Julie + Charlie = Baby Parks!!!

Julie contacted me to get an updated family portrait taken, before their family expands, by only two feet this time!  :)

As you can see Julie and Charlie have five fur babies and they wanted to have a family portrait before baby Parks arrives!!

I am so excited for these two!  They have been trying to have a child for over 8-1/2 years.  It has been a long and bumpy road, but there is finally an end in sight!!  Baby parks will arrive in September!

As you can see in their smiles Julie and Charlie are super excited!!

Julie & Charlie,
Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this special time in your lives!!
Congratulations on the next addition to your family!
Wishing you the best of everything!
Susan


A note from Julie:
After 8 1/2 years of trying to have a baby, we found out we are pregnant! We were supposed to start invitro Jan 9, and on Jan 2 we found out we got it done the good old fashion way. Charlie and I are feeling very blessed. Thank you for everyones support and love. And thank you to Susan Jennings for the beautiful photos she has known our story and also been a huge support for many years.

 

The Watson Family

It has been five years since the Watson family was able to be together for Christmas.  They were so excited to be  able to spend the holidays together this year!  Norma Jean (their mom), contacted me the Sunday before Christmas and wanted to know if there was any way a family portrait could be created.  I told her of course, so on a crazy snowy,slippery day, I went over to their house and moved all their furniture around (thank you for letting me do this!) and created a family portrait.

What an amazing time, this family was so kind and loving, they made the portrait session so much fun!!

Norma Jean & Family,
Thank you for allowing me to create a family portrait for you guys!  What an awesome memory we were able to capture!  Your family was amazing, super kind and beautiful!  It was an honor being asked to share in this wonderful time for your family.
God bless you all!

Wishing you the best of everything!
Susan

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 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

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.

Parks Pooch Parlor

So, when Julie called to set up an appointment for her five dogs, I laughed!  I just knew this would be an insane session!

Julie has been Simone's (our dog) groomer for years, she just remodeled her groom shop and decided to decorate with portraits of her own doggies.  I think this was a fabulous idea! 

After about 10 minutes into the session Julie and I were both sweaty, from chasing and placing all the dogs for the portraits.  It was a little tricky!  Oh, but it was fun!!

Julie,
Thanks for calling and setting up the appointment, your portraits are going to look fabulous in your groom shop!
Wishing you the best of everything!
Susan