Facebook Fans

Thanks a ton to all of my fans over on Facebook. I'm up to 36 fans in a week. That's not too bad at all. I think all of my new customers from last week signed up which is just awesome. I'm loving the feedback that I'm getting on my work and the updates I'm giving. Based on this reaction I'm going to keep it going, but I have no plans for stopping this blog any time soon. They both seem to serve their purpose. If you want to become my fan on Facebook just click the link and hit the "Become Fan" button at the top.

Facebook

2009 Wedding Highlights

Here are some of my favorite shots from my 2009 weddings. It was a really great year, I had more fun this year than any other year since I started. I met a lot of really great couples and I hope they'll be customers for life, especially once the little ones start arriving. Congratulations to all of my 2009 newlyweds!

Teresa and Chris' Wedding

I hate to always mention the weather in conjunction with my work, so I'll keep it short this time. The weather was gorgeous! This was a Saturday for the record books, the only thing better than working on a day like that is not working on a day like that. The wedding itself was very nice and both sides of the wedding party was a lot of fun. I had a really good time and I could tell everyone else was having a blast. The reception was a riot, the DJ was playing a custom playlist hand picked by the groom, tons of classic 70's pop, Glenn Campbell and Gordon Lightfoot to name a few. I'm not sure if it was the playlist or what, but the dance floor was filled the whole night. Everyone from flower girls on up to grandmothers was out on the floor rocking it. That's the best thing to see at a reception, it's very disappointing when no one dances and it can make a wonderful day end on sort of a flat note. I also need to mention, I've never been to Culver Cove before, and this place was amazing. It's a bit of a drive, but totally worth it, I wish more couples from this area would use that facility for their receptions. Congratulations you guys, I wish you all the best.

Free Wallets!

Got your attention didn't I. I'm very excited to announce the introduction of Free Wallet prints. If you choose, you may order up to 10 sheets of wallets from your order and get them absolutely free. The catch? Of course there is a catch, I will include my logo on the front of all free wallets. These wallets will serve as promotional pieces for me, getting my name out to your family and friends. These wallets are available to all of my current high school seniors, they're already turned on in your online proofing store, just select the images you want and add them to your cart. I'll add them to your order and you can hand them out at school. You save money and I get a little bit of added publicity. Win/win!

Justin's Portraits

Justin gave us some trouble this weekend now that he is fully mobile he is a hard little guy to keep in front of the camera. We tried all of the regular tricks and nothing kept in up there, well, the duct tape worked, but it made him mad and his face got all red. Of course the adults ultimately won, we got plenty of really cute shots of him, it just took a little bit longer than normal. Next time we need to figure out how to properly motivate him, chocolate perhaps? No, probably cold hard cash...

Facebook Page

Ok, I finally did it. I set up a Facebook page for the studio. This should be an interesting experiment if nothing else. Check it out at:

Face Book Page

Add yourself as a fan, the more the merrier!

Liz's Senior Portraits

We had a really great session last night for Liz's senior portraits. We got a really good variety of shots in just 2 locations. We started at her church and got some really nice shots in front of the stone work and cross at the front of the sanctuary. Then we swung over to the high school where she posed on the long Logansport High School sign. We drove around to the little cabin and then eventually walked into the Berry Patch. We did stay a little too long at the High School because by the time we go to the railroad bridge, the sun was completely behind the trees. I think in most cases the extra darkness would have been an issue, but the moodiness really worked for these shots. Liz's choice of top, the vintage guitar, and her expressions really worked well with the darkness, it gave these shots a really edgy feel. I even like the single strand of hair across her eye in this shot.

2009 LAA Photography Show

The LAA's annual Photography Show is fast approaching. Photographs will be received on Friday October 2nd from 11:30am to 5:30pm and Saturday October 3rd from 9am until noon. We are very lucky to have two excellent judges this year, John Parker of Weddings by Parker and Angie Turnpaugh from the Pharos Tribune. I hope everyone is planning on entering,it's always a good time at the reception talking to the other photographers in the area.

Busy Week

This has been a really busy week. Had a photo shoot every night except Friday and I spent all day Friday placing enlargement orders. I think this is the last portrait that needed to be uploaded to the gallery. Super cute Scott's 3 month portrait. We were chugging along very nicely, mom brought 3 outfits and we were ready to put on the second one when he fell fast asleep. We ended up scratching outfit 2, and moving straight on to outfit 3 which as luck would have it was pajamas. So that worked out pretty well.

New purchase option

I'm very excited to now be offering single pose packages. If you are needing several units of the same pose you can order one of 3 packages and save 10, 20, or 30%. You still get to choose the sizes you want, you can mix and match whatever works best for you, so if you need 5 8x10's you can save 20%, if you need 5 sheets of wallets, and 5 sheets of 5x7's you can save 30%. It's a really great feature and you can mix and match these packages into your order anyway you want, and if you just don't want to buy several prints of the same pose just order the units ala carte, my normal volume discounts still apply so either way you can save on the order that fits your needs exactly.

The packages themselves are Small, which includes 3 units of your choice for $30, Medium which includes 5 for $45, and Large which is the best value with 10 units of your choice for only $80.

If you have any questions about these great new packages don't hesitate to email me, I'd love to go over it in more detail with anyone who is interested.

Jordyn's Senior Portraits Part 2

We had much better luck with the weather for our outdoor session last night. We spent around an hour out at the golf course and aside from a couple of errant golf balls it went really well. We got some really nice shots including this one up in a really funky pine tree. There were of course issues with sap, I think Jordyn got it on her shirt and pants, and after I touched a branch I couldn't put my camera down, but it was well worth it to get such great shots.

Kelley's Senior Portraits

We had a great time doing Kelley's Senior Portraits last night. We started out at a family friend's house where we posed in and around her gardens. It was a long drive, but well worth it because this was a photographer's dream. Tons of color, lots of depth, plants at all heights, low, middle and high. The only problem was the mosquitoes. They were thick, at one point there were so many on my lens that I couldn't hold my camera up. Unfortunately, Kelly got bit a couple of times so it's going to mean a bit more Photoshop, but that's also worth it for the gorgeous gardens we got to photograph in.

Reduced Proofing Prices

I'm very very please to announce that due to a recent reduction in the prices I pay per image for my online proofing I'm making 2 exciting changes to my prices. First off, I'm lowering my High School Senior sitting fee to $100. The cost of my online proofing was one of the main reasons I raised my price to $125 and I'm really happy to be able to lower now.

Secondly, I'm going to double the amount of proofing included in all of my wedding packages. Instead of 90 days, I'm going to make it a full 6 months. This will give all of my happy new couples a couple of months to look and enjoy the pictures, and then a couple more months to get serious and place their orders. 90 days just never seemed to be enough and almost every bride ended up paying more for a couple of extra months. Those days should be behind us now.