Results for category "Families"

Top 9 Reasons TLC Photography is Moving

Dance Portraits

We’ve been working in photography in this area for almost 20 years, and have moved our studio twice. We’re moving it again… and we’re convinced that we’re doing it for all the right reasons. But we wanted to make sure that you, our valued followers and clients, understood our reasons and what led to this very big decision. So, we’re sharing our reasoning with you!

9. Our market, clients, and the photography industry have all changed. The shooting space that we have now is no longer suitable for our needs, and we would rather have a more focused space in which we can concentrate on the things that we do best. The new space will be plenty big, and we can still photograph large family groups (up to 35) with ease, as well as babies, seniors and boudoir.

8. We want to feel “at home” in our studio. Since the building we are in was originally designed in a different era of the industry, and with differing goals in mind, adapting to a new and ever evolving landscape in photography would not be as easy as starting with a blank slate. In our new space, we are starting fresh. No fixed sets or fixed backdrops, but a few things we like and use most, along with our own creativity.

Trash The Dress, Shenandoah River

7. We realized that we don’t need a “park” in our backyard, as we have partnered with a few local (and very generous) farmers and other land owners to use their property for sessions. The best part of this is that you will almost surely have exclusive imagery for your on-location sessions. Plus, we have been working on many new technological approaches to putting you where we need you to be for the perfect shot.

6. Our new location does not have any “neighbor” issues, such as barking dogs, skunks, and cats that use our backyard as a litter box. Let’s just leave it at that.

5. The building we are in now, and the property it is on, have a host of issues that we cannot easily overcome. So, changing our location so that we do not and cannot have those issues is a best option. That doesn’t mean we won’t have issues at our new studio… but at least there we have more control over them.

4. We want to make a bigger impression. We have tried several ways to get people to see our work. Facebook and other social media outlets help some. But seeing our work is most of what draws people in. Route 11 (Winchester Ave) is a 40-45MPH road, and even just seeing our sign is not easy. Trying to put pictures out for people to see, even large ones on the deck, would be met with maybe a second’s worth of exposure. In our new facility, we have five huge 5×7′ windows… and we have a lot planned for those big beautiful sunshine gatherers! Plus, in a building with no windows, we get NO sun exposure… now, we will. Every day.

Hummingbird Cooper Captures

3. Cooper Captures (the wildlife and scenic photography started by Diana early last year) needs to shine… the work is exquisite, and it needs a place to really be seen by many. There are NO windowsin our current studio, and like you saw in #4 above, you can’t make an impression by showing it to a few people online. Diana will be setting up a wonderful display of her work in the corner windows, and we will be offering retail sales of matted prints, gallery canvases, greeting cards and much more. Plus, it will be much easier to see other wildlife photos on our large, color-corrected monitors!

2. We need to create… for awhile now, we have wanted total control of our sessions. While we take every measure to ensure that we provide each of our clients with a unique experience, we are surrounded by the sameness of a studio that was designed to churn out session after session with everyone getting the same treatment. We want more than that for our clients, and plan to offer very unique photography you can only get from the creative genius that gets its inspiration from other artists, both performing and from those who create works of art all the time. We’re looking forward to some very new and original work!

1. We crave interaction. In the last year or so, we have gotten much more involved in our community and with fundraising and “people” events. We’ve found that doing that from a building that is located nowhere near any of that, we can’t help as many people as we wish. Being in a downtown location will give us the ability to not only support our merchant neighbors, but to hopefully give them a reason to do the same. We know that is something we will have to earn, but it is also something we are more than prepared to do.

Between now and November 1, we will give you lots more information. This will include a big Open House we are planning, and lots of fun specials you can look forward to for the holiday season! But mostly, we’re looking forward to setting up our first BIG window display in town. It’s going to start small, and grow. Keep an eye out… you won’t be able to miss it!

 

Do You Really Want The CD?

So, when your photographer advertises that big special offer, which might include a CD of images from the session, you’re ready to jump on it because you love getting the CD, right?  What’s not relevant here is how many images you get, or the circumstances.  What’s important is that if you only got a CD, you’re not only cheating yourself, but you’re getting cheated.  Read on.

