The most your money can buy.

Long Answer:

Point & Click:

Canon PowerShot G1 X Digital Camera: ~$800

Entry Level SLR:

Canon EOS 60D Digital Camera SLR: ~$950 (body only)

Professional SLR:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera SLR: ~$2300 (body only)

Is that Point & Click too rich for your blood? Well, here would be my pick for an entry level Point & Click:

Point & Click:

Canon PowerShot ELPH 310 HS: ~$220

Point & Click:

Canon PowerShot SX230 HS Digital Camera: ~$275 (currently on sale for $225) - has a much better zoom and is slightly heavier

Not all photographers are created equal. Some are artists and others are camera-operators. Some are good at business & service while others completely lack those skills. Some know how to use light (the single most important aspect to photography) and others rely on luck. Some charge a premium and others are downright cheap! Being in this industry for so many years, I see “photographers” that cover each one of these types. It is important that you know that just because someone has a website and a nice portfolio doesn’t automatically indicate that they will serve your needs best.

Long Answer:

RE: Talent
I see things from fresh angles and classic angles. I understand lenses and their effect on your nose. I understand lighting; natural and artificial. I understand color, contrast and composition. I do believe I have “the eye” and posses true talent. I am consistently researching and learning as any true artist will do. I want to get better. I have envy of other photographers and that motivates me.

RE: The Knowledge of Light – the single most important aspect to photography
Look carefully at a photographer’s portfolio; do they understand light? You can tell… especially in portraits. Can you see the color of a person’s eyes? Does the picture quality look any different than a picture from your point-and-shoot camera? It should. There is a sea of for-profit photographers that don’t get it at all and rely on luck. I have more skill than that and I spend a great deal of time educating myself on this topic.
*A Word of Caution to Wedding Clients: If your wedding is at night or mostly indoors, will be conducted in low or dramatic light, if the walls are a far distance apart or the ceilings are extra high or a dark color, PLEASE find an experienced and talented photographer or you will be sorely disappointed in your pictures.

RE: People Skills
I am a director. I learned that in Film School. I put you in an imaginary place to get your face to show the right emotion. I turn my subjects into actors. We will strive to let go of any inhibitions. If it’s candid, I look through the lens and wait for a moment to happen. This becomes a memory, captured for eternity. This is my craft and I do it well. I am nice and not at all intimidating. If you have inner beauty, I will bring it to the surface for all to see. A lot of the photographers I’ve met have these qualities too. But I have met not-so-nice photographers too and I’m not sure why they chose this profession – They do better with landscapes.

RE: Equipment
My equipment is high end and cost a small fortune. There are for-profit photographers that shoot with low-end lenses. I don’t own a lens that cost less than $1000. Your pictures are only as good as your glass (lenses). I had a $300 lens and the images weren’t crisp. It really makes a difference. I use a full-frame camera. Why is that important? Lets just say it matters in small spaces or when using a long lens.

RE: Price
My session fees are comparable to high-end boutique photographers but my product & print prices are nearly complimentary and this puts me into the middle of what you might pay a boutique photographer as far as overall cost is concerned. Prints and products are part of my “service” rather than my money maker. In the last few years, I saw so many people take the digital files to be printed at Walmart in order to save money. I completely understand the reasoning behind this but they were doing such a disservice to themselves and their images. Consumer printer quality is terrible. I truly want you to get the best products out of your session, so print & product prices are marked up a mere 15%. An 8×10″ is $3. I make money from the session fee and the purchase of digital files. I feel that I charge a fair price for what I do. I charge what I could fathom paying for it. This job will never make me rich but it makes me happy.

RE: Business Skills
I have been in business long enough to be organized. I crave organization. I think it helps to set expectations. I have a process that is concrete. I am proud of the service I provide. Before you have a session with me, you will know exactly what is included, the cost, and what will be delivered to you. I provide a teaser, an ordering gallery and provide you with my product suggestions and my favorite images. Because my prints & products aren’t inflated in price, you can be confident in my sincerity with regards to image & product choice.

