There are so many photographic products, it is sometimes difficult to decide what to use your images for. And while I didn’t plan to cover everything here, I did want to highlight some popular items and discuss the advantage of a bigger (or smaller) one.
Indulge me. 🙂
Photo Prints: Still the most popular choice to show and share your portrait/wedding images. Yes, even more popular than digital files (which many photographers do not offer anyway). There are sizes ranging from mini-wallets (about 1.5×2.5 inches) to wall murals (6×10 feet and larger). But the most common middle size is still the 8×10 and the most common “wall size” is 24×30 or 24×36… at least at TLC.
How big you go depends on how you’re going to use it. A 24×36″ canvas print sitting on your desk isn’t very practical, but an 8×10 on a large wall is quite nearly worth ignoring (almost as if you’d decided that the picture really wasn’t useful to you, so you had it printed small – sad). And honestly, now we have the ability to show you print “clusters”, which incorporate three or more images arranged in such a way that are both attractive and functional. Ask us about print clusters to see what I mean.
But back to size for a moment. If you have a family portrait done, do you want to see faces in the picture you hang on the wall? If you do, then you need a portrait print that is sized for the wall and room where the picture will be. An 8×10″ is out… period. An 11×14″ is okay for 2-3 people, and a 16×20″ is a minimum size for 4-5 people. You may want to go larger still if the photo contains a lot of surrounding area. And anything more than six people should be printed on a 20×24″ or larger.
We won’t pressure you, of course… we don’t do that. But with our display software, we can show you the difference between an 11×14″ print and a 20×24″ on our projection wall. Ask to see it.
Albums: There is nothing quite like the feeling of opening your wedding or portrait album and having all those emotions of the day come rushing back. Whether you’re getting an album for a gift or for yourself, there’s no question that there are tons of options for these books. In addition to the traditional styles of leather covers, there are also multi-covering type of books, fabrics in a variety of colors, and much more. Now we are giving you the opportunity to decide what kind of paper to use inside the book (such as linen or art paper). And in addition to the traditional-type album, there are also coffee-table books which combine a thinner footprint with the high-end beauty of a big album.
The “traditional” size of an album is 10×10″. Square seems to be the norm for most people. But we are also offering 11×14″ albums for not much more. Most people aren’t thinking about getting a large book from their portrait session. But if you can’t put prints on your wall, or you want something to keep close at hand when you’re out of the house, a carry album (4×6″) or small portrait album (8×8″) is the “right size” for most people.
We offer a variety of album styles, including coffee table books (which are the most popular type of album we have available). In addition to eight fabric colors and styles, there is also a photo cover available, and you can get that in a photo canvas that wraps around the entire book cover… it’s beautiful. Sizes from 4×6″ and up are available, and most of our albums are laid out by Diana for that custom-look you want from your images.
Albums are available for sittings, weddings, and more.
Ask about a free consultation to discuss not only your print and album choices, but also to review what you expect from your session and what we can do for you.
As posts go, engagement sessions are usually 2-3 images along with my cunning repartee. This time, though, I’m posting all of the images from the session. I first met Michelle many years ago in her high school days, only briefly. I’ve known her step-mother a little longer due to the dance studio portraits we’ve taken for her… well, I won’t bore you with the family dynamics. They’re just great people.
And so are Michelle and Sean. 🙂
There are unique weddings, and then there’s Julie and Matt’s wedding. From the sailcloth tent and the most unique dress I’ve ever seen, to most unusual favors and a sunset to die for… this was a wedding like no other.
A little history… we first met Julie’s family many years ago when Julie was in high school. We had taken some awesome sports action photos of her as a softball pitcher. Her mom later asked us to come to their Bunker Hill farm to take some images of Julie with a family favorite horse. Many years later, her mom contacted us and it was almost a natural. I kept in close contact with Julie throughout. She was a wonder to work with, and I could not have asked for a more perfect wedding hostess.
I always love going to weddings where I see so many people I’ve met in the past. Many of Jess and Chris’s high school friends were there, and most of those went to school with my eldest daughter.
This was a fast-paced wedding and reception, but the beginning was relaxed and easy-going. It was a change for me and my style, but I loved spending time with the bride and her bridesmaids for some candid photos and a few formals.
