Lastest Photo Shoots

I try to post some of my favorite shots from photo sessions as soon as I get them edited but oh my word I've been swamped this week (YAY!). The boys were out of town this weekend and I think I calculated that out of the 48 hours they were gone I was in front of the computer screen for 15 of those hours. If I hadn't had a photo shoot, 2 grand openings and this thing called sleep to deal with I probably would've been in front of the computer for about 40 hours. But alas, here are some of my favorites from this week's sessions......

Professional Grand Opener

I think I was one of the most excited people to hear that a new shopping center was opening in our neighborhood. And that was before all the grand openings! 7 stores have opened so far and I've been to 4 of the grand openings (1 store didn't have one. 1 store's was on Sunday during church and 1 is a store I don't shop at). After going to 4 grand openings I've realized that I could be a professional grand opener. No one likes sales and free things more than me! It's been worth waking up early or having Rob watch the boys or taking P with me to each grand opening. At one store I got a RIDICULOUS discount on my purchases (Almost $300 for less than $50!!). At one store, P was asked to be the official ribbon cutter for the grand opening and he got a fish/tank/everything it requires for his efforts. Yesterday there was a glitch in the opening time for Academy (the sports store) so I missed the gift card give away but I did win a free camo/hunting jacket for P, which he was thrilled with. Today was the only disappointing grand opening. I woke up (naturally) at 5:15 so I decided to go to Old Navy's grand opening, which guaranteed the first 300 customers a gift card scratch off. When I got there at 6:45 I was one of the first 10 people in line. I thought the store opened at 8am so I figured I could wait in line for an hour to be guaranteed a gift card. Well, the store opened later than that so I barely made it to my photo session on time. I stopped back by Old Navy after my session to use my discount only to find out that they were still giving out cards AND the lines were so ridiculously slow that it wasn't worth it to me. I did get a free cute bag and I gave my discount card to someone else so it wasn't all that bad. But, like I said, I did learn that I could be a professional grand opener. I love talking to the people in line, watching the sun rise as the day gets started, knowing that I'll be getting some sort of "reward" for my early morning efforts. I'd write more but I need to go to bed in hopes of hitting up another grand opening before church in the morning...

You Get What You Pay For....

I've read two things in the past 24 hours that has got me thinking about photography marketing. One was a FB post where a local girl posted that she had a "New Camera Special". For only $10 she'd give you a 20 min session and 10-15 digital images. When someone asked her what kind of camera she had she replied, "A nice one. Are you interested in pictures?" There were a couple other things that were "red flag warnings" to me as well but to each their own. This morning I was up before 5am and was reading an online marketing article about prints vs. CD of images for the client to print at will. It got me thinking as to why I have chosen the way of the CD when it comes to distributing images to clients and why I charge what I do.

Here are my reasons why I've chosen the CD (and when I say CD I mean a customized flash disk as computer CDs will be obsolete within a few years):
1. I am a very indecisive person when it comes to non-essential decisions. My whole day is about making decisions so the last thing I want to do is make a decision to spend $50 on a print that I will regret once I get it home and framed. I've done that before. I've chosen an image for the photographer to print, have spent a few hundred dollars on prints and then changed my mind after it was too late. With a flash disk you can change your mind as often as you'd like and it won't break the bank.
2. I don't have an office or a studio or a gallery location. So basically I don't have the proper equipment, lighting or location to show you your image gallery. I could not, in good conscience, have you choose images for me to print that you've only seen on your small laptop or smart phone.
3. Photography is not our sole income. I don't NEED to make money off my business. It's something I enjoy doing, a way to contribute to our finances without feeling pressure to HAVE to make money. I know I charge less than some photographers and more than others. My business is a work in progress and I charge what I know my photography service is worth. Some photographers choose to charge a $100 session fee and then their fine print says that you have to choose a minimum of $300 in prints. That's not my style and doesn't work for me.

Yes, there are cons to doing just the flash disk. The biggest one being that clients don't know the difference of a professional printing lab vs Walmart. Yes, Walmart is the easy route to take but you'll regret it when you go to frame the picture that you spent hours getting ready for only to find out you look a sickly green/grayish color because Walmart doesn't use a calibrated printer. If you're going to pay the session fee then pay the extra few dollars to have your pictures professionally printed so they can show the quality of work the photographer put into that particular image. I know that, like me, most people just put the flash disk away and don't print images at all. But my theory is that at least I know where the images are so I can print them when I choose to. The last con is when a client decides to print a large 16x20 canvas without expressing that to the photographer. Most photographers will ask when they send the online photo gallery but some forget (I've been guilty of this!). When a photographer edits images they export them using certain measurements for web images and certain images for prints. Unless specified, the images you receive on your flash disk are not meant to be printed larger than 8x10.

I feel that, as a photography client, it is your right to ask questions. You wouldn't go buy a new TV or a new car without asking anything about it or shopping around until you found what you wanted and liked. It's the same with photography. Some people are going to like my photos and others aren't. Yes, sometimes it hurts but that's business. I had someone ask me the other day, at a photo shoot, how much my new camera cost me. I didn't have a problem telling him because I want my clients to know that I don't just grab a $100 camera, take some pictures of you and give them to you without culling and editing them first. I spend A LOT time before, during and after each photo session, (That's another blog for a different time) making sure it's as perfect as I'm capable of creating at this moment in life. I invest my time and money to make JenniferJ Photography be something I'm proud of! I am constantly learning through online courses, Youtube, etc. I learn and research the business aspect of photography. I am a photographer who wants to be taken seriously, not the photographer who charges $10 because I have a "New Camera Special". My time away from my boys needs to be worth it to me. That's why I spend most of my lil guy's naptimes on the computer, doing photography/business research. That's why I invest more money than your average Joe in photography equipment that will benefit you, my business and my future clients. I know you have a choice when choosing a photographer and I always appreciate when you choose me....and refer me to others!