My Wishlist and Hope for the Future:
I wish I had a big commercial studio, a set designer, a healthy prop budget, and a stylist & makeup artist on staff.

I know the holidays just ended.
I am trying to lose the 6 pounds I gained over the last 2 months. ugh.
I know you want to get bikini ready by May…but what about Valentine’s Day?!?
You may not feel like your peak self, but I assure you that I can take a HOT-DAMN shot of you to give to your sweetheart.

To help your confidence in doing something this insane, I am offering a 2 for 1 special. You and a friend will come over and offer encouragement and tips to each other to make it bearable. Get it?…”bare-able”…lol
* You don’t have to get naked or wear skivvies to take a sexy photo. We can talk more about this privately.

Leave it to me…I have some great ideas!

When:

Saturday, January 28, 2012 – this is the only day to enjoy the special pricing

Where:

Heather’s indoor studio, white background

Cost:

Starts at $60 for 2 adult females, 1 outfit

To Book:

Send me an email with your time preference.

The Perfect Keepsake:

Accordion Minis – pocket-sized book – 3×3″ with 10 panels to customize.
Comes with a frosted protective cover. *additional cost

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool. ]]> http://heatherphotographer.com/2011/12/are-digital-files-and-professional-printing-important-to-you/feed/ 0 http://heatherphotographer.com/2011/10/what-should-we-wear/ http://heatherphotographer.com/2011/10/what-should-we-wear/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:18:43 +0000 Heather Murphy http://heatherphotographer.com/?p=4742 Continue reading →]]> Short Answer:

Over the years, I have gained some quick and simple tips, tricks & rules.
The MOST important thing is that you feel good and wear something flattering. I would ditch “matching” for something you look and feel great in.

Check out my Pinterest board on “Clothing Choices for portrait sessions.”

Check out my Pinterest board on “Christmas Portraits Clothing.”

Long Answer:

I hope this helps and these are only suggestions:

Family Portraits:
To start, it is my preference that clothing for group portraits be in the same style or theme – such as all formal wear, all beach wear, all outdoorsy type clothes, etc. It is a safe bet to shop at the same store or within the same brand to make sure the color palette of the season will be spot-on! (More about color below). Everyone should dress as if their destination is the same – such as boating, the theater, the Oscars, etc.
Exceptions: I would love to do a more introspective family shot where we explore each member’s personality and dynamics within the family (please ask me about this!)
I also love costumes! Everyone could dress like you all ran off to join the circus or you have all been transported into the distant future or do you remember Sprockets?!?
The question to ask yourself: How do you want to dress up your walls??

Clothing can also be chosen based on colors and patterns – ie: wear all brown, tan and cream tones or all black, gray and white tones. If all but 1 of you are wearing primary colors, the person in dark grey will upset the overall feel of the picture. I would love to see everyone in a plaid shirt or everyone in red (but one is polka dots, the other is stripes, the other is solid).

What I DON’T prefer? Totally matching outfits where everyone is wearing a black turtleneck and jeans or a white button up and khakis and distracting writing or logos on clothing.
Note: It is good to pick 1 color and accent with the 2 other colors. Children can be seen as accents and dress predominantly in the accent color.
Men & women, boys & girls should not dress in opposite colors.

Maternity:
I really like white, loose clothing…a long flowing skirt with a fitted tank top (ribbed is cool). Some colorful and chunky necklaces are nice. Or some other splash of color. I think “ethereal” or “mother nature” to inspire me.
How do you feel about nudity? If I can get a silhouette in front of a sunny window, I love those! If your hair is long, you can cover your boobies. I could also suggest a cropped sports bra and boy shorts instead of nudity.
If you have something planned already, go for it! I have no real rules other than that you feel beautiful!

Yes – for events & business sessions (high-res)
No – for portrait sessions (available for purchase)

long answer:

Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976 (effective January 1, 1978 and amended when the USA joined the Berne Convention in 1989), photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.

