What should you wear to your session?

The answer would depend on many factors such as weather, location, emotion, message and purpose of the portraits.  We suggest to our clients that we want to focus on the face and emotion of the portrait for years to come.  We don't want our clients to dress in a manner that distracts from that as a general rule.  We try to stay away from black and white as well as distracting patterns or mismatched groupings if at all possible.  Try to make the family look great together, but not uniform.  However, you know that any rule can be broken!  Make sure it is something somewhat comfortable.  We don't want to be constantly adjusting your outfit.  Check your accessories - look polished, but not over done.  Makeup should be daily wear to slightly heavier.  Definitely check your nails and toes if they will be showing or your shoes and socks.  Don't get your haircut or colored the week of your portrait.

Of course, most clients want to know what is slimming and it is exactly what we suggest as our general rule.  Darker colors recede and make things appear smaller.  Clothing is only one of the elements that make the final image.  Custom photographers have studied a great deal on posing and that can really make or break your perception of the final image.

Next topic, in this client education series, How often do you need custom photography?

 To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".


Wishing you the best of everything!
Susan

A beautiful Christmas light display:

Toledo Zoo, OH, December 2012

Why are you scheduling and what to do with your portraits?

Building on what questions you have answered in April, Why does custom photography cost so much?, there must be a purpose for you to schedule a session.  You might be redecorating your home and in need of a new portrait.  Maybe it has been a few years since your last family portrait.  Your family may have grown in numbers and size.  The holidays may be around the corner and many more.

Whatever the reason, please convey this to me before your session, so that I have an idea of a certain portrait that I will need to take.  You may think you want a certain product, but in working with me, I will look at your needs and suggest ideas or other products that are available.

This client education series continues, please read:
What should you wear? 

To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".

Wishing you the best of everything!

Susan

The Smoke Mountains, Tennessee, October 2011

Outdoor Studio!

My neighbor has been working on her English Garden for years.  She has spent countless hours, preparing a beautiful garden!  And she loves to share this wonderful creation!

On Saturday, she let me know it is ready for me to use!!  She has spent the last month, spring cleaning out there to get it in tip top shape!

So, for all of you that need outdoor portraits this summer, check out this beautiful location, and let me know when you want to book, so we can go play in this English Garden!

Pam,

You are the greatest neighbor!  Thank you so much for everything you do for us!

Love ya!

Susan

Why does custom photography cost so much?

Custom photography provides a highly personalized experience in which the client gets to pick many pieces of the puzzle that creates a wonderful piece of artwork they can cherish for years to come. That being said, the amount of time and cost to put this together drives the price of this experience.

Chain stores bring in a lot of people for a short cookie cutter experience which creates a product with their artistic stamp. You, as the client, have very little say in what they can actually do with your short period of time and then they go on to the next client.

When you decide on a custom photography experience, the photographer goes through the entire experience with you to bring your vision to life.  To do this requires a lot more time and effort from the photographer. Your actual photo session may only take an hour, but your photographer has probably invested around 12-18 hours for a session per client. They do this to create the stellar customer service you may have come to know.  They really want to focus on quality and not quantity.  They also have the ability to offer many different high-quality products.

You have also selected your photographer based on their artistic abilities.  Like many other professions, there is a great deal of education and artistic exploration to create their vision.  Unfortunately, the professional equipment is not cheap either.  Have you ever wondered how much time or expense your photographer has invested to accumulate their props?

This client education series continues, please read:
Why are you scheduling, and what do you want to do with your portraits?

 To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".

Wishing you the best of everything!

Susan 

Bethlehem, PA, December 2011

How do you choose your custom photographer?

Here are a few questions you might want to answer first to make the process easier.

• Who is going to be in the portrait? your immediate family, extended family, just the children? Are there groupings you want taken such as mother and son, just the kids, as well as the entire family?

• Where do you want it taken? Inside the studio, at your home, an outdoor location of your choice?

• Do you want it more posed and formal or journalistic showing how you interact with your family?

• What final products do you want? A large wall portrait, a few gift prints to give, a storyboard depicting a few moments, or a storybook telling about the family and interactions?

Start your search on the internet. First, you need to see who is available to you in your area or as far as you are willing to travel. Then take a look at their web site and see what style they photograph.  Make sure they have images similar to what you are looking for as far as posing or location, if you have an idea of what you want. If you don’t know, then look at everyone’s portfolio and see what you like. If you are looking for family portraits in the park, do not choose a photographer that only displays newborn photography in the studio.

I suggest that you talk to a few photographers and see if you like the way they interact with you and your family. Ideally, I would love to meet all of our clients in person before the session to build a relationship and get comfortable. This also allows for us to show off some of the products we offer that you may not even know are available.

Ultimately, you will pick your photographer based on their style, relationship, price, product offering. The hard part is finding someone who meets all of these criteria. So, you will have to prioritize what you want.

This client education series continues, please read:
 Why does custom photography cost so much?

 To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".

Wishing you the best of everything!

Susan

A portrait from Nature Unframed, at Morton Arboretum, May 2011

Bound, by Philippa Lawrence

Why choose custom photography?

Custom photography is a product and experience in which you get to choose the style and final look of your portraits. There are many factors that ultimately make up your final portraits. These may include the photographer’s style, location of your portrait session, clothing, props, lighting, mood, your vision and the final products you desire.

Photographers that offer custom photography may have many different options available to you that fit their style or may have a very distinct style that you may like and choose. They have the ability to make your experience tailored just for you as opposed to the chain store time limits and crowds.

Imagine getting your family dressed and ready for your portrait session. Usually that is the most stressful part of any of my sessions. Then you walk into my studio which is ready to go and we start photographing. With family sessions, we are usually done in 60 minutes, sometimes longer and sometimes less. I have had many clients tell me that was pretty painless and thank me for making it so easy and not stressful. Mainly, this is because we have talked before the session and I know what direction we want to go and have it mentally planned out.

Custom photography requires a level of commitment, investment in time, money, and planning on the part of the client and requires a larger time commitment for the photographer as well. When you make an investment in photography, you want it to last a lifetime.

This client education series continues, please read:

How do you choose your custom photographer?

To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".

Wishing you the best of everything!

Susan

No blog is complete without a picture.  Here is a tree from our last trip to Florida.