Notwithstanding that a CD might cost less than a buck, and that your photographer with a certain style might spend less than a hour on your images, what are you really getting?  Yes, you get the experience and professional photography.  You get good customer service, a fun time with a genuinely nice person, and even some good pictures.  But are you getting something that will last forever?

Do you remember the 8-track tape?  Cassette tape?  Most people don’t use CDs anymore (they only hold about 700MB), and most use DVDs (which hold over 4GB).  But with the advent of Blu-Ray, how long will it be before that DVD is out of date?  Or that file format?  What will you do in ten years when DVDs are no longer supported by computers (most computers today no longer support floppy drives)?

Here’s something else to consider… where will you store your disk?  What will you do with the images on it?  Post them on Facebook?  How long will they stay there?  They may remain on your photo gallery for a long time, but they will get pushed to the bottom like all the others have over time.  And forgotten.  The disk may get lost or damaged (do you know how to take care of a DVD properly?)

It’s time for you to take control.  If your photographer offers only a disk, ask for more.  Demand prints.  Tell them you want your images to be on the wall, in full view, for all to see.  Be proud of your portraits, your wedding, your children and your family!  Don’t hide them away on a disk anymore.  Put them out for the world to see!

Here’s more to consider.  Did you know that children who see pictures of themselves on the walls have a greater sense of well-being and self-confidence as they grow up?  They can’t see those pictures of they’re on a disk.  And couples who put their wedding pictures on the walls and in an album are more likely to stay together than those who don’t. We have clients who regularly share their pictures on the walls with us – and they have fabulous relationships, wonderful families and beautiful children!

Listen… this is not hard to understand.  And yes, we DO sell the image files for most of our sessions and weddings.  But we always offer you prints at the same time.  And we always will, because they mean you will always see the pictures that you have tucked safely away in a dark storage place (after you made a backup, right?)

So, what are you going to do next time your photographer offers a disk-only portrait session?  That’s right, demand prints!

 

When rain falls

image

Today was our third installment of street portraits. We got about a half hour in before the rain started. And while Mother Nature decided against me today, it’s okay to realize the higher power that is the weather.

We’re excited about continuing this series and want your feedback. What do you think we should do? Another city? A different time of day? Or perhaps move indoors?

Stay dry. Enjoy your Sunday. We’re headed off for more adventure!

Children: Krysten

Here parents claim that in the 2-3 hours prior to her session, 13-year old Krysten professed to wanting to make this the worst even in their (and my) lives.  She was keenly opposed to being photographed, and apparently especially that day.  Don’t know why, really, but she was a great subject.  We took a TON of pictures (yes, I weighed them), and had a great time.  She smiled, laughed (sometimes hysterically), and we all enjoyed the session.

McClureK04511 McClureK04549 McClureK04631

Family: The Hardings

I’ve known these good folks for awhile.  I’ve watched their kids grow up, and have enjoyed the time we’ve worked together.  This was a special session, on-location in Middleway.  I hadn’t had the opportunity to really appreciate the architecture in this little town, and was grateful to get the chance.  Of course, the old Mercedes made things even more interesting.

Family portraits at TLC Photography Chidren's pictures in Inwood, WV Beautiful Family portraits near Charles Town, WV

Speaking of the Prom

OMG… Martinsburg, Musselman and Hedgesville proms are all the SAME DAY in Berkeley County!

All the formal wear!  All the dinner reservations, limos and flowers!  All the bling!  And the pictures!  OMG, the pictures!

We’re here to help.  On April 28, from 3-7pm, AT the studio, we’ll be happy to take your individual, couple or group portraits.  If you’re taking a limo, we’ll do limo shots for you.  Groups, no problem.  Buddy shots, couples, whatever!  We will have three fixed sets in our camera room, and four beautiful outdoor sets that are specially designed for formal sessions!

NO SESSION FEES!

Pay for your package (starting at $12), have your picture taken, go to the prom (or dinner, or whatever!).

No lines.

Your pictures look different than everyone else’s, and they look better because you got them done by a professional!

Pictures ready in two weeks or less!

Want more info, call.  304-263-3100

Here’s the flyer!

Prom portraits

Easter Note!