In a great article, entitled “Are Digital Files Included With My Baby Photography Session?” photographer Lauri Baker accurately describes the dilemma photographers currently face:

“Almost all of the file inquiries I get stem from an attempt to get my work for cheap… to get my vision, but to skip out on buying prints from me. Or from a misconception that digital is cheaper to produce than film. It’s not. The equipment is much more expensive, replacements are necessary more often, and the workflow, maintenance, troubleshooting, and constant education requirements make digital much more expensive.”

While the session fee compensates the photographer for providing the session: expensive equipment, enormous file storage, vision, education and all of the other high costs of doing business like taxes, insurance, self employed health insurance…., the sale of prints, products and release of digital files is our sole source of income. The reason they aren’t automatically built into the price is because I think it is most fair to you that I only be paid if I do a great job. If I don’t, then I don’t make a profit.

Photography is being devalued because people are forgetting that what they’re paying for is the photographer’s vision, not just a piece of paper or a digital file.

Read more about a photographer’s hourly rate, session fees and find out just how much your boutique photographer actually makes: “Why are session fees and prints so Expensive?!?”

I am of course referring to non-digital images: prints, slides and other miscellaneous cutouts and memorabilia; The images that are in a shoebox, in a drawer and in albums that are coming apart.

I got my 1st digital camera on my birthday in Aug. 2002. A 3MP Sony. The beauty of 35mm film was traded in for pixelated, washed-out images. But who cared?!? The images were all on a hard drive now and they were so easy to access and make lifetime stories with in slideshows, videos and digital albums! My youngest daughter has her whole life documented in digital form. But my oldest daughter’s 1st 3 years are on film. She is just going into middle school and I want to create a digital album of her life so far. I have 3 years of scanning to do.

Do you know what settings to put your scanner on?
Do you know how to organize your folders?
Should I back up my files once they are scanned in?
What do I do with the old prints?

What settings should I have my scanner on?

I don’t do ANY color or sharpness adjustments in the scanner software. Those refinements should be done in editing software. For now, you want the best representation of the image being scanned. Place it on CLEAN glass: use a clean eyeglass or lens cloth and lens cleanser to clear the surface of all fingerprints, smudges and dust. I scan 4x6s at 600 dpi. I scan 8x10s at 300 dpi. Slides should be scanned in at 1200 dpi. Slides require a special scanner. Please note that any image taken by someone else is automatically copyrighted. It is illegal to duplicate a professional photographer’s images. Don’t get in trouble.

How should I organize my folders?

I organize my folder chronologically (by date). I start with a folder labeled “2011.” Inside “2011″ are 12 folders labeled “2011_01,” “2011_02,” etc… Inside those folders are more folder named by the event, such as “heather_bday” or “graduation,” etc…. When I have random shots, I just place them directly in that month and don’t even name a special folder.

Should I back up my files once they are scanned in?

YES! Any file that is important to you should be in 3 places (2 at the minimum). For my scanning project and most photos I have, I use 2 places. I have them on an external hard drive AND they are backed up to “Crash Plan.” Crash Plan is a cloud service. If my hard drive ever failed, I can restore all of my files back onto a new hard drive from Crash Plan. Crash Plan is not intended to be used as an offsite storage for working from. The file recovery is slow. It is for emergencies and costs about $6/month.

What do I do with the old prints?

I suggest that location #3 for backup is the original prints. But if the space they are taking up drives you crazy, I suggest that you keep all carefully composed prints, professional prints, polaroids, vintage prints, black & whites, and negatives. Toss the 4x6s on generic photo paper. This is what I may do. Wouldn’t it be nice to free up that space?

* A special thanks to Coyaba Beach Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica for their incredible hospitality!

Important Links:

Full Gallery of Proofs: Nancy + Mike Wedding Proofs

Your Wedding Album on facebook: Nancy + Mike on facebook