Hi! I'm Olivia, a stay-at-home mom to 3 incredible kids (currently 4, 2, and 2 months), I love to thrift, I love to craft, and starting my photography business has brought me immense joy and pride. And yes, a whoopie cushion completely transformed my entire business model.

Whoopie cushions are not new, and I’m sure I’m not the first photographer to whip one out during a session for a family with young kids. Trying it out was a fun experiment that was highly successful, but that’s not what changed my business forever, it’s what I did with a behind the scenes clip. 

I was in my first official year in business as a family portrait photographer, and being new to the game, I was trying lots of new ideas to find what worked best for me. In this particular session, I was practicing shooting at a new location where I would be shooting my first ever round of mini sessions shortly after. 

I am most comfortable doing full sessions with families because making real connections with my clients is immensely important to me, and so capturing real emotions in a 15 minute mini session felt like a daunting task. I knew I could get enough photos in 15 minutes but could I really capture genuine joy and create a memory-making experience? I had to be comfortable with the location so that when it came time for the mini sessions, I would focus on connection, not visual perfection.  I believe that great photos are more than the visual product but the way they make you feel when you remember the experience.

Okay, so this BTS clip. Let me set the scene. This was a family session at a stunning flower farm called Blue Hill Gardens in Monroe, NC. This was a family of 6 with two sets of twins. Yes, you read that right. Identical twin girls and fraternal twin boys. I knew that keeping attention may be a challenge because there was lots of space to roam and run, so I had planned several simple prompts and activities to use during this session to help us get back on track if we needed them. 

One of those activities was to use a whoopie cushion to encourage the kids to sit on stools I brought and of course to get some great big smiles! 

It worked like a charm. These photos were easily some of my favorites from the whole year! 

To capture behind the scenes footage, I had an attachment that could attach my phone to the top of my camera so that I could take videos from my point of view. I got an awesome clip of a few moments with the toddler boys that I wanted to use for a reel.

I had seen photographers do raw video with edited photo results at the end, so I wanted to try something similar. I posted a reel to Instagram that had raw video clips with the original audio and I put the final images over the video along the way to show results from the moment in the video. 

Before long, the video had thousands of views, and quickly got to hundreds of thousands of views. At the time I had less than 500 followers and this reel got over 700,000 views. I’m glad people liked my idea to try the whoopie cushion but that’s not what was so groundbreaking for me. It was that people liked watching what I do, just being myself, and were impressed with my photos. 

My confidence grew and I became excited to share the Olivia Soto photography experience with lots more people!!

This was the first moment I was able to see the bigger picture: my photography business. I had been treating my new business as a hobby, and after this moment, it truly became a business. 

Because of this mindset shift, I am focused on creating the best client experience possible. When you book a family photography session with me, you’re getting more than a photoshoot. You’re getting an experience designed to help your kids feel comfortable, allow space for play, and capture photos with real connection. The best part? I am doing the heavy lifting to entertain everyone and keep everyone on task! Mama, all you have to do is show up. I know that you have to do a lot of prep work to get there, but when it's time for photos? Moms and Dads deserve to enjoy the photoshoot experience just as much as the kids. The memories are so much sweeter when the smiles are REAL and Mom and Dad get to actually enjoy this experience that they are investing in.

Is this what you were expecting?

Do you think this mentality would change your business too?

Not only did this change my approach to family photography, but with seniors, couples, and even events too! If I am rigidly trying to put out stunningly perfect images, I'm missing the point. Let's capture the memories, not the rigid smiles.

Ready to learn more?

Explore my portfolio, and find my pricing information here. 

Contact me here when you’re ready to book, or if you have any questions for me!