Tornadoes!

Storms don't scare me. I love lightning and thunder. I also don't usually fear the unknown. But last night I was a little freaked out by both. We had a crazy, insane storm last night. Rob got called out for work so P was going to sleep in my bed with me because he was scared. (Storms don't usually scare him either but last night it did.) I was sick yesterday and had just taken a healthy dose of Nyquil, ready to sleep off my sick bug, when an alert came across my phone, saying there was a tornado warning for our area and to take cover immediately. Usually I blow off tornado warnings because, like I said, I don't fear the unknown. But, since I had never received an alert like that before, I took it seriously. I got Easton out of bed and the boys and I crammed into the bathtub. P was a nervous wreck and insisted on holding my hand the whole time. We prayed quietly as to not to disturb Easton. At one point I was pretty freaked out because of a flashlight shining in our hallway, not because of the storm. At about the same time I thought P was going to come out of his skin with fright when the roof rattled pretty good. It seemed like we were in the bathtub forever but it was mere moments. Thankfully, Easton slept through the whole thing and P and I were able to go to sleep quickly after it was over. This morning P was obsessed with the tornado warning and kept talking about tornadoes. On the way to his school we saw where one of the tornadoes caused some damage- downed power lines, trees fallen, patio furniture thrown about and roofs torn up. But thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could've been. God protected us and that's all that mattered. Today the wind was blowing but the storm was well behind us. Just a memory of another unknown.

Sweet Potato Pie Monogramming

A few weeks ago a local business had contracted for me to do some advertising shots for her new business and her upcoming Christmas line. We got together this past Saturday and, man, it was fun! Despite trying to get pictures of so many kids the shoot went smoothly. If you have FB I recommend looking up her business~ Sweet Potato Pie Monogramming. She is a sweet lady who does beautiful work. Although these don't all show her work 100%, these are some of my favorite shots from the session.....

Camel Poop and Double Standards

Well, usually I do a day of gratitude every day in November but apparently no one misses it because no one has said anything. And quite frankly I have my plate full between my part time job, photo shoots every weekend this month, choir practice, Bible study, helping in P's classroom and chasing an (almost) 2 yr old around all day. So, I'll just keep plugging along with blogs like usual, writing them far less than I think about them.

My first one.....double standard parenting. Growing up I always complained that my parents treated me different than my brother. They denied it but, as a parent, I am here to tell you the truth. It does exist. Whether it's because of gender or birth order or you're just too plain tired when the 2nd or 3rd or....child comes around that you don't live up to the parenting standards of your first child. Maybe it's because you gave so much to your first child that you compensate for it in other ways with the other child(ren). Whatever it may be I realized I was guilty of it on Halloween night. When my (almost) 2 year old was trick or treating with candy in his mouth the entire time. I would've never allowed his older son to eat that much candy in one evening! Since then I've become more aware of my double standard parenting almost daily. Mostly when it comes to food. But it is what it is and I'm ok with it. When the boys are older, I won't deny my double standard parenting. But hopefully I'll be able to come up with a good reason for it before they start questioning why.

We have started the dreaded phase of toddlerhood...potty training. I absolutely love teaching my boys new things. Except potty training. Rob far outweighs me in his ability to get the boys potty trained. I get frustrated when I don't see consistent results immediately (one of my downfalls in so many areas of life) so I give up. Then I start again a couple weeks later. Yada. yada. yada. Needless to say I'm slowing introducing it by giving him opportunities throughout the day to use his "big boy potty" and by reading him potty books. For some reason, both of my boys have loved the book, "Everyone Poops!" (I'm not gonna lie. I love it too.) One of our favorite pages is, "A one hump camel poops a one hump poop and a two hump camel makes a two hump poop." Well, in our housing endeavors we've always lived by unique wildlife....wild mustangs, bear, llamas, camels... We currently are neighbors with a camel. When we drove by its property the other day I said, "Look boys. A one hump camel." to which E replied, "A poop." The highlight of my day right there. He may not consistently use his potty at the moment but he's getting the concept that every living thing does indeed poop. Between that and my oldest son learning how to do "armpit farts" I am one proud mama!

OK, ok, I'd love to write more but alas the carpool lane will begin moving momentarily. I started this blog before lunch, worked on it during E's nap and am now calling it a done deal in the carpool lane. Ah, the life of a SAHM!

Halloween Festivities

When people say they enjoy the holidays I'm sure they mean Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. But for me, when I say I love the holidays I mean Halloween and Christmas. I guess it's the kid in me or the way we were raised or the traditions I hope to create with my boys or the excitement that comes with getting creative and festive. Either way, the holiday season is upon us and it is off to a good start. I worried that P wouldn't enjoy it as much with being in school but he had so much fun. Between our church's Family Fest, his school's Halloween festivities and trick or treating with some neighborhood friends he had a blast. Here are some of the many memories I've captured this past week (out of order).....