Archive for 'Other Stuff'
Howdy!
Investing in pictures is always a good idea, but you are a super smarty-pants for grabbing this killer deal. I can’t wait to meet you and your family. You are bound to have some questions, so down below are some answers.
Scheduling
Dates and times are on a first come, first served basis. Sessions are generally held 1-2 hours before sunset. Keep this in mind when you’re planning when to schedule your session. Depending on your family’s schedule, you may want to schedule a weekend date or book your session soon before daylight savings time is gone.
Session rescheduling and cancellation require a 48 hour notice. No shows or cancellation with less than 48 hours notice may incur a $50 rescheduling fee.
Location
I am a location photographer. I have a studio that is used for consultations and ordering sessions, not for shooting. Common choices for locations are country/park settings and urban settings. No need to stress about where to have your session, just have a look around my website and let me know what you are drawn to. If you have a personal location in mind like your house or a family farm, please let me know and we will discuss whether it will work. All locations are to be within 20 miles of Fresno. Outside of this radius a small travel charge will apply.
Investment
You are not obligated to purchase anything beyond your deal, but there will likely be multiple images you simply must have after viewing your entire session. A typical order is $400-$800, but many clients end up spending much more. Click here for my current pricing.
Ordering
You will have an in-studio ordering session 1-2 weeks after your session. This is where you will pick the image for your DealSaver package. This is also the time you will order any additional wall portraits, albums or gift prints. Please make sure that any decision makers are present. You will receive an additional 10% off your order during this session. Please note that, while we love children, they tend to make an ordering session quite a bit more stressful than it should be. We advise that you secure a baby sitter for this session. That way you can enjoy your glass of wine in peace. Think of it as a little date night.
There is no online ordering for local clients. Online ordering is available for out of town clients but requires a minimum, pre-paid purchase of $300 + tax.
Style
While we strive to create the best portraits for your family, I do have a specific style to my portrait work. Please take the time to look through our online galleries and blog before purchasing a deal to know if our style is well suited for you. I am a consistent photographer, so if you like my work, then by all means get this Deal, because that is what you are going to get.
Extra Bits
Can you bring your family pets? Of course! Need more than an hour session? Additional time can be purchased for $50/hour. Need a back rub? Well, no, I can’t help you. Want to bring me cookies? Do it and I’ll photoshop Brad Pitt’s abs on your husband.
What now?
The best way to start the process is to contact us online. Of course you can call (559.471.8944) if you would rather or if you just have some questions. While you are online, please be a fan of our Facebook page, it’s what all the cool kids are doing.
Fresno is hot. That’s about all the reason you need to head to the beach. Well, that and the fact that it is a rockin’ place to do your senior pictures. Now you could set up an appointment with Everblue anytime to do a beach session, why is this any different? Book your session now for the ocean session and you pay no travel fee. Normally it is an extra $200 for us to travel to the beach, but for this beach weekend, it’s FREE!!
As you can imagine spots fill up fast so book ASAP if you want to reserve your spot.
Here’s the skinny:
When: August 14th and 15th
Where: Pismo and Avila Beach
How much? No travel fee! (normal session fee does apply)
Need more details? Call/text or email us for the 411.
I think it may be an addiction, but I choose to just call it staying hip with the times. I have this habit of changing names and logos. While I have had good reasons for the name changes, I can’t say the same about the logos. The only thing I can say is that they never felt right. Now, I could have just stuck with what I had, but I just couldn’t. So I did what I should have done a long time ago, hired a professional designer. So in came Mariah from Mariah DeMarco Designs. I really can’t say enough about Mariah, she took the vague ideas I had for the logo and completely realized a design that I didn’t even know I wanted. Not only is she an immensly talented artist, she is about the sweetest person I have ever come in contact with. Ever. Not only did I get a logo that I am completely and utterly in love with, I had the best experience that I could have imagined with the design process. Big thanks and much love to you, Mariah!
As far as the new website goes, I could have simply plugged in the new logo my existing site, but this wasn’t really an option. There were two problems. One, I hated having a separate website and blog. The second problem was that both sites were ugly as sin. So putting my killer new logo on my old site would be like putting lipstick on a pig. A complete overhaul was due. Many, many late nights ensued until this site was done. My knowledge of CSS coding is a little lacking, like non-existant, so I had to learn to build a website from scratch. I found out the reason it costs a lot of money for a custom website is because it is really freakin’ hard to do. After many hours toiling over this site, I am content. I love the site, I love my logo. They feel right.
Now, I don’t typically do family pictures, but with a girl as cute as Maggie, how could I say no? We went to Fresno State to shoot this little session. Melissa (mom) said that Maggie is really shy and it could be a bit of an issue. I think her shyness lasted about 12-13 seconds. Pretty much up until the moment she started talking about her cat. After that it was game over on the shyness and we got an hour of her talking about her kitty. She did take a break once and talk about her fish. She absolutely made this session one of the most fun of the year. Well, we end up getting some awesome pictures and learned a ton about a little girl’s cat. Below are some of my favorites from the session.
I came across this idea from Chase Jarvis. Chase Jarvis is currently one of the most famous commercial photographers out there right now. Not only is good but he has an uber-cool behind the curtains approach to his work. He puts up videos and blogs on how he does what he does. The idea of his that I am going to start “borrowing” is his iPhone photo of the day. As a photographer, just like a musician or an athlete, it is critical to constantly practice. Not only to keep the skills you have, but to learn and acquire new ones. The problem is that I’m not going to carry around my massive camera everywhere I go. Photographs are everywhere, at all times and you just have to be there to catch them. The best camera is the one you have on you.
Now I’m not going to start blogging each little picture everyday. I might put up a little gallery on the blog for each 25 or so though. I am, however, going to post them on my Facebook fan page. So if you haven’t joined the fan page, go ahead and do it now. I can’t promise that they all will be amazing, but they should at least be interesting. This is photography stripped to the nitty gritty, should be fun!!
Here is my pic for today. Its my son, Jackson watching The Backyardigans on mommy’s phone.