This morning, after Diana and I went ice-skating in the car coming down River Road, we met a client at the studio to review her pictures.
I’ve worked with this client before. She’s very pleasant, and brought her daughter along to help select photos from a family session we did just before Christmas (literally, like two days before Christmas). When she got there, and hopped out of the truck (which I could have used earlier in the day when I was nearly spinning on the ice that had not been treated going down a 20 degree incline – Thanks Jefferson County!), she was smiling.
We quickly brushed off the steps of the massive one inch of accumulated snow (and for this they delayed schools two whole hours), and opened up the studio. This is where I just love the programmable thermostats we have, because the heat cuts on just enough before we get in to make sure it’s at the perfect temp when we arrive. So we go from 19 degrees outside to a comfy 70 degrees inside. She was happy about that, even commenting that it was ‘nice and warm’ inside.
They made themselves comfortable in our spacious reception area/waiting room while Diana and I busied ourselves getting things ready to go for the day. Once I was ready, I showed them into the projection room and we went through their photos. Everything went fine.
And then she, the client, says “can you fix my chin?” as she gets up to point out an area that is a little brighter on her chin than the rest of her face. I said ‘of course,’ as I marked it down on her order. She smiled again… now exclaiming “you’ve just made my day.”
It’s easy to make people happy… just give them what they want. Well, most of the time anyway. 🙂
I wish I could say that this is a new client who needed headshots for their L.A. portfolio. But, in fact this is a client who has been in front of my camera for over ten years. Having first met her at about age seven, it was pretty easy to tell right up fron that she was a force to be reckoned with.
It was great seeing Sara again, and chatting with her mom. We took a lot of images… I’ve included a few of my favorites here.
The seventh annual Most Beautiful Baby Contest starts in just a few days. I was thinking that maybe you need to know more about what goes on behind the scenes to put this together.
In November, we began contacting prize sponsors for the contest. We first contacted prize sponsors from last year. Most of them donated something again this year, but a couple decided to pass. Then we began contacting new area businesses who might want to be a part of the contest advertising.
See, we are offering to feature their company’s logo on all our advertising, which includes posters, mailers, online ads, and much more. This is normally quite a value just to have their logo in front of so many readers. But when it is also associated with a fundraising effort, it gives them just that much more of an emotional boost.
So, starting January 15, we start taking portrait sessions of children from six months to 30 months (2-1/2 years). The objective of a minimum and maximum age is that we want the baby to be able to sit up, and most kids can by or before six months. And the maximum age keeps this from being about all the cutesy things that older children can do. The age range kind of keeps it all fair among children who still have baby cheeks and surprise in their faces.
So, throughout the next 45 days, we take pictures of kids. Usually lots of them. And over that time period, that’s all we focus on. We continue to promote the contest, too.
One important element is our contribution to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Of the session fees, about 40% goes to St. Jude. This is an ongoing donation made with each new session. This year, we’re going to try to make those donations in the name of the parent and/or child, in addition to our name.
When the parents preview the images, they also select ONE image to submit for the contest. We do not select the picture; the parents do. And we save an unretouched (we might clean up minor skin issues) copy of that image for submission to our judges.
At the end of the contest, we put all of the entries online for our judges in a private directory on our website. Each of the judges (usually 3-4 judges, all are hand-selected by Diana and I, and are completely unrelated to the contest, the parents or children involved) assigns a first, second or third preferred selection to the images they see. The accumulated value of the judge’s selections are tallied up and the image with the highest total is the winner. The next highest four are assigned second and third place, and two honorable mentions.
Then we start assigning prizes to the winners. And finally, we start calling the winners.
So, now you know. The contest always results in a lot of fun, great images, and some really happy contestants.
Do you know someone who has a beautiful baby? Of course you do. Tell them to call now, 304-263-3100. The entry fee/session fee is $35 for a 30-minute session. If they want a full session, it’s only $15 more (which includes more time for more outfits).
See you soon!
So, I’m driving to the studio this morning… the usual route.
Let me back up a second.
Diana and I usually ride in to the studio together. Since we live in Shepherdstown, the ride to Pikeside in Martinsburg is about 30 minutes in length. I usually drive, and Diana usually rides shotgun.
Along the way it is not unusual for us to see deer, squirrels and various other wildlife. We’ve seen raccoons, opossums, hawks, and a heron once in awhile (especially down by the river, but once crossing the road), and even a couple of foxes. We tend to point them out to each other, and often in an effort not to make them part of the roadkill statistics. :\
This morning, however, we’re on one of the back roads (to avoid all the traffic lights that have sprung up around here) and after rounding a turn, I see a turkey… not one of those skinny, ugly birds you see in groups of ten or more. This was a fluffy turkey that was on a pathway to suicide. If I’d delayed a half second in responding, our little friend would have met his demise. If the brakes had locked up, again we’d be having a turkey feast this weekend. Instead, the bird missed my front bumper by mere inches.