 

Easter egg

Easter is April 8 this year… and boy howdy did that just creep up on us or what???

 

Well, we sometimes get to take the Easter weekend off, and we sometimes don’t.  This year, it is one that we will.  So, that said, we’re going to be closed on Saturday, April 7 so that we can enjoy a three-day weekend.  If you need us, you know how to get at us…

  1. Through the website
  2. Via our Facebook page
  3. Call the studio (304-263-3100) and leave a voice message
  4. Owl-gram (you must be a 2nd year Wizard to use this service)

Enjoy your Easter holiday… if that includes a spring break or something along those lines, please be careful and come see us this spring!

Free Stuff!

Wouldn’t it be terribly cruel if I just left it as that?  And then told you there’s no free stuff?  I’m not… but that would be so rude! 🙂

Beautiful Portraits in MartinsburgWe’re getting ready to start a few give-aways around here.  We’re giving away stuff… like engagement sessions, proposal sessions, family sessions, portrait packages, large prints, small prints, and yes, even a wedding.

But you have to stay tuned.

They’re coming soon.  Check back at least once a week if you don’t see or blog entry on Facebook or our website.

BTW, the picture above is the eyes of a good friend and client’s daughter. This was a couple of years ago… it’s such an attention getter, isn’t it? 🙂

Our New Website

About four years ago, we replaced our HTML website with an all-Flash website, and then later added in some very important directional elements that helped people “find their way” in our complex website structure.

On Monday, March 12, we are changing the entire look of our website.  It will encompass all of the elements of our existing three sites (main, seniors and workshops) as well as making the links to client galleries and Diana’s nature photography easier to get to.

We invite you to visit our new site, which is a hybrid design that incorporates both HTML and Flash with a very strict database structure that makes everything seem more common across all platforms.  It’s even mobile friendly!

We’ve added all the basics, including all new galleries (pictures never before seen on our website), and intend to add much more for you to look at. This will include some behind-the-scenes photos and video, instructional videos that complement our workshops, and some great announcements for specials that go hand in hand with our social network pages and our blog.

Enjoy!  To see it, go to www.tlcphotography.com.

The Online Most Beautiful Baby Contest results

In order to appreciate the magnitude of this contest, you had to be on the receiving end.  When we started out, there were 51 new likes on the page on the very first day.  What we expected was maybe a couple of hundred votes among the four contestants.  What we got was quite different, but also very welcome.

There were 831 votes cast across four images… the Like button got pressed that many times on those photos.  Impressive.  The number of likes on the gallery alone was 128. Unfortunately, there were a LOT of people who liked the gallery, but did not like a photo as well.  There were also over 150 people who voted in the contest by Liking a picture, but who never also pressed Like on the TLC Photography page.

I’m telling you all of this because you need to appreciate that there was a lot to review after the fact, and that for two of our contestants, the bidding was fast and furious right up until midnight on Saturday night. To ensure that no additional votes filtered in while we were counting, we closed the entire page (Facebook has a nice little “Unpublish” feature).

Without going into anymore details, let’s get to the results.

Here’s the honorable mention for the online contest.  Little Mister Bennett was a virtual force of nature during his session.  Combining his love of music along with his sister’s debut in the judged version of the contest, he made quite a splash with us.

Children's portraits at the studio

Our second runner up (third place) is a friend of a family who has been a good client for awhile now. This little girl has been through a lot in her life, and we hope that these pictures reflect how wonderful a person she will soon become.

Baby pictures contest

 

The first runner up comes to us from a long-time client, and a second-time entry into the contest.  She has a very sweet disposition and we are sure to see more of her in the coming years.  Miss Calissa.

Children's portrait contest at TLC

 

We first met the winner of the contest a couple of years ago. Life has been an up and down rollercoaster for his family, and we were grateful to see him entered into the contest. He comes from a generous and wonderful family that has been a blessing to our area for so many.  Meet our winner, Mister Aidric.

Baby picture contest

Afterthought… you should also know that between first and second places, there was only a difference of six little votes. They were practically co-winners. The difference was so small that they were both winners to us.

Congratulations to all, and we thank everyone again who voted and committed themselves to the effort.