New Pricing Structure

A few months ago I was asked if I would like to give away a photography session for a silent auction to benefit Options For Women, a local crisis pregnancy center. I was honored. I didn’t think much more about it – except for the fleeting thoughts of embarrassment if no one bid on my auction item. 

On Monday I sat down for lunch with the auction organizer to go over the details. “What exactly are you giving away?”  Easy peasey.  “The photo shoot and the digital images”.  She looked up from her pen and paper, “Are you sure?”. “Yeah”, I said…slightly nervous that I was missing something. “Okay”, she continued, “What’s the retail value?”.

Um…

That’s when things went downhill. Rapido. I might have incoherently stuttered for 30 seconds (I’m not sure if I was doing this verbally or just in my head), until I was able to shrug my shoulders and mumble “I don’t know”.

She had mercy on me and dove in to help, “Okay, well what do you normally charge?”

Oh boy..another hard question. ..and I sensed that she wasn’t going to like my answer. “I just kinda let people pay me whatever”.  That was a sucky answer, and I was embarrassed by it.

It was at that moment that I realized that my photography had no real value. How could this be?  How could something that I pour my heart into, invest in, spend countless hours on… be worth nothing?

I hated that feeling.

“Your photography is amazing, why aren’t you charging people?  You need to be”. 

I sheepishly told her that most people seem to pay me $100 for the session. I always pray that my photography will glorify Him, which is why I struggled to set up a formal pricing structure. That was dumb. I know. 

Dirt has been telling me for months that it’s not a gift to give someone something that is free.  Assigning value to my photography makes it meaningful to everyone – them and me….(and especially the auction winner!).

So….

I have come up with a very reasonable pricing structure.  [Deep breath]  As awkward as it feels, I’m rolling out the following:

Creative Fees (Maternity.Newborn.Children.Tweens.Senior.Family)

 My Home Studio or on Location: $100

 The Creative Fee Includes:

• A one hour photo session at my home studio or on location for up to six people from the same immediate family. $10 per person after that. No combo sessions, please.
• The hand-crafting of images in my digital darkroom
• A private online proofing gallery

The non-refundable creative fee must be paid in full at the time of your scheduled session. Travel up to 30 miles round-trip is included.  

Digital images are free with any $50 print purchase.

I think I’m in love

With him…

…and his type.

those 6 little pounds of sleepy perfection

As you can see I had my 2nd newborn photoshoot last week and I just fell in love with the artistry of newborn photography.

I had so much fun shooting Baby S. He was simply perfect.   If you’re looking for me, I’ll be hanging around the maternity ward.

More babies

August was supposed to be lined up with a maternity shoot, an infant shoot, and a twin infant shoot.  Oh but the stars didn’t align and God had other plans.  Plans which included delivering all three babies early, within a four-hour window beginning on Thursday night!  All premies.  No maternity shoot….cause mama never made it to the 9th month (fortunately I had shot her at 7 months anyway). So today I’m praising God we have three beautiful and healthy babies to shoot within the next week or two!

I met Baby S in the NICU unit at Maine Med during my lunch hour on Friday.  I got to snap a few pics for mom, even though he was all wired up and laying that incubator thingy (<–technical term). 

Unfortunately mom wasn’t able to hold him yet…

I love me some baby-toes. 

This is my favorite shot because I love the old-school treatment of the photo and because I know Baby S is gazing up at his gorgeous mama.

Now Baby S is gazing at his crazy photographer. Get used to it kid.  He won’t likely see my face without a honkin’ black lens in front of it until sometime after his wedding.

Mama couldn’t hold Baby S yet, so these touches were precious.

A month sure changes a lot.  Welcome to the world Baby S.

Oh Baby.

Six weeks ago I came across a baby picture that was so freakin’ awesome I decided I had to have it.  Not have that picture per say, but have the ability to replicate it with other babies. Babies brewing inside of mama bellies right now.  I had to learn how to take pictures of newborn babies.

So I studied.  I read. I watched. I learned.

After I did a friend’s maternity shoot, I asked her if she would bring her baby to me around day 7 of life and allow me to put my newly acquired knowledge into action.  She was willing. 

But then something amazing happened.  Last week I saw my recently pregnant neighbor walk by with a stroller.  I ran out to see the baby and it was like a gift from God – a beautiful baby boy – just 7 days old.

I toiled for the next 4 days about asking her if she would hand over her precious first born and finally got up the courage to ask if I could take his picture. 

She said yes.

The only problem was that I didn’t have a knit stocking cap (not for me, Silly – for the baby) – and I searched everywhere locally. Etsy is the place for wonderful knit baby caps…but Etsy takes time that I didn’t have. I was going to have to attempt the session sans cap.

I set up my home studio in my living room.  The new windows came in super-handy.

He was asleep at the beginning of the session, but mom warned that he was going to be waking soon to eat and then probably be awake for a while. This was not ideal.  Ideal would have been just fed and down for the count.  But that’s the textbook stuff. Real life is slightly more complicated.