The part of the story that’s missing here is that Diana often contemplates her day on the ride into work. Which often means she isn’t watching the road by this point, since we are typically out of the danger of wildlife crossing the road. So, as I hit the brakes, she lurched forward into her seatbelt. Now fully aware of the surroundings, and a healthy dose of adrenalin, she said a silent curse for the turkey, and went back to contemplating.
I wonder what kind of turkey that was?
There comes a time when you just need a little change. I guess I’ve reached that time. I’ve been using one blog system for a number of years, and it has served me well. But for a number of reasons, I have decided to change the way my blog works.
1) We are now hosting our own blog on our website. The blog address is http://tlcphotography.com/blog. This gives us an opportunity to control how much we can do and from whence our images go and are stored.
2) Improved automation. A lot more things are available for the new blog system that I find more advantageous for the type of blogging I do.
3) Remote handling. I can do just about anything without having to “log in” to do it. I’m all about making it easier to do.
I like simple and smart.
So often we find ourselves inexorably linked to the belief that without
children, Christmas wouldn’t be worth celebrating. After all, it is the son of Joseph and Mary that kind of started this whole thing. Often times we find ourselves getting into the holiday spirit based almost entirely on the excitement in our children’s eyes.
This year, we have photographed more children’s holiday pictures than in any years past. That tells me two things… one is that kid pictures make for really cute holiday gifts. The other is that photography should be an important part of the reason we celebrate the way we do.
Little Morgan here is very strong-willed and had a lot of her own ideas. But when we sat her in the middle of these boxes, her first instinct was not wonder and amazement… instead it was to determine how fast she could open all of them. To her dismay, most of them were empty.
I guess that was kind of a cruel joke for a kid that’s only three. 🙂
I thought once you agreed to photograph three children under the age of five, all at the same time, you also took your sanity into your own two hands. That appeared to the case with these three. The older boy was more or less the anchor of the three kids, but it was clear that the challenge was afoot when we noted that one of the three was a little bit fussy and wanted a snack.
What ensued was bedlam for the most part. The resulting image is actually a combination of images, giving you only only a glimpse of the classic children’s holiday portrait, but that it came from a necessity of blending.
Thanks, Diana, for saving yet another client’s images by working a little of that magic of yours.
At least once a year, my daughter (she’s really my stepdaughter, but I feel like we are closer than that) and grandson, Cameron, come in for photos. He’s six now and having new pictures of him was already a necessity.
Cameron has gotten to the point where he somewhat rules the session… he knows how things work, and even picks some of his own props and backgrounds. I enjoy the time he’s here, and we always have fun trying to figure things out.
But when he’s done… he’s done. 🙂
As of last Friday, December 4…
Just eight days ago, Ella was still in the womb.
A little history, if you’ll indulge me. About four years ago, we started doing some magazine work for a new publication. We got along quite well with the publisher, and even did her daughter’s senior portraits. So we had a great relationship with the magazine, we did a lot of work on several covers and tons of articles over the years.
So when Margo called us to photograph her first grandchild, we were more than honored – and we accepted immediately.
Meet Ella Nicole…
We first met Julia during the 2009 Most Beautiful Baby Contest (by the way, the 2010 Most Beautiful Baby Contest starts on January 15!), and she won second place. ‘Vibrant personality’ comes to mind when I think about Julia. She’s just so full of life, has a very definitive personality, and a smile that just cannot be ignored… or, as Diana put it “would melt a snowman.”
So, she was back last week, with her mom (Marla) and we once again were graced by her fun-loving nature. Early on, Marla asked us to create a couple of images from Julia’s new-found love of dance. Since Marla was also a dancer in her teen years, we did a few fun things and some very meaningful ones (to both). But I had an idea in mind that really kind of took me by storm. It was to create a kind of contrast in the size and difference in “ability” from someone who has many years experience, and someone who’s just starting out. This is what we came up with.
Yes, those are Marla’s legs. 🙂
Of course, they (Marla and her mother, Tabatha) also wanted some Christmas photos. Julia had other plans… she wanted to do what she wanted to do (as most 3-year olds do). But we managed to get a few happy images of her… this was one of their favorites.
This is a really great family. I enjoy seeing them, even if just out and about.
Merry Christmas, Miss Julia (you too, Marla and Tabatha)!
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