Personal

Back in February I had the opportunity to speak at our church’s Women’s Conference as a workshop speaker on the topic of photography. It was a great experience for me and stretched me in ways I hadn’t been stretched in since college speech. Our pastor’s wife asked if I would be willing to bring a door prize to the conference and I offered up a 50% discount on the package of their choice.  After the conference had ended I didn’t know who had picked the photo shoot, until Julie contacted me letting me know she had won it.

Julie mostly wanted pictures of her almost two-year-old daughter, with a few of the whole family. Julie and her husband had recently visited family in Germany where she purchased a white dress for her daughter. Julie’s vision for the photoshoot was to have Elena in the white dress in a field of flowers or grass. I love it when clients have ideas for their sessions and I always try my best to incorporate them if at all possible.

I asked some photographer friends if they knew of a field of flowers, but I really wasn’t coming up with anything. Come to find out there is a field not far from my sister’s house where the owner gave us permission to use his field. When we walked on to the property, Julie told me it was exactly what she had envisioned. I couldn’t have been happier, since it was my first time to the property as well.

I had a lot of fun shooting this session with Dave and Julie and their sweet happy girl, Elena. We started out at their house and then drove over to the field for the remainder of the session. I loved the fact that Julie wore a bright color, which paired perfectly with Dave’s shirt and Elena’s white dress. To me, color just really helps make a picture come alive and add so much more personality to a final image!

I first met Kristen in 2004 at Ironwood Christian Camp. I was on summer staff as a wrangler and she had come to volunteer for a few weeks during the summer break. We hit it off and have kept in contact, mostly through Facebook, ever since.

Kristen contacted me a few weeks ago about getting some family pictures done while on spring break. We decided Furman University provided the look and feel she was wanting and met one clear afternoon. This was the first time I had met her kids, and they were both adorable!

Colton, who just turned 3, stole the show. As I would bring my camera up to take the picture, he’d say cheese with a quick smile and then “all done”. He had me laughing and I don’t think he ever quite talking the entire session. Such a fun little guy with so much energy.

We wondered around the lake and back portion of the property and I think all the adults maintained their sanity in trying to get the two  kids to both look at me and smile and semi-cooperate for the shoot. The kids did fantastic and I think we were able to get some fun pictures of them.

I always enjoy meeting new people when I take pictures. It’s always a little more enjoyable when they are from my neck of the woods too! Lindsay contacted me about having some family portraits done while her family was in South Carolina visiting her sister. Come to find out, Lindsay is from Indiana and not too far from where I grew up!

After scheduling the session, Lindsay turned the organization portion of the photo shoot over to her sister Michelle, who lives here in South Carolina. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the emails from Michelle. She knew exactly what type of shots she wanted, provided me with a list, and even gave me the names of everyone involved in the session. I didn’t realize how much of an impact, just knowing names ahead of time would have. I felt like I knew each member the family prior to arriving at their home in the Cliffs.

I always make a valiant effort to get to know names when shooting a large family, but often times, I simply can’t remember everyone. Having Michelle’s list ahead of time made my job just that much easier, since I already had an idea of names and who belonged in which family.

The day was gorgeous up in the mountains and we finished up the session right before it rained, which made for some interesting lighting, but we made it through.

Thank you so much for allowing me to photograph such a fun family! It was great getting to know you and I hope you enjoy your pictures!

I first met Candy through work and instantly felt a connection with her, probably because she is from the Chicago area and I grew up about an hour and a half from Chicago. That, and we both attended the same college, yet had never met. It’s funny the things you find you have in common with co-workers, how your paths have probably crossed before and you probably never knew it.

I was excited when Candy asked if I’d photograph her family for some updated spring portraits. We decided Furman was close to our neck of the woods and set up a day for the session. I had heard all about her two children, Connor and Jenna, and all the funny things they say, and couldn’t wait to meet them.

The evening was perfect for the photo shoot, not too hot and not too cold. The kids did a great job at the session and had tons of energy! We had a good time tromping all over the Furman campus, chasing squirrels, yelling at the squirrels, calling the squirrels names.

Thank you for allowing me to photograph your precious family!

In the past few weeks I’ve attended a couple photographer get together’s and the topic has been pricing and in person sales. While I don’t offer an in person sale consultation currently, (*2013 update, I am now offering post session consultations) my goal is to work towards that one day. Right now my pricing is structured so clients know the total cost upfront before booking me and they know what it includes. I offer several different packages, but one cost is associated with each individual package.

Many photographers offer a sitting fee and then products can be purchased after the session, including wall art, prints, and the always coveted images on CD. I do like this approach from a sales perspective, however, I don’t consider myself a sales person. I know I would have a long ways to go to be comfortable with sales, but like I mentioned, it’s something I’m working towards.

I’m a visual person and I think a lot of people are, especially when it comes to ordering prints for their homes. Some of the things I’ve learned through these various photographer get together’s is to educate your client. The question I get asked most often is ‘What should I wear?’ My answer has slowly changed as I’ve become more informed. I always like bright, bold colors, but that’s half the battle. A third of that would be adding accessories, belts, hats, jackets, jewelry, to the outfit; it can really add personality and make your photos interesting.

The other part of that answer is think about what you would like to do with these photos. Are they going to sit on the CD you so desparately wanted for years, gathering dust until you print some off? Are you actually going to print some off, only to have them stashed in a box or drawer until you have time to sort through them?

Wouldn’t you rather walk away from your session with the hard work done for you? Through ordering large prints to hang in your home, the hard work is done, all you have to do is hang it up.

When deciding what type of clothing to wear to a session, put a little thought into what you actually want to do with those photos. If your goal is to display them in your home, think about which room you’d like to have a nice large print of your family. What are the colors in that room? What are the asthetics of the room? Do you have tall ceilings in that room? Once you know the answers to those questions, your photographer has a better idea on the kind of location to shoot your session and the kind of look you are going for.

Going this route will almost guarantee you a specialized piece of artwork to hang in your living room, bedroom or dining room that will  have the look and feel of being customized directly for you. . . because it was. Your family and friends will be envious of the way your print totally looks like it was made for that room. . . because it was.

How many of us actually print out 4×6 or 5×7 prints from a photo session? I know I don’t. I have a few small picture frames scattered around my home with candids of my husband, family and friends, but the pictures I actually hang on the wall are all larger than 5×7. This is one of the reasons I offer an 11×14 mounted print with all of my sessions, because I want my clients to appreciate their images in a large format. I’m actually thinking of increasing this size with my packages.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am a visual person, so when I came across this picture from Ariana Falerini, I knew I had to use it to help educate my clients and myself. Here I was thinking how large of a print an 11×14 is, when in actuality, it’s not that big at all! I hope this gives you a better idea of why I’m encouraging you to order prints larger than 4×6, 5×7, and 8×10. Not to increase sales on my end, but so you can truly appreciate your photos on a large scale and how beautiful a large piece of custom artwork can truly be in your home.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment or two below!