This is when he began to squirm and mom fed him.  Unfortunately we never returned to the basket to get a better shot.  …and this was the only time during the session that he was completely in the buff.  I realize that need to get over my fear of pee and poop.  It will happen and it will be fine.

When he returned from nursing he was wide awake. Definitely not ideal – but if he were sleeping he wouldn’t have done this. His mom says that this was a yawn or something. I say he’s a gifted 12-day old baby that is laughing at the crazy lady trying to stuff him in a basket.  I mean seriously, what baby smiles like this at 12 days?  In my dream world I would’ve propped his head up higher. So much for dreams.

Baby L was ready to be done with me and my crazy poses.  We swaddled him in a blanket and placed him down on my fluffy white blanket and got one more pose from him.

Overall I was satisfied with how the session went.  Mom seemed to LOVE the pictures and I feel better prepared for the next baby.

I’m learning that newborn photography requires more photoshop than I’m used to…so I am currently brushing up on my photoshop skills.  The more I learn the more I realize I don’t know.

AND…I ordered a knit stocking cap from Etsy – because it’s a MUST-HAVE for newborns.

Free pictures? What’s the catch?

There is no catch. I will take pictures of kids and families for free.  I really will.  The joy people receive from photographs of their loved ones blesses me immensely.

Here are some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) for those that are still skeptical:

1. I understand that the session is free, but how much will you charge me to actually get the images from the shoot?

The images from the session will be placed in an online gallery.  You can download them for $1 per image (for example, if you like 10 of the images, you can have them all for $10.) You can also order high-quality prints directly from the gallery. 

2.  Why would I want to order prints from the online gallery instead of bringing them to Walmart where they are cheaper to print?

Smugmug uses professional processing on high-quality paper.  The difference is substantial. It’s like comparing a McDonalds Hamburger to a Ruth Chris Filet Mignon.  Sure they’re both beef products – but one is substantially better than the other.

3. If I order multiple prints is there a discount?

Yes, there are several package options available.  You’ll save money if you order the packages. They range in price from $10 to $25 and you can mix and match images.

4. Can I order enlargements from the gallery site?

Yes! I hope you do! If you are interested in ordering enlargements, I truly hope that you’ll get them from the smugmug gallery site. This is where you’ll really want to have them professionally processed.

5. Why do you do this?  What do you get from it?

I do it because I enjoy it. I am so blessed to hear back from people who love their prints.  It gives me tremendous joy.

6. Isn’t this a fundraiser for your adoption?

Yes and no. It’s only a fundraiser if folks choose to make a donation to our adoption fund. If not, it’s simply my gift to you.  I’m honestly fine with either way. There is no pressure to give.

7. If I can’t make the date on the flyer will there be another opportunity to get our pictures taken for free?

Yes, please contact me at auntiecamera@gmail.com.

8. Will you travel to my location to take pictures?

Yes (within reason). If you can line up a few other friends who would also like pictures taken before or after your session, it might make it more worthwhile if I need to drive a distance.

9. How do I make a tax-deductable donation in support of your adoption?

We have an account set up with Lifesong so that folks can make tax-deductable donations. 100% of whatever you give goes toward our adoption expenses (there are no overhead fees). You can mail a check or make an online donation. Please be sure to designate your donation to: Moore #2132 so that we receive it.

The Tree

Amaya saw my tree logo and gave me a look not unlike the one below:

“How come there are no pictures of me in your tree?”, she pouted.

The answer was simple, “Because you never let me take nice pictures of you”.

My hands were tied, really.  I didn’t want to use photos of non-family kids in the logo, but what choice did I have? She’s a complete goof-ball.

However, “making the tree” proved to be a powerful motivater.

…and now all is right with the world.

(Except now Amelle is complaining that Avery is “center-stage” in her picture). Oiy!

Shooting Black & White

This afternoon I tried out a new lense that I have on loan from a photographer friend.  An awesome family from church volunteered to be my test-subjects. God love ‘em. 

I was determined to shoot the entire session with my test lense but within a few moments I found myself swapping to old faithful.  I felt like I had to at least get a few good shots out of the way before I monkeyed around with a new lense. Once I had a shot of each child, I went back to the tester lense.

I was disappointed to find that I had blown out many of the pictures. Once you blow out a photo it’s ruined. I know no tricks that can correct a blown out image.

Cute composition, but this poor little guys is missing color in his hair and face (blown out).  That’s bad. And uncorrectable.

…but wait…

I snapped this one three clicks later and Maya is not blown out (maybe just the top part of her dress, but I can live with that). My ISO was too high. That was a dumb and careless mistake.  However, clearly I need to be more careful about shooting white kids.  I don’t typically have problems with blowing out my kids because they’re perfectly brown. 

Here is another example.  This one makes me sad because I really really really loved taking pictures of this little sweetie.  And if I didn’t ruin the shot, this would’ve been my favorite one of the session.  No doubt.  

I obviously need to adjust my camera settings for little white people – especially if they have blonde hair.  It’s just more whiteness than my camera is used to. 

I’m learning so much!

Isn’t this fun?