioning from packages to in-person sales (IPS)
Handmade art pieces: painting on prints, Swarovski crystals, double exposures

If you're building a photography business, want to grow your portrait photography income, or are curious about how to make money from photography online, this conversation is packed with actionable advice.
👉 For more videos like this, visit: https://theportraitsystem.com/
ABOUT THE PORTRAIT SYSTEM:
The step-by-step system to turn your portrait photography into a profitable business.
Build a solid foundation for the portrait business you want. Attract the right clients over and over again. Confidently create the work you're proud of. Streamline, scale, and grow with purpose.
Join an international community of thousands of photographers learning to build and succeed in their portrait businesses.
With hundreds of specially designed courses to help you create and grow a profitable contemporary portrait business.
Whether you're starting out or scaling up, The Portrait System gives you the tools to build a portrait business that supports your life.
FOLLOW US:
JOIN The Portrait System: https://theportraitsystem.com/
FB: /theportraitsystem
IG: /theportraitsystem

What happens when a portrait photographer stops thinking like a freelancer and starts thinking like a CEO? Jaren Collins did exactly that — and built JCi Creatives, a nationwide creative agency specializing in conference and event storytelling, with clients including AT&T and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
In this episode, Jaren breaks down:
How he quit his corporate job (with almost nothing saved) and matched his salary within a month
Why he walked away from 52 weddings a year to pursue corporate clients
How one $1,000 gig turned into nearly $100,000 in annual spend from a single client
His approach to project-based pricing and asking "what's your budget" upfront
High-volume headshot strategy — including doing 75 headshots in 23 minutes
The systems, AI tools, and team structure that keep his business running efficiently
Why referrals in the corporate world are massively underutilized

Jaren also co-owns Greenwood Co., a creative coworking and content space in DeSoto, Texas built to empower creators and entrepreneurs — and his mission is to help others turn creativity into sustainable, legacy-building businesses.
Whether you want to break into corporate photography or scale what you've already built, this episode is full of real-world strategy you can use today.
If you're building a photography business, want to grow your portrait photography income, or are curious about how to make money from photography online, this conversation is packed with actionable advice. 👉 For more videos like this, visit: https://theportraitsystem.com/
ABOUT THE PORTRAIT SYSTEM: The step-by-step system to turn your portrait photography into a profitable business. Build a solid foundation for the portrait business you want Attract the right clients over and over again Confidently create the work you're proud of Streamline, scale, and grow with purpose
Join an international community of thousands of photographers learning to build and succeed in their portrait businesses.
With hundreds of specially designed courses to help you create and grow a profitable contemporary portrait business.
Whether you're starting out or scaling up, The Portrait System gives you the tools to build a portrait business that supports your life.
FOLLOW US: JOIN The Portrait System: https://theportraitsystem.com/ FB: /theportraitsystem IG: /theportraitsystem