Another young bride I’ve known since at least high school… happily marrying a man who adores her. The bond was strong between the bride and her father, as well. He later told me that they couldn’t look at each other before walking down the aisle, for fear they would both burst into tears.
It was truly one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been a part of.
You know… I’m a big fan of weddings. In the past couple of years, I have specifically focused away from weddings to concentrate on my studio portraiture. It has, for all intents and purposes, worked out pretty well. However, change was inevitable and I took on a LOT more weddings for 2010. This is the first of three straight weekends of very busy weddings.
That said, let’s get on to Milissa (and no, I didn’t misspell it) and Jeff’s wedding. They were married by Reverend Diana (she’s my wife) at the Clarion Hotel Atrium in Hagerstown. One thing I LOVE about that venue is the light streaming in from the skylight over the pool. The disadvantage to the site though is that it is always humid in there. Wasn’t really hot… but it was definitely humid.
Nobody seemed to mind.
What a delightful couple these two are… very down to earth, and we clicked almost instantly. They are great together, and I really enjoyed spending some time with them shooting their engagement photos, and will be honored to be photographing their wedding in October.
Oh… the fun that each wedding brings. A beautiful young couple always seems to bring out the happy times, the dancing and carrying on that is befitting such a celebration.
Melissa and Joey were married in Inwood, where they also celebrated with family and friends.
This happens once in awhile. The inevitable parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt or “well-meaning parental figure” jumps in front of my camera in order to get their shot. I took several more shots after this one, but I’m using it as a reminder to all you wedding-goers out there… stay IN you assigned seating area while the bride is coming down the aisle. :\
In all fairness, he did turn around later and mouth an apology. C’est la vie!
I’m just going to tell you this one straight up. No names, of course, but you’ll get the gist.
I went into a local office supply store which also has a copy/print center. I only needed 25 copies of something, and figured it would take a few minutes at most. I walked in, up to the copy/print center and removed my originals from the folder I’d brought along. And waited.
There were three employees (well, three people all wearing the same color shirt with the same logo on it… one assumes that they were employed there) in the copy/print center. One of the employees was talking with another, quite probably something that had nothing to do with me. In fact, I was never even acknowledged. I stood for at least 30 seconds (think that’s short? Stand up, check your watch, wait 30 seconds) waiting until the employee finally said “I’ll be with you in a moment,” only to continue a non-work-related discussion with another employee; for about another 1-2 minutes. I was seconds away from walking out when she finally asked how she could help me.
Nobody should have to wait that long for service when there are THREE employees doing virtually nothing else. What happened to customer first?
This is less a complaint (although you wouldn’t know it from what I wrote above) than an observation in how important customer service truly is to our business. Many of you could just as easily drop by the mall portrait center and get your photos taken… and you’d like be happy with your purchases. It’s great fun to have portraits done, and you might even get a good bargain in the process.
But here’s my point.
At EVERY step of the way, we are going to give you the best customer service possible. When you call, we are going to answer the phone promptly, respond to all your questions, and make sure you understand everything about how we work. If you have to leave a voice message, we’re going to call you back as soon as possible. When you come in for your session, we are going to spend some time before we break out the camera to get to know you. If you have small children, we’re going to let them get acclimated to us, and maybe even have some fun (See “How to Play Monster“) in the process. We’re going to listen to you, give you our opinion, help you decide on the best course of action, and take pictures until you are satisfied. When you come in to view the portraits, you are the ONLY person we care about right then. We will greet you, show you into our projection room, and make sure you are comfortable. During the order process, we will not SELL you anything… we don’t believe in high-pressure tactics. We will work with your expectations, your needs and your budget to get the best possible results from the images we captured.
Our finished products will last for many generations. We don’t print our products on-site, because the images from many quick print systems fade after only a few years. Ours are guaranteed (YES, GUARANTEED) for a lifetime (and more) not to fade. And if there’s something wrong with your order, we’ll fix it. Period. No qualms or arguments. Just bring your order back to us within 48 hours (two business days) and we’ll be happy to fix whatever is wrong.
We like people… it shows in how people like us. We’re fun-loving people so we’re going to have fun with you. But you’ll always get great customer service, because I cannot stand customer DIS-service!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=524cfb39-c184-4c8e-99c2-4415b464f45c)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6e0e4e09-a7a1-4a51-a0c5-001695c155c8)